Avengers: Doomsday, slated for May 1, 2026, is now in production, and we know that because Marvel did something they’re very good at, which is stunt on the internet to make an announcement. (Funny to watch this happen in real time right after finishing The Studio and all I can see is Kathryn Hahn’s marketing exec getting hot for viral marketing. More on The Studio later today.)
They streamed the announcement live, at one point over 90K people tuned in, but you can watch it here:
I wonder if the chairs are set up in the contractually obligated billing order? Like what’s the thinking here? Is Chris Hemsworth the top billed actor, and Robert Downey, Jr. will be billed with the “and” designation? (You know, “and Robert Downey, Jr. as Doctor Doom”.)
At first I thought it was grouped by team affiliation, but the Fantastic Four are split up, so that doesn’t really make sense. I would just like to know how and why they arrived at this ordering of names. Anyway, this is 27 main cast members. Maybe. I might not have counted that right. I’ve already cried once today because I did bad math and messed something up, feel free to check my work.
Notably, Chris Hemsworth is the only original Avenger returning. RDJ is back, of course, but he’s playing a new character, Doctor Doom. Also, Chris Evans was reported as returning to the MCU for Doomsday, but it still has not been officially confirmed, nor has his character been confirmed (Steve Rogers or Johnny Storm). If he is, in fact, coming back, it seems it will be in a cameo, not as a main cast member. Similarly, Benedict Cumberbatch says he will appear in Doomsday, too, though it must also be in a smaller role, since he’s not included in the chair lineup.
This announcement was generally well received. For every one person wishing Marvel had taken a post-Endgame break and took their time to build up the new characters before doing another team-up movie, there are five people excited so many original X-Men are coming back (but no Halle Berry or Famke Janssen? Again, what’s the thinking?). And I will admit, when the X-Men theme popped amidst the Avengers music, I got a little thrill. It’s the crossover they couldn’t do before! The X-Men can meet the Avengers can meet the Fantastic Four! 12-year-old me is excited, even if 42-year-old me is f-cking tired.
Also, between Endgame and Doomsday there is a seven-year gap, that’s a long time to go between team-up movies (Marvel made one every two years in the 2010s, if you count Civil War as a team-up). I think the main issue is just that so many of the movies between Endgame and Doomsday are not well liked, let alone beloved. Like it’s kind of notable that no one from The Marvels or Eternals is here. And Ant-Man is back, but there’s no Wasp. But Ant-Man is played by Paul Rudd, and people like Paul Rudd—even though Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania bombed, he didn’t wear it all, despite his character’s name being in the title. It kind of looks like, Paul Rudd aside, the people from the least well received movies from the last few years weren’t invited to this party. Shady!
But it will MASSIVELY help if Thunderbolts* and Fantastic Four hit this summer. I’ve said for a while now it will only take one good movie to get Marvel back on track, if they deliver a double whammy this summer, they’ll go into Doomsday on a tide of goodwill. This reveal has already stirred up some goodwill, especially announcing so many OG X-Men coming to the MCU. That’s got the nerds on side. If their summer movies deliver this year, they can get general audiences onside, too. And then we’ll be back where we started—the MCU dominating the summer movie season. Unless people really ARE sick of superhero movies, of course.
