While it might seem disappointing in the moment, there may actually be some good reasons for the Avengers: Doomsday delay. The upcoming MCU team-up was revealed to have been pushed from its May 1, 2026, release date to December 18 of the same year, moving it (as well as the following Avengers: Secret Wars film) roughly seven months, and thus extending the Multiverse saga.
A specific reason for the Avengers 5 delay was not given in the announcement of the news, but some have speculated it could have been moved for a few particular reasons as production on the epic Robert Downey Jr.-led event movie ramps up in London, England.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to serve as the first in an upcoming Avengers duology that will round out the MCU's Multiverse Saga along with next summer's Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Directed by Captain America: The Winter Soldier filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo, Doomsday will see classic MCU heroes like Chris Hemsworth's Thor, Anthony Mackie's Captain America, and Mark Ruffalo's Bruce Banner team up with newcomers to the franchise like the Fantastic Four and legacy X-Men characters to take on Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom in a Multiversal fight to remember.
Why The Avengers: Doomsday Delay Is a Good Thing?
Time To Get Avengers 5 Right
Ultimately, the most significant benefit of pushing Avengers: Doomsday in the way Marvel Studios and Disney have is the fact that it will give its creative team more time.
Production on the epic team-up only started in early April, leaving what would have a little over a year for the movie to shoot, be edited, and have its various VFX shots to be crafted by the effects houses working on the project. While it likely could have been done, it would have been a tall task and may have resulted in a rushed/lesser-than final product.
The move from May to December gives the Russos and the thousands of people working on Doomsday the benefit of time. It allows some breathing room to ensure the film looks and sounds as good as possible when it eventually hits the silver screen.
A Spidey-Sized Opportunity
Another significant benefit the Doomsday delay affords the Marvel Studios team is working a particular wall-crawling hero into the movie's Multiversal narrative.
Before this move, it was looking less and less likely that Tom Holland's Spider-Man (who was assumed to be a key player in the Avengers coming off Avengers: Endgame in 2019) would have a meaningful role in the upcoming film simply because of the actor's packed schedule filming Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Christopher Nolan's The Odyssey.
But moving Doomsday could allow for a window of time in production to get Holland's webhead into the film while allowing him to work around his other big-screen commitments.
Letting Another Disney Blockbuster Breathe
The Avengers: Doomsday move may not be entirely creative-driven, either. The delay could ultimately have a massive financial incentive for Marvel Studios' parent company. As it was previously laid out, a mere three weeks after Avengers: Doomsday's May 1 release date, the first Star Wars film in seven years, The Mandalorian and Grogu, was supposed to hit theaters on May 22, 2026.
Some fans were scared that Avengers could cannibalize business for the new Star Wars film, potentially dooming the film (and possibly the franchise). Star Wars is in a precarious place at present, and Mandalorian and Grogu is supposed to be its major comeback to the cinema, kicking off a new era for the sci-fi brand.
However, if an Avengers film was still in theaters at that time, it could have distracted from the latest Star Wars project, similar to how some blame Solo: A Star Wars Story's failure in May 2018 in part to its proximity to Avengers: Infinity War.
Why The Avengers: Doomsday Delay Is a Bad Thing?
December Is Unproven for the Avengers
It is not all sunshine and rainbows, though, when pushing a movie as big as Avengers 5. Ultimately, the move also comes with its fair share of risks for the studio and the movie itself. With Avengers: Doomsday, one of the drawbacks of the delay is that December is simply an unproven window for the Avengers brand.
To this point, every Avengers movie (The Avengers, Age of Ultron, Infinity War, and Endgame) has come out in April or May, and Disney has used that time frame to help launch its summer blockbuster slate, something the studio will not get to do with the release of Avengers: Doomsday.
That is not to say Disney/Marvel have never had success in that end-of-the-year window. All but one of the Disney-era Star Wars films were released around then, and Marvel Studios' $1 billion smash hit Spider-Man: No Way Home did the same when it swung into theaters in 2021. This move to December will be a test to see if audiences are as ravenous for an Avengers movie during the holiday season as they are in early Spring.
A Sign of Potential Production Struggles
Another reason this delay could be a bad sign for Avengers: Doomsday is that it could be the first indication of a movie in turmoil. There has been no reporting suggesting Doomsday is in trouble, but it is something to ponder as Marvel moves its release date by more than half a year.
According to Deadline's reporting on the matter, the delay was ultimately so that The Russo Brothers and the rest of the Marvel Studios team could "execute on a gargantuan vision," but that could potentially be PR speak for a deeper underlying issue with either production so far or the story as a whole.
Again, this is pure speculation at this point, and there have been no signs that is the reason Doomsday was kicked down the Disney slate (unlike other recently delayed MCU projects like the ill-fated Blade movie or Armor Wars).
Reworking Spider-Man 4
Something else fans should consider when looking at the negatives of the Avengers delay is that it is coming out later than was initially planned, which could mean that other titles on the MCU slate will need to be reworked to accommodate that. Paramount of these titles is the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
Despite these delays, Spider-Man 4 (which was supposed to be released right between Avengers 5 and 6 as opposed to before) has maintained its July 31, 2026, date, meaning it will stick to the plan of shooting this year and then releasing next.
Putting this movie before Doomsday drastically changes the context of Spider-Man 4 and could require some structural changes script-wise for it to make sense within the MCU's ongoing continuity.
A Longer Phase 7 Wait for Fans
The last of these negatives is the fact that Avengers 5 getting delayed also (inadvertently) means the MCU's long-awaited Phase 7 has also been delayed.
Since the reveal of the current MCU slate, ending with Avengers: Secret Wars, fans have been itching to know what will come after. Many assumed big-name titles like the MCU X-Men movie and Black Panther 3 would be part of the post-Secret Wars story, and this pushes those down the road ever so slightly.
That means that with Doomsday and Secret Wars now coming later than expected, so will the movies following them in whatever saga Marvel Studios has planned for after Phase 6 (many seem to think it will be the Mutant Saga).
