Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: Avengers

  • ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ May Feature the Return of the MCU’s Greatest Villain

    ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ May Feature the Return of the MCU’s Greatest Villain

    Given the return of Anthony and Joe Russo to Marvel Studios to direct Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, fans have imagined that the films will have quite a bit in common with Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. In some instances, fans believe Chris Evans‘ role in the film will be directly tied to the actions of Steve Rogers in the epilogue of Endgame. In other instances, fans believe the structure of the films will imitate the structure of the directing duo’s last Marvel films.

    Speculation around the latter has led to the idea that Avengers: Doomsday will open will open with an impressive display of the powers of Doctor Doom, played by Robert Downey Jr.. If that is indeed the case, nothing would hit harder than taking out the big bad of the Infinity Saga and in a brand new video, the actor behind the big bad has teased that may be the play.

    In an interview with ET, Thanos actor Josh Brolin teased his potential return as Thanos, perhaps setting up the inclusion of an epic moment from Jonathan Hickman‘s Secret Wars #8.

    If Joe Russo comes to me, which he may have, I don’t know, and has an idea, then I might acquiesce.

    -Josh Brolin

    Plenty of rumors have surfaced over the last year that Brolin’s Thanos may replace Jonathan Majors‘ Kang as Marvel Studios looked to replace the character after the actor’s legal issues.

    After being introduced in a relatively minor role in James Gunn‘s Guardians of the Galaxy, Thanos became the central villain of what came to be known as the Infinity Saga. With Brolin on board to bring Thanos to life, Marvel Studios did the unthinkable by making a villain the protagonist of Avengers: Infinity War. As the Avengers learned in that film, there’s no more dangerous foe than Thanos, the Mad Titan. And though they had some measure of revenge against him and were able to defeat another Variant of the villain in Avengers: Endgame, Earth-616 was forever changed because of his machinations and was left without several of its mightiest heroes. Simply put, although the Avengers avenged, Thanos won.

    Bringing Brolin back as Thanos would be more than a flippant cameo. Sepending on how it’s done, Thanos’ appearance in Doomsday wound instantly establish the new pecking order in the MCU, elevatimg the threat of Doom.

  • New Rumor May Reveal  Details on the Final Incursion and a Key Location Introduced in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

    New Rumor May Reveal  Details on the Final Incursion and a Key Location Introduced in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

    With principal photography in Avengers: Doomsday having wrapped and additional photography not expected to get underway until early 2026, directors Anthony and Joe Russo have had time to get the post-production process started, pulling the movie together out of the hours and hours of footage. On top of that, rumors persist that the directing duo is helping to prepare a trailer for the film, with the expectation of it running ahead of Avatar: Fire and Ash. While that hasn’t been confirmed by Marvel Studios (and likely won’t be anytime too soon), it is sensible and the emergent rumors about what it might include have seemed reasonable as well.

    Without another Marvel flick in theaters until Spider-Man: Brand New Day next July, the studio will want to make sure a first look at Avengers: Doomsday makes a splash. New details about the rumored trailer make it sound as though it will do just that.

    Following up on word that Robert Downey Jr‘s Victor Von Doom will be a full-blown Universal monster in the film, longtime insider Kristian Harloff has shared a new batch of details on the trailer and the film.

    According to Harloff, the final incursion that leads to the destruction of the Multiverse will include three worlds. And after Doomsday arrives, a key new location will be created: Battleworld.

    In the 2015 Marvel Comics event Secret Wars, the patchwork reality knownas Battleworld was created by Victor Von Doom. Doom assembled fragments of other realities destroyed by incursions into a kingdom ruled over by him as its God Emperor.

    Battleworld has been rumored to be included in the two-part Multiverse Saga finale but this is the first time details about its creation have been shared.

    Though Harloff–who claims to be withholding additional information–did not go on to name the realities involved in the final incursion, it seems likely that Earth-616 (Sacred Timeline), Earth-828 (Fantastic Four) and Earth-10005 (Fox X-Verse) would be the most likely trio given what we know about the film. There is, however, plenty of room for error in that assumption.

