Here's The Purported Reason Why AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY Doesn't Have A Finalized Script

Here's The Purported Reason Why AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY Doesn't Have A Finalized Script

Marvel Studios movies are notorious for script changes and ad libs during shooting, but there's apparently a clear reason why the Avengers: Doomsday script isn't locked down.

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By MarkJulian - Apr 28, 2025 06:04 PM EST
Filed Under: Avengers: Doomsday

Ever since the first Iron Man film back in 2008, it's nothing new for a Marvel Studios film to not have a finalized script or for things to radically change while on set.

As such, MCU fans shouldn't really be alarmed by reports that the current script for Avengers: Doomsday isn't finalized yet, despite the fact that the Russos having revealed that filming kicks off today.

But apparently, there's a very special reason why the script isn't finalized, according to recent reports.

It's because Marvel Studios hasn't signed all of the actors yet that it wants to appear in the film.

Per the latest rumors, it seems there are several OG X-Men from the Fox era that haven't signed on yet but are in talks to return, including Halle Berry.

There's also Chris Evans, whose Marvel contract expired with Avengers: Endgame. It probably doesn't help matters that Robert Downey Jr.'s massive Marvel paydays are common knowledge, as the agents for some of the bigger-name stars are likely to try and drive up the price of their client.

In addition to Evans and Berry, also missing from the casting reveal were Mark Ruffalo and Jeremy Renner. Chris Pratt's Star-Lord was also unconfirmed, as was the new team of Guardians being led by Rocket.

Deadpool and Wolverine's Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds were also glaring omissions, along with the three live-action Spider-Men- Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire.

Kevin Feige recently confirmed that the full cast for Endgame wasn't revealed during the livestream, but perhaps those names weren't left off in an effort to maintain secrecy, perhaps they were left off because Marvel doesn't know if they'll be able to sign their respective actors?

Fight sequences and major plot reveals might be changing daily as more actors board or others make it clear that they're not returning.

The official cast for Avengers: Doomsday, as recently confirmed by Marvel Studios, includes a mix of familiar MCU heroes, returning Fox X-Men characters, and the MCU's new Fantastic Four.

The confirmed characters include Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm / Invisible Woman, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Captain America, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier, Letitia Wright as Shuri / Black Panther, Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man, Wyatt Russell as John Walker / U.S. Agent, Tenoch Huerta Mejía as Namor, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm / The Thing, and Simu Liu as Shang-Chi.

Also confirmed to appear is Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova / Black Widow, Kelsey Grammer as Hank McCoy / Beast, Lewis Pullman as Bob Reynolds / Sentry, Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres / Falcon, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm / Human Torch, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian, Winston Duke as M'Baku, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr / Ghost, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier / Professor X, Ian McKellen as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto, Alan Cumming as Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler, Rebecca Romijn as Raven Darkhölme / Mystique, James Marsden as Scott Summers / Cyclops, Channing Tatum as Remy LeBeau / Gambit, and Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic.

Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. returns to the MCU but not as Tony Stark, he'll be portraying the film's primary villain, Victor von Doom aka Doctor Doom.  

The creative team behind Avengers: Doomsday is comprised of a talented group of individuals and familiar faces from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including the dynamic directing duo Anthony and Joe Russo.

The screenplay for Avengers: Doomsday is penned by Michael Waldron and Stephen McFeely. Waldron is known for his work on Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, while McFeely has a long and successful history with Marvel, having co-written Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. 

Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled for release on May 1, 2026. The film is set to be followed by Avengers: Secret Wars on May 7, 2027.

