• Avengers Doomsday is officially in production and slated for a May 2026 release date.
• Marvel has announced a massive ensemble cast.
• The film will be the first of two Avengers movies that will finish the Sixth Phase of the MCU, and hopefully relaunch it back into the uber popularity these films once held.

Marvel Entertainment has officially announced that Avengers: Doomsday, it’s next major blockbuster in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, has began production and revealed an ensemble cast to go along with the announcement. The film has a release date of 1st May 2026.

We already knew that Robert Downey Jr. would be donning another iron mask to play the film’s main antagonist Dr Doom in the cinematic universe’s first portrayal of the characters after it was revealed at San Diego Comic Con 2024. It was also revealed that Disney was bringing back Joe and Anthony Russo to direct the film.

The pair was behind Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, essentially the most successful of the MCU’s films in terms of box office and critical reception.

Disney is slapping together every piece in a puzzle that seemingly can’t fail in a bid to revive some of the fervour around the Marvel movies that died down significantly after the COVID-19 pandemic and the MCU’s transition into streaming.

You can watch the cast reveal below:

Interesting insights about the Avengers Doomsday cast

The announced cast includes MCU mainstays such Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Anthony Mackie (Captain America), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Letitia Wright (Black Panther), Simu Liu (Shang-Chi), Danny Ramirez (The Falcon), Winston Duke (M’Baku), Tenoch Huerta Mejia (Namor), Sebastian Stan (The Winter Soldier), Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova), Wyatt Russell (U.S. Agent), David Harbour (Red Guardian), Hannah John-Kamen (Ghost), and Lewis Pullman (which apparently play a character called “Bob”).

Essentially, we’re getting the cast from the second Black Panther film, the final Black Widow film, Ant-Man & the Wasp Quantamania and all the Captain America goings on since Endgame, sans Kang the Conqueror which was dropped by Disney after Jonathan Majors’ legal issues emerged.

Aside from these, we have a returning X-Men cast from the 2000s Fox movies, including the original film versions of the mutant team. Here are Patrick Stewart (Prof. X), Sir Ian McKellen (Magneto), James Marsden (Cyclops) and Rebecca Romijn (Mystique), as well as Alan Cuming (Nightcrawler) and Kelsey Grammer (Beast).

Just no Phoenix or Wolverine, and that’s fine honestly, that whole thing has been played out enough. Interesting tidbit: McKellen will 86 years old when this film comes out!

Channing Tatum’s Gambit, for better or worse, will make his Avengers debut in Doomsday after introducing the New Orleans native in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Additionally, surprising no-one that knows a thing or two about Dr Doom, the cast for the upcoming Fantastic Four film are also here.

This includes Pedro Pascal (Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (The Invisible Woman), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Thing) and Joseph Quinn (The Human Torch). Since the upcoming film of the foursome is set in the 60s, we will likely see the team get sent into the future somehow by the end of the film, which will also include a teaser for Dr Doom or I will eat my shoes on video.

For Avengers Doomsday, we can all expect a three-hour affair and we wouldn’t worry too much about having to watch all the previous Disney+ shows and films like Captain America: Brave New World because what we have before us is a relaunch, with all of the stops being pulled.

The film will seek to start tying a bow on the sixth phase of the MCU films which was initially supposed to end with Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, however production challenges hampered this film leading the company to settle on Doomsday as the next Avengers film tagline.

Though Secret Wars is still aimed at being the conclusion of Phase Six, and is still set to be released on 7th May 2027. Sources are also expecting Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Dr Strange and more previous Avengers to take part in the film.

Having been part of the original wave around the first Avengers movies, we’re hoping Doomsday is able to capture the magic that once held the MCU in high regard. But this is a very tall task.