    Source: Kristian Harloff

  • New Rumor Details Namor’s Powerful Presence in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

    New Rumor Details Namor’s Powerful Presence in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

    Tenoch Huerta Mejía‘s Namor stands as one of Marvel Studios’ most wonderfully constructed antagonists with his performance in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever leaving fans wanting more. Though characters from the World of Wakanda were expected to play key roles in Avengers: Doomsday, Huerta Mejía‘s name stood out among those revealed to be part of the cast of the 2026 film. And with the Russo brothers directing, K’uk’ulkan’s return should be expected to make a splash…and it sounds as though it will.

    VFX artist turned social media scooper James Mack–who has accurately reported on some details about Avengers: Doomsday–took to X to share details about a massive and VFX-heavy battle featuring Namor and it sounds as though the Emperor of the Deep will unleash the full extent of his powers next year.

    According to the scoop, Namor–accompanied his Talokanil army and a giant octopus–will unleash a “massive tsunami” in an unknown opposing force in Avengers: Doomsday.

    After sharing the original scoop, Mack returned to X to share an image of the giant tidal wave known as the Ultimatum Wave as it wiped out Manhattan. Of course, in Marvel Comics continuity, Magneto, not Namor, caused the Ultimatum Wave. However, that won’t stop Marvel Studios from showing off just how powerful Namor can be in Avengers: Doomsday.

    Mack’s scoop names two new Talokanil soldiers: Andromeda and Orka. Given the legions of soldiers in Namor’s army, namea aren’t dished out to all of them; in fact, only Attuma and Namora were named in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. With those two characters expected to return, perhaps is reasonable to assume Andromeda and Orka might have similarly sized roles. Neither have particularly exciting histories in the pages of Marvel Comics, with Andromeda canonically the daughter of Attuma and Orka typically a blunt instrument. It’s possible that the two are part of an MCU iteration of the Defenders of the Deep, Namor’s hand-picked strike force.

    With a trailer for the film rumored to be headed to theaters in December, this rumor seems relatively believable as this would be JUST the sort of big action beat that could be included in the trailer to raise expectations for the film.

  • Details from Marvel’s Scrapped Avengers Film Reveal One New Team Was Set to Play a Key Role

    Details from Marvel’s Scrapped Avengers Film Reveal One New Team Was Set to Play a Key Role

    In February 2023, Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania writer Jeff Loveness described Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, as “the biggest movie in the world.” However, whatever “big, sweeping” ideas Loveness had for Avengers: The Kang Dynasty were thought to be lost to time as he was replaced as the film’s writer by Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness writer Michael Waldron in November 2023. By July 2024, original director Destin Daniel Cretton had also left the project and was replaced by Anthony and Joe Russo, who brought along old pal Stephen McFeely to work on the script for what became Avengers: Doomsday.

    One early rumor about Loveness‘ plans for the film indicated that it would include multiple teams of heroes, something that was all but confirmed when concept art from Marvel Studios Senior Concept/Visual Development Mushk Rizvi was discovered online in early 2025. While there’s always plenty of space between concept and execution, we now know one “big idea” Loveness had for one particular team whose presence in the film was revealed by the concept leaked art.

    In a Reddit Q&A, Waldron pulled back the curtain on plans he and Loveness had for the Young Avengers before Avengers: The Kang Dynasty was scrapped in favor of Avengers: Doomsday.

    Jeff Loveness and I spent an afternoon pitching on the Young Avengers defeating a version of Kang and being so stoked about it…only to discover that that particular Kang carried a little card that said to Be Patient with him, it was his first day as a Kang. And then they were so bummed. I think he was gonna be the lizard Kang from the end of Kang Dynasty? I don’t know. Anyway we had fun.

    -Michael Waldron, Reddit Q&A, October 28, 2025

    Given the response to the defeat of Jonathan Majors‘ Kang the Conqueror in Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, it seems unlikely such a scene, even if treated as a joke, would have landed well with the grumbly segment of the Marvel “fan base.” However, it is entirely in line with the sensibilities of Loveness and Waldron and also at least partially consistent with one of the Young Avengers first collective missions in the comics.

