Why I’m Cautiously Optimistic for Avengers: Doomsday

Courtesy of Marvel Studios

Last year, Marvel Studios announced at San Diego Comic-Con that the fifth Avengers movie would be Avengers: Doomsday, that it would come out May 1, 2026, and that Robert Downey Jr would be playing Doctor Doom. Now, the upcoming movie has started filming and recently had a big casting announcement that included original X-Men movie actors like Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and James Marsden returning, as well as a variety of MCU stars from Chris Hemsworth as Thor to new MCU additions like Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic. It looks like the cast will be even bigger, as more names will be announced at a later date. The Russo Brothers will be directing again after directing Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. As excited as I am, there are still concerns that leave me cautiously optimistic.

The MCU has been a roller-coaster since the Infinity Saga ended. It’s had great shows and movies, some good ones, some okay ones, and then some mediocre to bad shows and movies. Sometimes, there are patterns of a great movie like Deadpool & Wolverine coming out, followed by a mediocre movie like Captain America: Brave New World. The Multiverse Saga has lacked the consistency that the Infinity Saga once had. True, not every movie was amazing but except for a few movies, the Infinity Saga had a lot of good things going for them. Here, it’s been up and down and feels more rushed. The Infinity Saga had a nice buildup with each movie. Here, it’s been a big mess of figuring out when we will see certain characters again or when certain story arcs will continue or get wrapped up.

To be fair, delays due to COVID-19 and the 2023 strikes have played a role in this, but it’s not the main reason. Marvel seems to struggle to find the consistency in story arcs it once had. Some of the characters announced for it hasn’t won over general audiences in the same way Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man, Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, and Chris Evans’s Captain America did. A lot of these characters we didn’t even see a whole lot of. The Fantastic Four won’t be officially appearing until this July in The Fantastic Four: The First Steps, which is the last MCU movie before Avengers: Doomsday. We’ve only seen Shang-Chi in Shang-Chi: Legend of the Ten Rings. The original Fox X-Men movie characters it’s been over a decade since we last saw them. For Alan Cumming’s Nightcrawler, it’s been over twenty years. For Rebecca Romijin’s Mystique, it will be around twenty years when Avengers: Doomsday came out. There are a lot of characters to get general audiences familiar with again. Some like Thor, Sam Wilson/Captain America and Scott Lang/Ant-Man will be fine since they appeared in many MCU projects, but they are in the minority of well-developed characters going into this movie. Before Avengers: Infinity War, even if a character had one movie before the film, like T’Challa/Black Panther and Peter Parker/Spider-Man, they also appeared in Captain America: Civil War where they were introduced.

Let’s focus back on the X-Men. It’s a dream come true to see the original big Marvel franchise return and meet MCU characters. Who wouldn’t be excited to see Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier possibly interact with Thor and other MCU characters? Who wouldn’t want to see James Marsden’s Cyclops have banter with certain MCU characters? Who wouldn’t be excited about possibly seeing Ian McKellen’s Magneto face off or maybe team-up with Downey Jr’s Doom? Yet, the fear of the X-Men being nostalgia bait is kicking in. Will they be handled well, like the legacy Spider-Man movie characters in Spider-Man: No Way Home and the legacy Marvel Fox characters in Deadpool & Wolverine? Nostalgia isn’t a bad thing if handled right, and Marvel did it well in two of its big multiverse movies so far, but can the Russo Brothers pull it off with even more characters in this movie? Also, what does this mean for a new X-Men in the future of the MCU? We’ve wanted to see the X-Men in the MCU but were expecting a new cast and new continuity to fit in. Maybe the old cast will get official closure and set-up a new cast.

Another concern is who hasn’t been announced yet and if it will affect the movie. Many characters fans wanted to hear announced, who were in the biggest post-Avengers: Endgame movies, were not announced yet and might not appear until Avengers: Secret Wars. There is no official confirmation on Tom Holland’s Spider-Man despite what scoopers claim. While Doctor Strange actor Benedict Cumberbatch said back in January he will be in Avengers: Doomsday, it’s not officially confirmed. Deadpool and Wolverine were not announced to join Stewart and the other X-Men stars. There is no announcement on Chris Pratt as Star-Lord, who Marvel confirmed will return in a future project. Other characters like Hulk, Hawkeye, Captain Marvel, Kate Bishop, and a few others have not been announced to appear either. Even other legacy X-Men actors who would likely return with their fellow cast members, like Halle Berry as Storm and Famke Janssen as Jean Grey, weren’t announced for the movie.

Not every Marvel movie character will appear. They might not even appear in Avengers: Secret Wars. Still, fans would at least expect Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and others who have experience in the multiverse to play some significant role in Avengers: Doomsday, a role more significant than members of The Thunderbolts who will be in the upcoming movie. We know the upcoming Spider-Man movie, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, comes out two months later and will take place right after Avengers: Doomsday. Maybe certain cast members haven’t been announced since they aren’t filming the movie yet. Tom Holland is currently working on Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, so if he is going to be in Avengers: Doomsday, he won’t be filming his scenes until he is done with his current project.

The number of characters will be a big challenge, even if no more characters are announced. The Russo Brothers do have experience in this with Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame. They knew what characters to focus on and when they would have their big moments, giving iconic scenes to, and which characters could play well off of. Back then, it was the Avengers, the Guardians of the Galaxy, Black Panther and other heroes from Wakanda, and Doctor Strange and Wong. Now, it’s what’s left of the Avengers, the original X-Men, the Thunderbolts, the Fantastic Four, and newcomers like Namor and Shang-Chi. It’s still likely more characters will join in. Who is the main hero? Scoopers claim it was Spider-Man, but he’s not officially confirmed for the movie. The only original Avenger so far confirmed is Thor, so will he be the main hero, and who would he share the spotlight with, Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards and maybe Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson?

A lot seems to ride on Avengers: Doomsday. It’s going to be the biggest MCU movie since Avengers: Endgame. It will lead to an even bigger Avengers movie called Avengers: Secret Wars. Marvel needs a big win with this movie. Only two MCU movies after 2019 have made over a billion dollars worldwide, Spider-Man: No Way Home and Deadpool & Wolverine. The obvious expectation is for Avengers: Doomsday to make around the same amount of money and possibly more. If this movie is good and does well at the box office, Marvel is in good shape leading up to Avengers: Secret Wars. If not, they will have a big problem on their hands for a year until Avengers: Secret Wars. Rumors of last-minute changes and maybe a delay could happen to fix the movie if Avengers: Doomsday doesn’t deliver.

Overall, there is a lot to be excited about with Avengers: Doomsday, but a lot to be concerned about. Hopefully, this movie lives up to expectations. Are you excited for Avengers: Doomsday? Let us know in the comments below.