Rumors relating to both Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars started doing the rounds online shortly after the projects were announced, but some recent developments may have given us a clearer picture of what to expect.
The initial announcement that Robert Downey Jr. would return as Doctor Doom prompted speculation that this version of the villain could be a Tony Stark variant, and subsequent reports that Chris Evans and Scarlett Johansson might be set to reprise their respective roles as Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff hinted at the possibility of a team of evil Avengers assembling to do battle with the MCU's new roster of Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
Paul from the Heavy Spoilers Show has now shared a new video relaying what he's heard about Secret Wars, and he believes the plan is indeed to have "mirror characters" such as Sam Wilson (Captain America), Yelena Belova (Black Widow), Kate Bishop (Hawkeye) and Peter Parker (Spider-Man... but also Iron-Boy!) come face-to-face with their predecessors/mentors.
He specifically mentions an "emotional reunion" between Yelena and Natasha, but it sounds like our New Avengers won't be immediately aware that the Multiversal variants they encounter are actually "a twisted version" of the OG Avengers, and things soon take a dark turn.
Apparently, "Doom is leading an evil group of Avengers that come from another earth," and "the entire point of creating these characters that reflect the original line-up, is because they'll be facing off against each other."
If this is accurate, it would obviously suggest that Downey Jr. is indeed playing a Tony Stark variant and not the Victor Von Doom, although it's worth noting that there have been conflicting reports about the actor staying on as Doom post Secret Wars.
This is very much just a rumor for now, but it does gel with some previous reports. How would you feel about the original Avengers cast reassembling as an evil take on the team? Let us know in the comments section down below.
Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters on May 1, 2026, followed by Avengers: Secret Wars on May 7, 2027. Both films will be directed by the Russo brothers, who also make their MCU return after helming Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
"Being able to create stories and explore characters within the Marvel Universe fulfilled a life-long dream of ours, and we discovered a powerful connection with audiences in each film that we made. We’re thrilled to collaborate once again with Kevin, Lou and the entire Marvel team to bring this epic adventure in storytelling to new and surprising places for both the fans and ourselves”, said The Russos in a statement after the SDCC panel.
Both movies are expected to shoot (almost) back-to-back, with production kicking off this April in the UK.