Marvel fans will have to wait a little longer for their next cinematic spectacle. Disney has officially delayed Avengers: Doomsday to December 18, 2026, pushing it back by seven months from its original May release date. This rescheduling has also affected Avengers: Secret Wars, which will now hit theaters a year later on December 17, 2027.
The new release date places Doomsday in direct competition with Dune: Messiah, the highly anticipated final chapter of Denis Villeneuve’s acclaimed Dune trilogy. This blockbuster collision has already been dubbed “Dunesday” by fans online, marking one of the most anticipated movie weekends in recent memory.
Disney’s reshuffling doesn’t stop there. The studio appears to be reworking its broader superhero slate, with several “Untitled Marvel” projects either being removed from the calendar or relabeled as “Untitled Disney.” This means that between the release of Fantastic 4: First Steps in July 2025 and Spider-Man: Brand New Day a full year later, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) will experience its longest theatrical drought since the COVID-19 pandemic.
The delay aligns with recent remarks by Disney CEO Bob Iger, who acknowledged that Marvel had “lost a little focus by making too much.” The new strategy aims to streamline the content pipeline, focusing on fewer but higher-quality releases to reignite audience enthusiasm and restore the franchise’s prestige.
Despite the delay, Avengers: Doomsday remains a massive cinematic event. The film marks the return of Robert Downey Jr., not as Iron Man, but in a dramatic twist as Doctor Doom. He’ll be joined by an ensemble cast including the Thunderbolts, the Fantastic 4, and X-Men legends Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen. With production already ramping up, expectations for this film are sky-high.
December 2026 is shaping up to be a blockbuster-packed month, with Doomsday and Dune: Messiah joined by other major titles like Ice Age 6, Shrek 5, and Jumanji 4, promising a holiday season like no other at the global box office.