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HashTagSwagg
HashTagSwagg - 4/28/2025, 6:37 PM
Sounds sloppy and desperate
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vectorsigma
vectorsigma - 4/28/2025, 7:32 PM
@HashTagSwagg - i agree.
BellChi1ton
BellChi1ton - 4/28/2025, 7:42 PM
@HashTagSwagg - you do realize this is the exact same process that they went through for Captain America: Civil War, right? Spider-Man was cast and written into the script 2 to 3 months after Civil War had already began filming,
HashTagSwagg
HashTagSwagg - 4/28/2025, 7:53 PM
@BellChi1ton - User Comment Image
McMurdo
McMurdo - 4/28/2025, 7:54 PM
@BellChi1ton - yup and we ended up getting a big ole fight at an empty airport with zero tension.
Feralwookiee
Feralwookiee - 4/28/2025, 8:28 PM
@McMurdo - I agree there were no real stakes in that fight, but it was still fun to see something like that on film finally.
The fight with Tony and Steve at the end has pretty big stakes imo and is emotionally charged.
CW is totally in my top 3 MCU movies of all time.
Spiderken2
Spiderken2 - 4/28/2025, 9:08 PM
@HashTagSwagg - self description, huh?
captainwalker
captainwalker - 4/28/2025, 11:33 PM
@BellChi1ton -
it showed
rkshuttleworth
rkshuttleworth - 4/29/2025, 12:00 AM
@HashTagSwagg - No, it sounds like many of you are ignorant about the process and spend your time whining on the internet like typical nerds
McMurdo
McMurdo - 4/29/2025, 11:53 AM
@Feralwookiee - yeah the final fight was great
VicSage
VicSage - 4/28/2025, 6:37 PM
What a ridiculous way to make a movie. But this is Marvel’s formula. Also, they’re crunched for time here
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 4/28/2025, 8:09 PM
@VicSage - With the possible cast as big as it is, and Secret Wars still to come, I don't see it as much of an issues as others may. The basic story will be locked down and only talking about lesser nuances in regards to a script as in does Sentry rip this guy or that gal in two during act three to my mind.

Idealy you want all the actors locked in in advance but how long do you hold off just to secure the actor idealy wanted such as Halle Berry before you decide to either recast (possibly with a reduced role) or hold one of the Fox versions of Storm back for appearing only in Secret Wars (prior to an expected recast anyway for the MCU after that at some point).

There is a fair argument if any were playing hard ball have a cut off point where you have a plan B ready to go but kinda depends on specifics as with some actors it would be game changing for many if they are included or missing from the film.

End of the day main thing will be if we love the end result or not and that remains to be seen.
bobevanz
bobevanz - 4/29/2025, 7:58 AM
@VicSage - They're the only studio that does this. The script isn't finished, they don't know everyone who is coming back, and they start production this week. So much added stress for no [frick]ing reason. Don't forget the vfx crew who will be locked away for a year trying to make 50 characters with different powers look decent. Some people are realistic, these clowns are always trying to turn water into wine
harryba11zack
harryba11zack - 4/28/2025, 6:38 PM
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Madman
Madman - 4/28/2025, 6:57 PM
It has worked in the past, but also to what I assume is a smaller scale. I don’t think anyone is expecting this to be anything short of the biggest film ever—which definitely kicks up the risk. I’m all for fan service or I wouldn’t have an account on this site, but I think it’s important that there’s a cohesive story that works, too. Avengers movies desperately need rewatch value if they want to move past the $2b mark and that starts with a strong story.
Gabimaru
Gabimaru - 4/28/2025, 7:05 PM
@Madman - 💯 it worked with smaller scale cast but with this one it really looks like they will throw anything that sticks
JacobsLadder
JacobsLadder - 4/28/2025, 6:59 PM
what possibly could go wrong?
AnEye
AnEye - 4/28/2025, 7:05 PM
Not the first movie to do script write while filming, so it’s whatever.
SteviesRightFoo
SteviesRightFoo - 4/28/2025, 7:06 PM
I could do without ever seeing buffalo as the (supposed) hulk again. They absolutely destroyed the character over the last 10 years
Feralwookiee
Feralwookiee - 4/28/2025, 8:30 PM
@SteviesRightFoo - I agree with you, but that's on the heads of the writers, not Ruffalo.
Shivermetimbers
Shivermetimbers - 4/28/2025, 10:40 PM
@Feralwookiee - this is a good point. Hulk was portrayed really well in ruffalos first appearance as hulk. Still pretty good in Age of Ultron too.
MGSSnake1988
MGSSnake1988 - 4/28/2025, 7:11 PM
It worked with Civil War, No Way Home, and Deadpool & Wolverine.