  • Fans Believe Marvel Studios May Have “Soft Launched” Its New Black Panther

    Fans Believe Marvel Studios May Have “Soft Launched” Its New Black Panther

    In January 2025, a report from Jeff “The In” Sneider indicated that Marvel Studios planned to recast the role of T’Challa, with a new actor set to portray the character originally played by the late Chadwick Boseman. Sneider claimed the new actor would step into the role for three upcoming films, starting with Avengers: Doomsday and continuing on in both Avengers: Secret Wars and Black Panther 3.

    Sneider’s report was quickly countered by social media scooper My Time To Shine Hello, who claimed that the recast wasn’t for the character played by Boseman but rather for T’Challa II, played by Divine Love Konadu-Sun in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Former Marvel Parliament member Nate Moore seemed to put the rumblings to rest in February, explaining that without a story in place for Black Panther 3, the studio was unable to make a decision about replacing Boseman in the role. However, as believable as Moore‘s words were, one of the biggest oopsies ever quickly turned the tide of the story one more time.

    We don’t know what the story is, so I couldn’t tell you whether or not we’re open to recasting. It certainly wasn’t our instinct for Wakanda Forever. I’ll never say never to anything, but it’s too early to talk about any of that stuff. We have to figure out what the story’s going to be.

    -Producer Nate Moore

    In March, Senior Concept/Visual Development Artist Mushk Rizvi posted a significant amount of concept art from the studio’s upcoming slate to her Art Station account. Among there were several designs for a new Black Panther that looked to be using actor Damson Idris as a model. 

    The idea of Idris as the MCU’s new T’Challa took hold quickly among the fanbase; however, further inspection of the files posted on Art Station revealed that the character in the concept art was T’Chanda, the Black Panther of Wakanda in World War II and the grandfather of T’Challa. Despite the excitement, the buzz died down and with principal photography on Avengers: Doomsday having been completed with no sign of Idris among those revealed to be part of the cast, fans seemed to have moved on…until now.

    An appearance by Idris at Vogue World: Hollywood, alongside Black Panther franchise star Angela Bassett, has fansvonce again believing he’s set to be the MCU’s next Black Panther.

    With Bassett spotted holding hands with Idris while outfitted in the same garb work by her Queen Ramonda, fans quickly began to call the event a “soft launch” for the recasting of Boseman‘s iconic role. Theories and speculation have begun to spread across social media platforms and message boards, though no single theory seems to be taking hold. Is Idris a Multiversal Variant, a grown T’Challa II or T’Chanda? Has he been cast in Avengers: Doomsday at all? Given the fact that characters from the World of Wakanda are confirmed to play a major role in the film, all of the options would seem to be in play. With the studio rumored to be planning to roll out a teaser for the film before year’s end, perhaps we’ll all find out soon.

  • New Report Reveals When to Expect the First Trailer for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

    New Report Reveals When to Expect the First Trailer for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

    Marvel Studios has rarely ever had as few projects in production as they do now…and that looks as though it will continue to be the case for the next several months. With Avengers: Doomsday having wrapped principal photography, Spider-Man: Brand New Day stands as the only project known to be filming. Looking ahead to 2026, it won’t get much busier on the live-action side, with only Daredevil: Born Again Season 3, further work on Avengers: Doomsday and the start of production on the final film of the Multiverse Saga, Avengers: Secret Wars, confirmed to be on the schedule.

    Not since the COVID-19 pandemic shut down productions across the world has the studio seen such a reduction in the volume of its content output. With the recent removal of yet another project from its theatrical slate, Marvel will release just three films in the next 27 months. On the bright side, that should give them plenty of time to work on things behind the scenes, including devoting considerable effort to the post-production and marketing of Avengers: Doomsday, a film on which quite a bit is riding.

    Indeed, though the film won’t release until December 2026, it seems as though marketing for Avengers: Doomsday is already underway. A holographic teaser of the film debuted at Disney’s 2026 Merchandise Expo in China, which also provided a good look at the costume of Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom. According to multiple reputable insiders, Disney has big plans to continue heavily marketing the film well ahead of its typical schedule, including getting the film’s first teaser trailer out to the public this year.

