Two years out from what the studio hopes will be its biggest event since 2019's Avengers: Endgame, Marvel Studios finds itself managing both a production timeline and a swirl of competing reports about what, exactly, is being filmed where. At the center of it all are Avengers: Doomsday (2026) and Avengers: Secret Wars (2027), the two films tasked with steering the Phase Six era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
A Franchise Betting Big
The scale of the wager is not subtle. After a stretch of years marked by public debate over the durability of Marvel's Multiverse Saga, the studio has staked its next chapter on two large-scale Avengers productions rather than smaller, standalone bets. That gamble looks somewhat safer following the performance of Spider-Man: Brand New Day (2026), which has passed $2 billion worldwide and moved ahead of both Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019) among the highest-grossing domestic releases of all time.
Marvel's response to years of scrutiny has been to bring back a familiar creative team: directors Joe and Anthony Russo, who steered Infinity War and Endgame to their record-setting runs, are back for Doomsday and Secret Wars. Studio president Kevin Feige has characterized the pairing not as a nostalgic retread but as a considered course correction for the franchise.
Casting News and a Widening Canvas
The studio used its D23 presence to reinforce that narrative, unveiling a second trailer for Doomsday and revealing casting for an upcoming X-Men film. Christopher Abbott will star as Charles Xavier, alongside Kit Connor as Scott Summers, Inde Navarrette as Rogue, Maya Boyd as Storm, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, and Adam Driver as Nathaniel Milbury. Thunderbolts* (2025) director Jake Schreier will lead the project, currently targeting a May 2028 release.
Meanwhile, Doomsday‘s own footprint keeps growing. Robert Downey Jr. returns to the MCU, though not as Tony Stark — he'll instead play Victor Von Doom, a character introduced in the post-credits sequence of The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025). Sources describing the character suggest a version of Doom whose motivations are tied, in part, to decisions Steve Rogers made at the close of Endgame. The film's runtime is reportedly approaching three hours, and persistent, unconfirmed speculation holds that Secret Wars may ultimately be released as two films rather than one, effectively expanding the finale into a trilogy.
The Russos on Where Production Stands
In an interview with Collider conducted after San Diego Comic-Con, Anthony Russo detailed the current phase of work on Doomsday: “We're deep into finishing the movie, into finishing Doomsday. All of the grace notes, the music, working with Alan Silvestri, sound mix, creating Alan's incredible original music. Wait until you experience what he's cooked up for Doom. That, and then we're prepping. We're prepping Secret Wars. So, it's a complicated time in our lives, but thrilling.”
Pressed on when Secret Wars would formally begin shooting, Russo kept his answer brief: “Soon. So soon it makes us sweat a little bit.”
Sorting Out a Production Mix-Up
That timeline had been muddied by earlier reporting from Filmbase, which indicated that a UK-based shoot for Secret Wars was already underway before going on a five-week hiatus, with filming expected to pick back up near the end of September. More recent reporting, however, points to a mistaken identity between the two productions.
According to insiders Daniel Richtman and MTTSH, the UK activity belongs to Doomsday, which remains in additional photography, while Secret Wars has yet to start. “They're still doing reshoots for Doomsday and filming for Secret Wars should start at the end of September,” Richtman wrote. MTTSH offered a more direct correction: “What they're currently filming is NOT for Avengers: Secret Wars. Despite reports, they haven't started filming that yet. What they're filming now is additional photography for Avengers: Doomsday.”
In other words, the reported hiatus appears to describe Doomsday‘s reshoot calendar rather than any pause on Secret Wars, which is said to remain on schedule to begin principal photography at the end of September, as originally planned.
A Reset Years in the Making
Beyond the scheduling questions, attention is also turning to how the two films will resolve the Multiverse Saga. Unverified leaks associated with Doomsday suggest its final act will set up Battleworld, the concept expected to serve as the foundation of Secret Wars — a film already confirmed to conclude with the MCU's timelines merged into one.
Alex Perez, writing for The Cosmic Circus (via Comic Book Movie), offered one description of that premise: “Aside from a literal handful of heroes and villains, practically everyone will be under Doom's control, living in a more medieval version of what Wanda did in Westview. Literally think WandaVision meets ‘What If…? The Avengers Assembled in 1602,' and that's the introductory premise to Secret Wars.” Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch has not yet been confirmed for the film, though given her standing with audiences, her absence would be a surprise.
Marvel Studios has not officially confirmed any of these production or story details, and elements of both films remain subject to change ahead of release. Before Doomsday reaches theaters, audiences will get another look at Avengers: Endgame, returning to cinemas September 25 as Avengers Endgame: Encore (2026).
What are your thoughts on what will happen in Doomsday and Secret Wars? Let us know in the comments down below!
