The Russo Bros. and the crew of Avengers: Doomsday are hard at work on pre-production, but rumor has it that not everything has been fully on schedule.
Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will at long last reassemble in 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday. The fifth film in the massively successful Avengers franchise will boast a historic cast comprising of actors from X-Men, Fantastic Four, Black Panther, Thunderbolts, and many more popular Marvel franchises.
Avengers: Doomsday Script Struggles?
According to information shared by internet film scooper DanielRPK following the March 26 cast announcement, the script for Avengers: Doomsday has not been finished yet. This could spark confusion and concern in the hearts of many a Marvel fan, especially as cameras are set to roll on the Avengers sequel starting in April.
Perhaps even more worrying is the fact that fellow scooper Jeff Sneider shared that Marvel Studios is still in the process of locking down the characters and actors who will star in Doomsday (via The Hot Mic Podcast).
At this point, Avengers: Doomsday is deep into pre-production. Costumes are being fitted, sets are being built. If Marvel hasn’t finalized the call sheet at this stage in the game, that could indeed be cause for alarm.
Moreover, the consensus surrounding the recent MCU has been that its scripts have been half-baked at best. Chief offenders in the eyes of the audiences have been Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania and Secret Invasion, both of which were high-profile flops.
And to be fair, Marvel Studios has notoriously tinkered with scripts right up until the eleventh hour. So fans would be forgiven if an unfinished Doomsday script didn’t instill them with confidence. Notably, over at DC Studios, James Gunn refuses to green-light projects until the script is satisfactory.
However, it’s crucial to remember that what Sneider and DanielRPK have shared are simply rumors. And rumors, by definition, should always be taken with a grain of salt.
But for argument’s sake, suppose Avengers: Doomsday’s screenplay truly isn’t completed yet. It’s anxiety-inducing, to be sure, but the original Iron Man barely had a shooting script and it wound up being one of the most critically lauded and popular MCU films ever, even 17 years after its release.
Now, that’s not to say that Avengers: Doomsday occupies the same set of circumstances. Iron Man was essentially pulled together on the back of Robert Downey Jr.’s charisma and director Jon Favreau’s deft touch.
It’s a whole different ballgame for Doomsday, which has more than just one hero to worry about. Avengers: Doomsday will coalesce multiple superheroes and storylines. Not to mention that the stakes are higher, story-wise, than Iron Man could have ever dreamed of.
But faith should be placed in Joe and Anthony Russo, who will helm Doomsday and its 2027 sequel, Avengers: Secret Wars. Although they haven’t had a hit in their other filmmaking endeavors, the brotherly directing duo have proven time and time again that they have a knack for getting Marvel right.
There’s a good reason why Marvel boss Kevin Feige hired the Russos for the Multiverse Saga’s grand finale: Every other MCU film they’ve gotten their hands on has been extremely well received and quite profitable.
Some may say that the MCU was in a sophomore slump since Avengers: Endgame. And yes, many Marvel projects have failed to reclaim that pre-2019 fervor. But throughout its long history, Marvel has often been the underdog.
There has been a cacophony of outcry from viewers that “the MCU is dead.” But Deadpool & Wolverine was the second-highest grossing film of 2024. Agatha All Along was the subject of much attention and endless theorizing throughout its nine-episode run. And Daredevil: Born Again, has already well proven itself as a draw.
In other words: Reports of the MCU’s death have been greatly exaggerated.
Not to mention that Marvel Studios is back under the supervision of Disney CEO Bob Iger, who has stressed that the Red Brand has slowed down and adopted the concept of quality over quantity.
This comes after a period of turbulence brought on by now ousted Disney head Bob Chapek and his mandate to populate Disney+ with Marvel shows. This overclocked Marvel Studios to a detrimental degree.
Captain America: Brave New World stands as the last MCU installment of the Chapek era. Now, the path for the studio is clear and whatever amount of course-correcting it needed to undergo is already well underway.
Things might seem dicey for Avengers: Doomsday at the moment, but fans would do well not to count Marvel Studios out just yet.