    According to longtime Marvel Studios insider Daniel Richtman, Disney plans to attach the first teaser for Avengers: Doomsday to the theatrical release of James Cameron’s Avatar: Fire and Ash. With the third installment in the Avatar franchise set for release on December 19th, Marvel will be providing a look at the first Avengers film in over six years nearly 12 months before it’s release.

    Doctor Doom has officially arrived in the MCU. This villain, a master of cutting-edge science and powerful magic, will unleash a cascading crisis across the entire multiverse.

    -First synopsis for Avengers: Doomsday

    While Marvel has effectively kept production on Avengers: Doomsday out of sight for the most part, it is believed to be largely inspired by Marvel Comics writer Jonathan Hickman‘s work on Avengers and New Avengers titles. Cyclops star James Marsden‘s recent tease that “worlds are ready to collide” seems to have confirmed the belief that the film will feature Fox’s OG X-Men taking on Earth’s Mightiest Heroes as an incursion threatens both of their worlds.

  • Russo Brothers Post Cryptic ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Tease

    Russo Brothers Post Cryptic ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Tease

    After filming for nearly five-and-a-half months, poduction on Avengers: Doomsday is done…for now. While additional photography is expected next year, the cast and crew have wrapped for the time being, allowing directors Joe and Anthony Russo time to tinker, determine what’s needed in reshoots and, of course, begin work on Avengers: Secret Wars. But before they get top busy, the Russo brothers have shared a cryptic tease by way of a phot from the UK studio set of Avengers: Doomsday.

    The photo, which was captioned “Look hard…”, shows what appears to be nothing more than one of the directors in a chair surrounded by a green screen set up. However, upon closer inspection, it is possible a hooded figure is looking down from the top left of the photo.

    Though the film doesn’t release until December 2026, the studio is said to have a large-scale, long-running marketing strategy planned. That plan is rumored to include a teaser for Avengers: Doomsday in theaters attached to Avatar: Fire and Ash, though that’s unlikely to be confirmed by Disney any time soon.

  • ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Leak Provides First Look at Marvel Movie’s Main Cast in Costume

    ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Leak Provides First Look at Marvel Movie’s Main Cast in Costume

    With Marvel Studios recently having completed principal photography on Avengers: Doomsday (though plans include “a healthy dose of additional photography down the road”), directors Anthony and Joe Russo will begin post-production work on the film while also prepping for production on Avengers: Secret Wars. Incredibly, despite filming for five-and-a-half months, true leaks from the set were scarce, leaving fans with only a few bread crumbs about what might be going down in Avengers: Doomsday; however, thanks to one of the film’s hair and makeup artists, the first looks at the new costumes of the entire main cast has made its way online.

    Via her IG story, hair and makeup artist Giovanna Ponci has revealed art of 28 characters confirmed to appear in Avengers: Doomsday. While the most notable costume changes belong to the Fox X-Men, there’s plenty from the artwork to dissect.
    • Top row (L to R): Doctor Doom, Reed Richards, Bucky Barnes, Yelena Belova (partially obscured), Magneto (partially obscured), Beast (partially obscured) and Ghost
    • Second row (L to R): Thor, Sue Storm, Shuri, Red Guardian, Charles Xavier, Cyclops and Falcon
    • Third row (L to R): Captain America, Thing, Shang-Chi, M’Baku, Gambit, Nightcrawler and Sentry
    • Bottom row (L to R): Ant-Man, Johnny Storm, Loki, Namor, Mystique, John Walker and Franklin Richards

    The art reveals that James Marsden‘s Cyclops will be sporting a comic-accurate, Jim Lee-inspired blue and gold suit, confirming previous rumors, and Rebecca Romijn‘s Mystique will be wearing a white dress, per her classic look.

    Yelena Belova and her New Avengers are all featured in the artwork and while their Avengers: Doomsday costumes were revealed in the Thunderbolts* tag, it’s worth pointing out that Lewis Pullman is in full Sentry mode, something that could certainly change the course of the film in more than one way.

