Will The Mad Titan return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe to take his revenge on Earth's Mightiest Heroes?
Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars are shaping up to me massive MCU events, and the latter, in particular, could easily wind up being the most ambitious superhero movie ever made.
Even though only a handful of characters have been confirmed to appear (and even then only via trade reports), the movie is expected to feature a new roster of Earth's Mightiest Heroes (the Thunderbolts* team are rumored to form the basis of these New Avengers) along with the surviving members of the original team.
We have also heard that at least some variants will be involved, and could form a team of "Evil Avengers."
Previous rumors have claimed that Thanos is set to return, and Josh Brolin is said to be in talks to reprise the role. We had assumed that the powerful villain would be a part of Secret Wars, but scooper MTTSH believes he will be back "sooner than we think."
If not Secret Wars, Doomsday seems like the most likely possibility, but we also have Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps on the horizon (though if Thanos was involved in those projects, we'd surely have heard by now). There are also some Disney+ shows in development, including Nova.
While discussing his past roles with Collider last October, Brolin admitted that he would consider playing Thanos again under the right circumstances - and with Joe and Anthony Russo at the helm.
"I’m not kidding — There’s a thing with playing Thanos. It’s like, ‘Oh, they’re gonna bring Thanos back.’ It’s like Sicario ; it has to be right. It’s like Ryan Reynolds and I talking about Taylor Swift and we should be talking about Deadpool 4 . But we go back and forth. Again, it’s what in his mind fits, what in my mind fits. Thanos has to fit if you’re going to bring him back. I would do anything that the Russos wanted me to do."
Brolin was then asked if Marvel has been in touch: "He declined to give an answer. He did cough, though."
Take that as you will!
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.
Have another look at some photos Downey Jr. shared to Instagram after the big reveal below.