We've all been wondering what Marvel Studios would do about its Kang problem and it appears Doctor Doom was the solution after all! Avengers: The Kang Dynasty has been officially retitled Avengers: Doomsday and will release in May 2026.
As for Avengers: Secret Wars, that's set to follow a year later in May 2027, presumably ending the Multiverse Saga.
However, by far the biggest news to come out of the hour-long Hall H panel was the revelation that Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Doctor Doom!
It sounds like he'll appear in both upcoming Avengers movies and, as expected, those will be directed by Avengers: Endgame helmers Joe and Anthony Russo. They've steered Marvel Studios to huge success in the past so it makes perfect sense to trust them with the Multiverse Saga's two most important projects.
Joining them will be Stephen McFeely as the writer of both movies (for whatever reason, he won't be joined by Christopher Markus).
As for Downey, while he bid farewell to the MCU in 2019, this surprise return comes shortly after the actor won an Oscar for his work in Oppenheimer. It's unlikely we'll see his face as Doom and the comics have frequently hinted at some sort of familial connection between him, Iron Man, and Kang.
Here's the moment Downey unmasked himself as the MCU's Doctor Doom (as for whether that's the villains' "official" mask, we're not sure).
Marvel Studios has also shared official title treatments for both Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. Doom was a pivotal figure in both versions of the latter story and, if we had to hazard a guess, he'll deal with Kang's Variants (likely off-screen) before setting out to bring the entire Multiverse under his rule.
We were expecting an Avengers vs. X-Men announcement but it never came. In fact, there was no mention of mutants at all, suggesting Marvel Studios isn't in any rush to bring the X-Men into the MCU even after Deadpool & Wolverine's release.
Are you excited for the next Avengers movies?