Marvel Studios is giving fans a little more time to prepare for its next two massive crossover events. The studio has officially delayed Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, pushing both films from their originally scheduled May debuts to December holiday releases.
Avengers: Doomsday has officially been pushed to a Christmas 2026 release on December 18, 2026, while Avengers: Secret Wars is set to follow on December 17, 2027. This new schedule coincides with the exact same release date Warner Bros. had planned for Dune: Messiah, the third installment of Denis Villeneuve’s epic sci-fi series starring Timothée Chalamet.
READ: Anthony Mackie, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke, Among 25 to Join Cast of Marvel’s Avengers: Doomsday
The clash of these two tentpole titles has already sparked comparisons to the “Barbenheimer” phenomenon of 2023, when Greta Gerwig’s Barbie and Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer shared a release date and saw heightened box office returns thanks to the unique cultural moment. Fans are buzzing about the potential repeat effect for Doomsday and Messiah, with one person tweeting, “There’s absolutely no way we’re getting Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Messiah on the same day…”
Directed by the Russo Brothers, both upcoming Avengers movies are being described as some of the most ambitious in Marvel history. Doomsday, currently in production, features a massive cast including Chris Hemsworth, Letitia Wright, Anthony Mackie, Florence Pugh, Simu Liu, Pedro Pascal, and the rumored return of Robert Downey Jr. as a variant of Doctor Doom.
The films are set to pull together storylines from Thunderbolts, Fantastic Four: First Steps, Loki, and will even reintroduce beloved X-Men characters played by Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and Rebecca Romijn. Given the sheer scale of these projects, the release shifts signal a deliberate move by Marvel to take its time, ensuring these movies are more than just superhero spectacles — they’re event-level cinema.
Disney CEO Bob Iger has emphasized Marvel’s need to “consolidate” and reduce output, focusing more on quality than quantity. That’s why, for 2026, Doomsday and Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be the only Marvel theatrical releases.
Even with the longer wait, the excitement is palpable. Between the promise of a multiversal showdown and the possibility of another Barbenheimer-style phenomenon at the box office, Avengers: Doomsday looks to be a cinematic event that will have everyone talking — and buying tickets.
Disney’s Other Big Announcements:
- The Devil Wears Prada 2 is officially set to hit theaters on May 1, 2026. The sequel to the iconic 2006 dramedy is bringing back director David Frankel and screenwriter Aline Brosh McKenna. While no cast has been formally confirmed, Meryl Streep, Emily Blunt, and Anne Hathaway are all rumored to return — with the sequel reportedly following Miranda Priestly as she tries to keep Runway afloat in the digital age, going head-to-head with her former assistant, now a powerful luxury exec. Stanley Tucci may also reprise his role as Nigel, although he’s keeping quiet… for now.
- Ridley Scott’s The Dog Stars, based on the bestselling novel by Peter Heller, lands in theaters March 27, 2026. Set in a post-pandemic world, it stars Jacob Elordi as a grieving pilot who sets out with his dog in search of human connection. The film also stars Margaret Qualley, Josh Brolin, Benedict Wong, Guy Pearce, and Claes Bang.
- James Cameron’s Avatar: The Way of Water will return to theaters in IMAX/3D on October 3, 2025 — just ahead of the third installment, Avatar: Fire and Ash, which drops December 19, 2025.