Curious how Doomsday will overcome its gimmickery approach. The concept of Fantastic Four, X-Men, and Avengers facing off against Doom sounds fun. RDJ, Multiverse, lesser-known Avengers, and Fox-Men sound desperate but it depends on how they do it.
ObserverIO
ObserverIO - 4/28/2025, 7:38 PM
@MGSSnake1988 - Are they facing off against Doom though? I would've assumed they'd be facing off against each other in incursions while Doom sets off on his own mission to save all reality.
Nolanite
Nolanite - 4/28/2025, 7:28 PM
They literally have 1 year to do a whole lot of filming, plus post production and a whole lot of CGI work. But it's already expected that their CGI will suck just like the movies before this one.

I wouldn't be surprised if they delayed each movie by a year. If it was up to me, id just shit can the movies but it isn't.

Nolanite out
String
String - 4/28/2025, 7:30 PM
To me, a script is the actual lines an actor says. That is not the same as the story being told. I believe Marvel Studios has the story already figured out but not who says what and doing what because there are still contracts being figured out.

So, I don't think this is too big a deal. Practically every Marvel film goes in with an unfinished script. I would be worried more about VFX effects not being completed on time and looking like crap. I think Marvel Studios has worked around far greater obstacles before, like working around actors' schedules or their availability, than having a locked script on day one. To me, this is a nothing burger and shouldn't be something folks are worried about. Concerned, perhaps, but definitely not something that indicates things aren't moving forward as they should.
Scarilian
Scarilian - 4/28/2025, 7:32 PM
@String -
"To me, a script is the actual lines an actor says. That is not the same as the story being told."

The script is everything... dialogue, pacing, structure, locations, events. It is the story.

Even if we took it as what you are saying here, are you expecting these additional characters not to speak or have any interactions with the other actors?
Yellow
Yellow - 4/28/2025, 7:57 PM
@String - that's...not how it works.

They can add things while filming or change some details but the macro should be the same. MoM didn't have a proper script while shooting and the movie was a mess
McMurdo
McMurdo - 4/28/2025, 8:00 PM
@String - absolutely a big deal. And the story is part of the script. They know where they want the story to go but if they are not finalizing dialogue and how they adapt said story because of a bunch of question mark signings, that almost always leads to a mess. This isn't Iron Man 2008 where you had a small handful of extremely talented actors brainstorming and riffing on dailies for what was essentially an indie film. This is an Avengers film with an insanely large cast. When you go at it in this way, you almost certainly ensure a ton of characters end of being watered down and that arcs never materialize in a satisfying way.
String
String - 4/28/2025, 8:54 PM
@Scarilian - I understand what you're trying to say. But I don't think you are getting what I'm putting down. The STORY is right now COMPLETE that's different than a locked script. The STORY dictates all that you're saying. The STORY beats remain the same. Locations remain the same. Events remain the same. Pacing is done during filming. STORY structure remains the same. The directors' control ALL of that. The only work around for the Russos is who's says what, who does what, and that is entirely dependent on actor accessibility. Russos work on different variations of the STORY, for example Russos had a Spider-Man version and a non-Spider-Man version for Civil War. Originally, Black Panther was Marvel's back-up plan if the SONY deal didn't go through, but Marvel Studios decided to keep both despite landing Spider-Man. Sometimes contract negotiations work out, sometimes they don't.

Here's another possible scenario: We know there is most likely a sequence at the X-Mansion. That location doesn't change in the STORY. The event that happens there in the STORY doesn't change. The pacing is entirely based on how the Russo's & editors compose the sequence. I'll use Halle Berry as an example. Say the Russos are expecting to use Storm for an elaborate sequence in a fight at the X-Mansion. Right now, it's already been STORY boarded. It's been line animated. Perhaps VFX artists are already at this point rendering the effects. But there's going to be a point-of-no-return if Marvel Studios/Disney isn't able to get Halle Berry. That VFX sequence with Storm will be scrapped and those assets are given to another actor's character. Not her Storm powers per se but another character to get their VFX time to shine. Did Disney not able to get Halle Berry as Storm change anything in the STORY? We as fans just lose out not seeing an OG X-Men but it changes nothing in the STORY. The script however will change, her lines will be tweaked, and any action or STORY beat will be given to another actor.

