The spirited successor to Captain America: Civil War is coming this year, but this time, new teams of heroes will be fighting. In 2016, Marvel Studios pitted their heroes against each other after the fallout of Avengers: Age of Ultron. This created two teams: Team Captain America and Team Iron Man. 10 years later, and fans are still arguing about which team, or leader, was right. In 2026, not only are Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans back in the MCU, but Marvel is launching a new movie that pits its heroes against each other.
One thing the Multiverse Saga missed was an event like Civil War, which kicked off Phase 3 and also acted as an "Avengers 2.5" movie. A real miss that Phases 4-6 have had is the absence of any Avengers-level crossovers, but in 2026, that all changes.
Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on December 18, going head-to-head against rival studio Warner Bros.' Dune: Part Three. What fans have yet to fully realize is that while Doomsday is Avengers 5, it's also (simultaneously) shaping up to be Civil War 2.
To clarify, this will be marketed as an Avengers movie, but in terms of what's really going to happen, it shares many thematic elements with Captain America: Civil War. Most importantly, our heroes won't just be teaming up to take on Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom. They'll be fighting each other.
This was confirmed during the first trailer, which was presented to a limited audience at CinemaCon 2026. Following the trailer's debut, Amit Chaudhari on X described Doomsday as something that "feels like Civil War 2 but on a multiversal level," and based on everything we know so far, that's hard to argue with.
The CinemaCon footage is loaded with hero-vs-hero confrontations that scream Avengers vs. X-Men as much as it does Civil War 2.
Gambit and Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) square off in a visually exciting duel, with Channing Tatum's Gambit wielding a glowing purple staff against Shang-Chi's orange-lit rings, before Gambit pulls out a glowing ace of hearts as if daring him to make the next move.
It's safe to say this was one of the most exciting moments of the trailer, with Joe and Anthony Russo giving fans an unexpected but amazing fight.
Also in the trailer, Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) draws her weapon on the X-Mansion grounds, only to come face-to-face with Mystique (Rebecca Romijn), who catches Yelena's baton and shapeshifts into Yelena herself, leading to the wild sight of two Yelena Belovas choking each other out.
It's also important to note that Mystique's and every other character's appearance was similar to what had been previously leaked.
Beyond what was shown in the trailer, actor Alan Cumming has already spoiled that Nightcrawler faces off against Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) of the Fantastic Four, adding yet another mutant-vs-Avenger matchup to the pile.
Based on the footage, this fight will probably take place at the X-Mansion, as Reed was seen there, but Nightcrawler was nowhere to be found in the first trailer.
Many fans were caught off guard by just how much of the trailer appeared to be set in and around the X-Mansion. While Marvel Studios could be showing mainly footage from early in the film, this could indicate that more action will happen in this X-Men universe (possibly Earth-10005), rather than Earth-616 (or Earth-199999).
There's also the dynamic between Namor (Tenoch Huerta) and Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby), who share a moment near a towering wall of water surrounding a dried-out Talokan. It's unclear whether there's any conflict between them, but it's something to look out for as The Fantastic Four are encroaching on sacred space.
Another image from the trailer that teased some tension between past enemies, and probably future allies, was between Shuri (Letitia Wright) and Namor. In one moment, Shuri is seen looking over Namor while he sits on his throne, and she armors up in her Black Panther suit as the Wakandans surround him. Whether or not they battle again after the events of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever remains to be seen.
All of these trailer moments together paint a picture of a movie that isn't just Civil War 2 in spirit, but something closer to a live-action Avengers vs. X-Men. The real test for whether or not this is truly like Civil War all over again is if the teams are actually opposed to each other, or if it's just fighting upon first contact.
All of the X-Men fighting the Avengers could be a callback to Avengers: Infinity War, when (in deep space) the Guardians of the Galaxy and Avengers fought, before realizing they had a common enemy: Thanos.
What's the Story of Avengers: Doomsday?
From a fan service perspective, the hero-vs-hero moments are going to be a blast to watch in theaters, maybe even including Tobey Maguire against Hugh Jackman, but they aren't expected to be the backbone of the entire film.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to loosely adapt Jonathan Hickman's Time Runs Out and Secret Wars comic runs, which is about as ambitious as it gets.
The core of the story revolves around incursions, collisions between universes that slowly destroy the multiverse. In Doomsday, based on the first trailer, incursions have already begun, and they seem to be happening between three worlds: The X-Men, the Avengers, and the Fantastic Four.
There are also rumors that the X-Men have been destroying other universes to keep their own alive, which would explain a lot of the tension seen in the trailer.
Ultimately, though, all roads lead to Doctor Doom. When it comes to his villainy, it seems he's after children, like Franklin Richards, Steve Rogers' baby, and Love, Thor's adopted daughter. How all these puzzle pieces fit together is still a mystery, but one thing is for certain: They will "be faced with an unthinkable decision."
