Avengers Doomsday and Avengers Secret Wars release postponed; why Disney has delayed Robert Downey Jr's Marvel return

The release of Marvel Cinematic Universe's next two Avengers films - Doomsday and Secret Wars - have been pushed back by months, Disney informed.

Updated on: May 23, 2025, 06:16:33 IST

By Abhimanyu Mathur

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Fans will have to wait a little longer for a full glimpse of Robert Downey Jr. as the Marvel villain Doctor Doom. Disney has postponed the Iron Man star's much-awaited return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The studio announced on Thursday that the release of the next two Avengers films has been delayed. (Also read: Shah Rukh Khan to join Marvel Cinematic Universe for superhero film? Here's what we know about his Hollywood debut)

Robert Downey Jr will play the villain, Doctor Doom, in Avengers Doomsday.

Acengers Doomsday and Secret Wars postponed

According to information shared by Disney, which is now the parent company of Marvel Studios, Avengers: Doomsday, which marks RDJ's return, will now come out on December 18, 2026, about seven months later than its previous date of May 1. The film is currently in production. Filming began earlier this year after a grand cast announcement from Marvel.

Disney also moved Avengers: Secret Wars to December 17, 2027 from May 2, 2027.

According to Reuters, the new schedule was chosen to give the filmmakers more time to complete the superhero movies, which are among the biggest Disney has ever made, a source familiar with the matter said. Doomsday is already in production.

About the two upcoming Avengers films

Both Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars are part of Phase VI of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), and will be directed by the Russo Brothers. Previously, the Russos have given MCU its biggest hits, including Avengers: Endgame and Avengers: Infinity War, the only two MCU films to gross over $2 billion each worldwide.

Avengers: Endgame, released in 2019, is the second-highest-grossing movie of all time with $2.8 billion in global ticket sales, behind Avatar with $2.9 billion. Given the scale of Doomsday and Secret Wars, Marvel is hoping the films would touch these lofty benchmarks again. MCU is the most lucrative film franchise in cinema history.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Abhimanyu Mathur
Abhimanyu Mathur is Deputy Editor, Entertainment at Hindustan Times. With almost 15 years of experience in writing about everything from films and TV shows to cricket matches and elections, he inhales and exhales pop culture and news. Currently, he watches movies and TV shows and talks to celebrities for a living, while occasionally writing about them as well. A journalism graduate of Delhi College of Arts and Commerce, Delhi University, Abhimanyu began his career with Hindustan Times at the age of 20, swapping classrooms for newsrooms at an early age. He began his journey in the early days of digital journalism, later switching to the madness of print journalism. Work has led him to far off places like Japan and Jordan, as well as to the interiors of Haryana and the Indo-Pak border. He dabbled in city reporting in places like Meerut, Gurgaon, and Delhi, covered the Olympics and Cricket World Cups, before finding his calling in entertainment and lifestyle during the pandemic. A Rotten Tomatoes Certified Film Critic, he is equally at home covering stories on ground as he is interviewing celebrities and studios, and sometimes prefers to shepherd teams in delivering traffic through the day. Even as his role has evolved from reporter to supervisor over the years, his first love remains writing (and of late, talking on camera). With a good understanding of cinema and its trends, and a keen eye for detail, he continues to spark conversations around showbiz for readers around the world.Read More

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