Avengers: Doomsday's spot on the timeline seems to line up with another major 2026 release in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The MCU's timeline has been a constantly shifting scale, with some movies, like Eternals, delving into the past, while others push the main timeline into the future. As things currently stand in the MCU, the in-universe timeline is a couple of years ahead of our real one, thanks to Avengers: Endgame's major time skip, and things are continuing to move into the future in Marvel's two major 2026 releases.
The first synopsis for Spider-Man: Brand New Day confirms that "four years have gone by" since fans last saw Tom Holland's hero in Spider-Man: No Way Home. That last film canonically took place in the year 2024, shortly after the events of Spider-Man: Far From Home, which revealed Peter Parker's secret identity to the world. This means that Spider-Man: Brand New Day will take place sometime in 2028.
Another film likely to take place in or around 2028 is Avengers: Doomsday. Marvel hasn't officially confirmed the timeline for its next Avengers film, but it seems the film will continue directly from Thunderbolts*. The 2025 Marvel film initially took place in 2027, after Captain America: Brave New World, but a 14-month time jump at the end of Thunderbolts* sets it up to finish sometime in late 2028 or even 2029.
The Thunderbolts' post-credits scene was confirmed to be a snippet from Avengers: Doomsday, and was filmed during production for that film, rather than Thunderbolts*.
This makes the 14-month time jump at the end of Thunderbolts* the likely timeframe for Avengers: Doomsday to start, meaning that both Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers 5 are set to take place around the same time.
Avengers: Doomsday is being directed by the Russo Brothers and is due to release on December 18, 2026. Meanwhile, Destin Daniel Cretton takes over directing duties on the MCU's Spider-Man franchise, with Brand New Day set to release on July 31, 2026.
Why Avengers: Doomsday and Spider-Man 4 Happening Simultaneously Makes Sense
Spider-Man: Brand New Day's time jump is a lengthy one between adventures for Peter Parker, and means a large portion of Peter's college years will be skipped over. What's interesting is that Spider-Man: Brand New Day could've chosen any time within those four years to tell its story, but setting it in 2028 suggests it is intentional and may be aligned with Avengers: Doomsday.
The most likely reason for this is to explain the absence of Tom Holland and fellow Avengers co-star Mark Ruffalo from Avengers: Doomsday. Neither Holland nor Ruffalo (who will reprise his role as the Hulk in Spider-Man 4) was featured on Avengers: Doomsday's official cast list.
The pair are both major Avengers team members, so their absence is surprising, but if the reason for them skipping Doomsday is that their adventures in Spider-Man: Brand New Day have kept them preoccupied, then it makes more sense.
Additionally, setting Spider-Man: Brand New Day in 2028 means it will take place after the events of Daredevil: Born Again Season 2 and The Punisher Special Presentation, the latter of which seems to be set around 2026/2027 and will release around the same time as Brand New Day.
Jon Bernthal's Frank Castle is confirmed to make an appearance in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, so the film's later time period will help establish the continuity between his appearances in Daredevil: Born Again, The Punisher special, and Spider-Man 4.
Placing Spider-Man: Brand New Day in the same year as Doomsday also makes the movie an effective lead-in to the 2026 Avengers film. Avengers 5 already has enough elements to entice audiences, but there's still significant legwork to do to establish the movie's plot and how it intends to tie together the Multiverse Saga.
While Spider-Man: Brand New Day seems to have plenty going on already in its plot, the movie and its ending could be used to preview some aspects of Avengers: Doomsday, or even set-up Spider-Man and Hulk's roles in the successor, Avengers: Secret Wars, which would add another layer of interconnectivity between the two MCU projects and encourage audiences to see them both.
