Surfaced marketing images tied to Avengers: Doomsday have revealed redesigned looks for several of the film's major heroes. The upcoming crossover brings together a wide mix of returning characters, including members of the original X-Men lineup alongside the recently assembled Thunderbolts. Avengers: Doomsday wrapped filming in September of last year (plus, some reshoots are happening soon), where production handed out crew gifts featuring artwork that revealed some major character costume changes.
Before Marvel Studios has even released an official teaser, early marketing material for Avengers: Doomsday is already online, including a poster-style illustration featuring much of the film's massive ensemble.
The leak comes as anticipation builds for the Russo Bros. return to Marvel, which Sentry actor Lewis Pullman recently suggested will avoid becoming a simple cameo showcase. He explained that each character in the film gets a meaningful moment, echoing the ensemble balance the directors previously achieved with Infinity War and Endgame.
The official (yet unofficially released) artwork reveals the first clear looks at several returning heroes and villains, ranging from classic X-Men to Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom, while also showcasing notable redesigns for some characters whose previous suits have become fan favorites in the MCU.
Major MCU Redesigns in Avengers 5
Cyclops
James Marsden's return as Cyclops in Avengers: Doomsday confirmed that the iconic X-Men leader will receive a meaningful redesign. The look was first teased in a previous Doomsday trailer focused on the return of the mutants, which ended with Marsden's Scott Summers unleashing a massive optic blast.
His visor now appears to be silver with a red-tinted lens, closely resembling the glasses he wore at the end of X-Men: Days of Future Past. Earlier films, such as X-Men and X2, leaned closer to the comics with a wraparound visor, while later installments relied on red sunglasses.
The new design appears to blend those previous looks, giving Cyclops a more comic-inspired aesthetic, similar to X-Men '97.
Mystique
Rebecca Romijn's Mystique is also getting a significant visual overhaul in Avengers: Doomsday. Instead of the blue body paint and minimal clothing used throughout the original X-Men trilogy, the character now wears a white-and-blue costume with a prominent diamond-shaped chest design.
Shang-Chi
Simu Liu's Shang-Chi will return with an updated costume in Doomsday. While leaked promotional material only shows small visual differences at first glance, Liu confirmed in an interview with the Empire State Building that the suit is "completely different" from the one used in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
According to the actor, the redesigned outfit fits very differently and required him to adjust to new costume pieces when he arrived on set. The updated look likely reflects Shang-Chi's evolving role within the Avengers lineup, likely alongside Sam Wilson's (Anthony Mackie) Captain America.
Magneto
Sticking with the trend of page-to-screen, Ian McKellen's Magneto is embracing a more comic-accurate look in Avengers: Doomsday.
The merchandise artwork shows the legendary mutant wearing his signature crimson-and-purple helmet. This vibrant color scheme marks a departure from the darker leather and armored outfits used in the original Fox films.
Another noticeable change is Magneto's longer hair, which now falls to his shoulders, as shown in the X-Men-focused Doomsday footage.
Namor
Namor (Tenoch Huerta) is getting one of the more dramatic costume updates in Doomsday. The leaked image shows the Talokan ruler wearing a black armored vest with gold trim and a distinctive high-popped collar.
The look, shown in the final Doomsday tease ahead of Avatar: Fire and Ash, draws heavily from one of Namor's most recognizable comic book outfits while still maintaining the Mesoamerican-inspired aesthetic introduced in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.
Loki
MCU veteran Tom Hiddleston appears to be returning to a more traditional look for Loki in his fourth Avengers appearance.
At the end of Loki Season 2, the character transformed into the God of Stories and wore massive, dark green horns as he took his place at the end of time. However, the newly revealed imagery shows Loki wearing the classic gold horns that fans associate with his earlier MCU appearances.
One practical explanation could be that the larger crown from the series would be difficult to wear on set. The smaller, golden crown seems easy to don for long scenes and doesn't require CGI enhancement.
