Yesterday, we were treated to a surprise first look at Avengers: Doomsday's confirmed cast members in costume. You probably don't need us to tell you that more actors will eventually be added to the massive ensemble, with Doctor Strange, Deadpool, and Steve Rogers all but confirmed in recent months. Complaining about any absences does seem a little premature at this point. Well, to some extent, anyway.
There's a very good chance that Marvel Studios will market the movie around these characters, with those listed above—along with Spider-Man, Wolverine, and the rest—saved as a surprise for when we sit down in theaters. However, how wise is it to try to sell a movie with the stars of three blockbusters that underperformed in 2025, and a handful of X-Men from 20th Century Fox's largely unpopular Marvel franchise? Deadpool & Wolverine did its best to glorify a pretty dismal two decades or so of storytelling that repeatedly failed to do right by the comics. Yes, there was the odd hit, but is anyone really looking back at X-Men: Apocalypse and X-Men: The Last Stand with a smile on their face?
It's worth noting that even though Captain America: Brave New World was a mess made worse by reshoots, Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps were critical hits that, unfortunately, still struggled to bring people into theaters. Thor and Ant-Man's latest solo outings were widely considered let-downs, and Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was a superb effort, which did its best during COVID. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was a hit, at least, while Tom Hiddleston's Loki remains as popular as ever (even after being relegated to streaming).
An Avengers movie should be a guaranteed box office success, but looking back at the past few years, it's apparent that's far from a sure thing these days. Marvel Studios can't rely on the brand alone, and while Robert Downey Jr. is going to be a draw, he's not playing Iron Man here; instead, the Oscar-winner will suit up as a villain best known for starring in three bad Fantastic Four movies.
We'll acknowledge that there's an element of jumping the gun here. Still, if Marvel Studios intends to market Avengers: Doomsday around these characters battling Doctor Doom, then it may well be destined to fail. On the one hand, you have two teams of Avengers that, like it or not, have starred in movies that people didn't pay to see (The Fantastic Four: First Steps made an admirable $519 million, at least, but even this avid fan of the MCU's First Family can't spin that as a hit on the same level as The Avengers in 2012). As for the X-Men, there are some members of the team worth getting excited about, but it's still a version of the group that's missing its heaviest hitters: Wolverine, Storm, and Jean Grey, for starters. As things stand, the X-Men are giving "these are the only actors who were willing to return" vibes.
Where is The Hulk? Captain Marvel? Spider-Man? Star-Lord? The Scarlet Witch? Heck, even the TVA is conspicuous by its absence, and while we expect to see them in some capacity, they don't look to be Avengers: Doomsday's leads.
If the rumours are true, and Avengers: Doomsday is set to tell a story about Doom looking to destroy Captain America for his actions in Avengers: Endgame, then selling that storyline in the trailers should go a long way in increasing interest. However, short of another casting announcement—which looks increasingly unlikely now that production has wrapped—it does feel like these will be the characters around whom Avengers: Doomsday is set to be marketed. That's evident from a leaked list of Marvel Legends action figures, for starters.
Again, we may be getting a little ahead of ourselves, but it was hard to walk away from that leak without at least a small feeling of uncertainty. Marvel Studios has had a hit-and-miss few years with the Multiverse Saga, and the next Avengers movies need to succeed. However, the Russo Brothers are coming off the back of a series of streaming disasters, and Doom is a last-minute replacement for this Saga's original big bad, Kang the Conqueror. That's far from a guaranteed recipe for success, and the same can, unfortunately, be said for The Avengers' B-team (x2), a handful of semi-successful solo heroes, the Fantastic Four, and two-thirds of an X-Men team. Now, we wait and see.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released on December 18, 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars scheduled to arrive on December 17, 2027.