That's what I mean by saying STORY and a locked script are two separate things. Without a STORY you have nothing. You have no structure. Dialogue in a script can be tweaked and given to another actor during film production. You want to have a script as strong as possible, but the STORY is all encompassing for a movie to be good or not. Fortunately, Stephen McFeely has come up with a supposedly great STORY that has excited the Russos and has written some of Marvel Studios' best films. He also knows how to manage characters and roll with the punches if things don't go as planned.
String
String - 4/28/2025, 9:01 PM
@McMurdo - You know, at this point. I'm just not going to argue with folks about this. It does no good trying to explain a point when folks aren't willing to accept knowledge from a guy who has worked in the business and knows the difference between a STORY and a script coming from that STORY. Anyhow, I accept your point and am just going to leave it at that.
Scarilian
Scarilian - 4/29/2025, 8:52 AM
@String -
"Right now, it's already been STORY boarded. It's been line animated. Perhaps VFX artists are already at this point rendering the effects. But there's going to be a point-of-no-return if Marvel Studios/Disney isn't able to get Halle Berry. That VFX sequence with Storm will be scrapped and those assets are given to another actor's character."

It costs a lot of money to do that and it'd be a horrific way to make films because it'd result in insane excess costs spent before they even get actors to agree to the reprise.

"We as fans just lose out not seeing an OG X-Men but it changes nothing in the STORY."

So the characters are entirely irrelevant, it doesn't matter who is actually in a sequence if you can erase them. If the story is bare-bones such as fight at X-Mansion without the story being tied to a majority of the characters in the sequence then it devalues the sequence and is just mindless action.

"He also knows how to manage characters and roll with the punches if things don't go as planned."

We don't have characters, nobody in this film has been developed prior as having anything close to approaching a personality to latch onto. The most developed character is Yelena and she's defined as not taking anything seriously and in Thunderbolts we'll learn she does this to hide her depression... that's the best we have.
Scarilian
Scarilian - 4/28/2025, 7:34 PM
I hope these movies get delayed, this style of film making is self-destructive.

As much as I'm fully expecting them to be train-wrecks where the only thing going for them is the visuals of characters fighting, I don't want them to be utterly horrific in every single regard to the point where they kill Superheroes as a genere.
Yellow
Yellow - 4/28/2025, 7:55 PM
@Scarilian - people are willing to see the genre dead, just look at the comments in this site
ShimmyShimmyYA
ShimmyShimmyYA - 4/28/2025, 7:35 PM
Micromanage the movie otw (I hope it’s good truly)
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 4/28/2025, 7:40 PM
Isn’t this how IW and EG were made either?.

If so then I don’t see the issue here aside from headlines like this being reported to shit on Marvel because it’s the cool thing to do nowadays.

Hell , Marvel never have finalized scripts and keep working on it during production & even reshoots which are built into their schedule.

Most blockbusters in general are like that hence it’s not uncommon in big budget filmmaking , especially for movies of this scale.
TheOtherOn
TheOtherOn - 4/28/2025, 7:54 PM
Pretty sure they are trying to invent time machine to go back to "good old days".

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Batmangina
Batmangina - 4/28/2025, 7:59 PM
They have no [frick]ing clue what they are doing - they locked in RDJ with zero plan just for the member berries and to try and recapture the DP&W dollars.

They lost the [frick]ing plot YEARS ago - what's the aggregate P&L since ENDGAME?

How much do those dogshit shows that no one watches cost?
mountainman
mountainman - 4/28/2025, 8:40 PM
@Batmangina - I imagine they will be unhappy with anything less than $2 billion for this. It’ll be far more expansive than D&W:
Batmangina
Batmangina - 4/28/2025, 9:06 PM
@mountainman - I'm onboard with Crossover Porn all day long as I grew up on Marvel Continuity and DC *ahem* Continuity, so it's fun to see Triple Spidey Adventures and then to watch The Human Torch get killed by Professor X's sister but to pretend that shit is anywhere NEAR the level of the OG Cap Trilogy or even Age of Ultron at this point is [frick]ing ridiculous.
JustAWaffle
JustAWaffle - 4/29/2025, 10:01 AM
@Batmangina - User Comment Image
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