    Wakandans Shuri and M’Baku are both sporting new looks while their new ally, Namor, is wearing collared costume that looks to be comic-inspired as well.

    Finally, the Fantastic Four all appear to have slightly altered costumes while Doctor Doom’s look seems to match the promotional art of the character shared at a Shanghai marketing expo in early September.

  • Marvel Wraps ‘Avengers: Doomsday’; ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ On Deck

    Marvel Wraps ‘Avengers: Doomsday’; ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ On Deck

    After filming for roughly five-and-a-half months, principal photography on Avengers: Doomsday has wrapped, according to THR. The trade report confirms suspicions stemming from multiple social media posts from crew members but comes with one caveat: with 15 months until the film’s December 18, 2026 release date, the studio already has plans for “a healthy dose of additional photography down the road.”

    With Avengers: Doomsday simmering until additional photography begins, directors Anthony and Joe Russo can begin to turn at least some of their collective attention to Avengers: Secret Wars, the capstone to the Multiverse Saga which will land in theaters on December 17, 2027.

    Stephen McFeely is writing the script. We are right in the middle of the writing process. We’ve always worked very closely with Markus and McFeely through all the work that we’ve done together. It’s a little bit like getting back on a bike. We have a really codified process that we all work together through… It’s very complicated to iron out a story of this scale.

    -Joe Russo

    “It’ll be similar [to the process of filming Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame], but we’ll have a larger break in between the two movies than we did,” Joe Russo explained in October 2024. According to his brother, Anthony, that “break” will consist of “a year or so,” allowing the brothers time to do some post-production work on Doomsday while also preparing for Secret Wars, which will be written by Infinity War and Endgame co-writer Stephen McFeely.

    Doctor Doom has officially arrived in the MCU. This villain, a master of cutting-edge science and powerful magic, will unleash a cascading crisis across the entire multiverse.

    -First synopsis for Avengers: Doomsday

    With production taking place largely at the UK’s Pinewood Studios, details about Avengers: Doomsday have proven tough to find, though a recent marketing expo did provide a first look at Robert Downey Jr’s Doctor Doom and his comic-accurate power set. Outside of that, a cast reveal in March has been the only official word on the film, which looks to feature the OG Fox X-Men taking on the heroes of Earth-616 as an incursion threatens both their worlds.

    Source: THR

  • A vs. X: ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Star Teases Epic Clash Ahead

    A vs. X: ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Star Teases Epic Clash Ahead

    When Marvel Studios revealed the main cast of Avengers: Doomsday, a number of surprising names graced the backs of chairs, including a half dozen stars from Fox’s X-Men franchise. Fans immediately began to speculate that the return of the OG X-Men could mean only one thing: a war between worlds featuring the Avengers and X-Men. And according to one star, it looks as that’s what we’ll see.

    In an interview with Variety, Cyclops actor James Marsden talked about his role in Avengers: Doomsday and teased that “worlds are ready to collide.”

    You can feel that it’s something special. The world is ready for this movie and these worlds are ready to collide.

    -James Marsden

    With Avengers: Doomsday believed to be largely inspired by Marvel Comics writer Jonathan Hickman‘s work on Avengers and New Avengers titles, it’s possible that the Fox X-Men’s Earth could serve as a stand-in for Earth-1610 (the original Ultimate universe) which went to war with Earth-616 during the final incursion before 2015’s Secret Wars.

    Doctor Doom has officially arrived in the MCU. This villain, a master of cutting-edge science and powerful magic, will unleash a cascading crisis across the entire multiverse.

    -First synopsis for Avengers: Doomsday

    Rumors from the set of Avengers: Doomsday have indicated that any potential clash between Earth’s Mightiest Heroes and the Children of the Atom would be engineered by Doctor Doom. Given the powerful looking Doom seen recently at a merchandising expo in Shanghai, it’s safe to assume he’ll be pulling a lot of strings when Avengers Doomsday hits theaters on December 18, 2026.