Marvel Studios’ 2026 Crossover Movie Will Copy 1 Key Avengers Infinity War Team-Up Element

For years, Avengers: Infinity War set the gold standard for what a Marvel crossover should look like. Part of what made it work so well was the pairing of characters we never dreamt would share scenes in an MCU film. Avengers: Doomsday is arriving in theaters on December 18, and it looks like the Russo Brothers are ready to pull a similar rabbit out of their hat. 

Lewis Pullman, who plays Bob Reynolds / Sentry in the MCU after his breakout role in Thunderbolts, hinted at this dynamic coming to play in the Avengers crossover. Speaking to Esquire, Pullman teased that fans will get to see their "fantasies come into fruition.": 

"There’s a lot of really exciting pair-ups that happen. A lot of fans will be really excited. It’s so fun to dream about. What if A and B would work together? Would B and D would work together? You get to see a lot of those fantasies come into fruition." 

It's the kind of promise that sounds almost too good to be true, until you look at the confirmed cast and realize just how many first-time and exciting pairings Doomsday has the potential to pull off. 

It's been confirmed that the film's cast would be divided into six distinct groups: the Fantastic Four, the Wakandan Warriors, the Avengers, the New Avengers (Thunderbolts), the X-Men, and Doctor Doom himself.

The Avengers team alone is an unprecedented mix. Sam Wilson leads as Captain America, flanked by Thor, Loki, Ant-Man, Shang-Chi, and Joaquin Torres as the new Falcon. The brotherly dynamic between Thor and Loki is already confirmed to return, and what this dynamic looks like alongside a Sam Wilson who only recently inherited the Captain America mantle would be interesting to see. 

Then there's the unique roster of the New Avengers, which includes Bucky Barnes, Yelena Belova, Red Guardian, US Agent, and Ghost. They're very different from the original Avengers in how they operate. These two ideologically distinct factions will have to get along in Doomsday. Watching these dynamics play out alongside Charles Xavier, the Fantastic Four, and the Wakandans gives the film enormous room for pairings fans have been dreaming of for years.

It'll be a great strategy for Doomsday to adopt since Marvel Studios wants to win back the goodwill the franchise had during the Infinity Saga. Infinity War's pairings were extremely memorable. We witnessed Tony Stark and Doctor Strange working together, and they seemed like essentially the same person with different powers. Two genius-level control freaks with enormous egos and no time for anyone else's. How their dynamic played out was one of the single best storylines of the Infinity Saga. Come to think of it, Tony had some of the best alliances in that film. 

There's that Titan scene where Tony tries to hatch a plan with Star-Lord and his crew (Mantis and Drax), but is having a hard time getting through to them. Peter Parker doesn’t help matters either when he engages Quill in a banter about Footloose during the discussion. Star-Lord basically makes Tony look like the most mature person in the room, and that doesn’t happen too often.  

A Team-Up Dynamic Will Make Avengers: Doomsday Fun

Comic book films are supposed to be fun, and one of the exciting aspects of them is watching your favourite characters pairup on screen. Doomsday is in a position to be one of the most fulfilling films Marvel has ever made. The crossover event will feature characters across different corners of the multiverse.

Some of the groups appearing in the film have never occupied the same movie before. For decades, the X-Men and Fantastic Four existed in their own separate corner of Fox's film library, completely sealed off from the MCU. Now they're sharing a battlefield, and the sheer novelty of that alone generates excitement.  

We're going to see Reed Richards, the smartest man in any room, standing next to Thor or Loki. X-Men characters like Charles Xavier and Cyclops will likely work alongside The Avengers and the other heroes. Some years ago, it would have sounded crazy to suggest this would ever come to fruition.

If Pullman's words are anything to go by, Doomsday could be a fan-service fest in the most positive ways imaginable. Marvel Studios hasn’t been at its best in the Multiverse Saga for sure, but if they pull this off, we could have prime Marvel back.