The Marvel Cinematic Universe's Avengers franchise is returning to theaters for the first time in seven years. Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled to open December 18, 2026, six months from now, and Marvel and Disney are positioning it as the biggest event film of the year.
According to a report by Screen Rant, the last Avengers film was Endgame, released in 2019. That film earned nearly $3 billion at the global box office. No MCU film since has come close to matching those earnings, including the string of Marvel movies and Disney+ series that followed in the years after Endgame.
The next MCU release before Doomsday is Spider-Man: Brand New Day, due July 31. But Screen Rant noted that even that film cannot compare to the scale and financial expectations surrounding the Avengers franchise.
Doomsday will center on Marvel heroes battling Doctor Doom, who threatens the entire Marvel multiverse. Robert Downey Jr., best known for playing Tony Stark across more than a decade of MCU films, is set to portray Doom. The casting represents a significant shift for the actor, who had been the face of the franchise as Iron Man before Stark's death in Endgame.
Chris Evans is also returning, reprising his role as Captain America. The film will additionally feature actors from Fox's X-Men film series, including James Marsden and Patrick Stewart, marking one of the first major on-screen mergers of the two previously separate Marvel film universes.
Marvel and Disney have kept most plot details secret. Trailers released so far suggest the film is aiming for the same massive scope and high stakes that defined the earlier Infinity War and Endgame films. Given Marvel's history with secretive promotion, additional surprise castings or character appearances are considered likely before the film opens.
Doomsday is also the first installment in a larger planned return of the Avengers franchise. Marvel and Disney have already confirmed that a follow-up, Avengers: Secret Wars, is in development, suggesting the studio is building toward another multi-film arc similar to the one that culminated in Endgame.
