We are standing on the precipice of the end. Not of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but of everything as we know it. With two seismic event films looming, the question is no longer if the Multiverse collapses, but when. According to Marvel Studios, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars are the fifth and sixth installments in the Avengers film series, following Avengers: Endgame (2019). They are the 39th and 40th films of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Both films are directed by Anthony and Joe Russo from screenplays by Michael Waldron and Stephen McFeely. Originally announced in July 2022 as The Kang Dynasty and Secret Wars, the project pivoted after Jonathan Majors' departure. In July 2024, Marvel announced the return of the Russo brothers, the new subtitle Doomsday, and most shockingly, Robert Downey Jr. cast as the villain Doctor Doom. The films are being produced at Pinewood Studios in England. Doomsday filmed from April to September 2025, and Secret Wars is scheduled to begin in mid-2026. Jeffrey Ford is editing both films and Alan Silvestri is composing the musical score.
In Doomsday, the Avengers, Wakandans, Fantastic Four, New Avengers, and the X-Men converge from different universes to face Doctor Doom. The ensemble cast is headlined by Robert Downey Jr., Pedro Pascal, Anthony Mackie, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Simu Liu, Joseph Quinn, and Letitia Wright.
Robert Downey Jr.
Doctor Doom
Joseph Quinn
Johnny Storm
Letitia Wright
Shuri
Pedro Pascal
Reed Richards
Ebon Moss-Bachrach
The Thing
Simu Liu
Shang-Chi
Vanessa Kirby
Sue Storm
Where We Left Off: Fantastic Four
At the end of Fantastic Four: First Steps, the team faced Galactus. Reed Richards made a desperate gamble that pushed the family across dimensions. Sue Storm was pregnant. Doom, watching from Latveria, saw everything. The film ended with the Four arriving in the main MCU timeline — but not together. Reed landed in New York. Sue landed in the Negative Zone. Johnny and Ben were separated by months. The incursion that brought them here also ripped a hole in reality that Doctor Doom has been studying ever since.
The Parenthood Angle
Doomsday is leaning hard into one theme: parenthood. Sue and Reed have Franklin. Steve Rogers has a newborn. Thor has Love. Doom himself lost his child when his original universe died. Strange has America Chavez. Wolverine has X-23. Magneto has an alternate Wanda. Even Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man reportedly has a daughter.
This raises the stakes and makes the multiversal war deeply personal. The best MCU project to handle this theme was WandaVision, where Wanda's grief over her children drove the entire plot. Fantastic Four and Multiverse of Madness touched on it. Love and Thunder and Quantumania fumbled it. But the setup is clear: every major player in Doomsday is protecting a child or mourning one.
The Generational Theory
Look at the full arc of this phase. WandaVision was about a mother looking for her children. Agatha All Along continued that thread with Agatha's own lost child. Ironheart reportedly introduces Mephisto and deals with loss. Monica Rambeau lost her mother. Across all these stories, the underlying question is the same: how much say should the older generation have over the next?
This mirrors real life. The tension between what previous generations expect and how younger generations want to live. It ties back to the X-Men and what Magneto has always stood for — protecting mutant children by any means necessary. The multiverse allows Marvel to ask: can you govern or dictate the next generation of powered beings? And what happens when you try?
Close Call Theories
Doctor Doom is the protagonist of Doomsday
Like Thanos in Infinity War, Doom may be positioned as the hero of his own story. The real villains could be the Beyonders. Doom works alongside the Avengers and Fantastic Four against a common enemy, only to betray them at the last moment.
Wanda is alive in Latveria
After Multiverse of Madness, Wanda was transported to Latveria on Earth-828 with amnesia. Doom asks Professor X and Magneto to care for her. She eventually reunites with Monica Rambeau.
The Cabal forms under Namor
To stop incursions, Namor assembles The Cabal: The Leader, US Agent, Sentry, Mystique, Doc Ock, and King Thanos. They destroy other universes to save their own.
Loki assembles a multiversal Avengers team
Sensing the branched timelines dying, Loki sends the TVA to recruit his own team: Steve Rogers, Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man, Deadpool, Wolverine, X-23, Blade, Elektra, Captain Carter, and The Maker.
Doom creates Battleworld
Doom defeats the Beyonder, absorbs his power, and rewrites reality as Battleworld. Only a handful of heroes make it onto the Life Raft before the final incursion. The post-credits scene reveals Sue Storm survived — living on Battleworld with her children and God Emperor Doom.
"It's almost like the people who grew up with these movies are now adults who might have kids." — skallywag126
"The filmmakers CHOOSE what shots to include. They could easily have not included Steve's son or Thor's daughter. There may be an intentional connection." — ohmeohmyelliejean
"What if Doom is collecting kids with cosmic power? Love was reborn at Eternity's feet. Franklin has the Power Cosmic." — Morchades
Avengers: Doomsday releases December 18, 2026. Avengers: Secret Wars follows December 17, 2027. We are in a new MCU era. And Doom is coming.