Marvel's next massive crossover event is shaping up to have the largest and most varied superhero roster the MCU has ever assembled. Avengers: Doomsday, directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, is scheduled for release on December 18, 2026, and will pit a wide range of heroes from across the multiverse against Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom, according to Screen Rant.
The film is set 14 months after the events of Thunderbolts* and represents the MCU's first major crossover event since Avengers: Endgame. The multiverse, which was teased in Doctor Strange and later confirmed through Endgame's creation of new timelines, was further explored in the TV series Loki and the film Spider-Man: No Way Home. That film established that Marvel's Sony and Fox universes are officially part of the MCU, opening the door for characters from Sam Raimi's Spider-Man trilogy and Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man to cross over.
The most notable addition from the Fox era is the return of the original X-Men lineup. Ian McKellen's Magneto, Patrick Stewart's Professor X, and James Marsden's Cyclops are all confirmed for the film. This follows the well-received inclusion of Henry Cavill's Wolverine in Deadpool and Wolverine, which demonstrated fan appetite for legacy Marvel characters.
Returning original Avengers include Chris Evans as Steve Rogers and Chris Hemsworth as Thor. Joining them will be newer MCU characters: Letitia Wright's Shuri as Black Panther, Paul Rudd's Ant-Man, Anthony Mackie's Sam Wilson as Captain America, Simu Liu's Shang-Chi, Winston Duke's M'Baku, and Channing Tatum's Gambit. The Fantastic Four are also part of the lineup. The group also includes the New Avengers, who were initially introduced as the Thunderbolts.
Additional characters, potentially including Spider-Man, may also appear, though those appearances have not been confirmed.
The film comes as the MCU works to rebuild momentum following what Screen Rant described as recent disappointments at the box office. Doomsday arrives after Spider-Man: Brand New Day and represents the studio's attempt to recapture the scale and spectacle of the Endgame era.
