Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter / Captain Carter in ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’. Photo: Marvel Studios.
Preview:
Hayley Atwell is reportedly headed back to the MCU for ‘Avengers: Doomsday.’
Joe and Anthony Russo are aboard to direct the movie.
Robert Downey Jr. will be playing Dr. Doom, and Chris Evans is also coming back in some capacity.
It appears that, while it has a newer crop of heroes who will be tackling a giant new threat, Marvel intends to get at least some of the old gang back together –– in both familiar and fresh roles.
While there has been chatter about Evans possibly playing a character other than Steve “Captain America” Rogers –– Nomad, a title that Rogers takes on after giving up the Cap mantle to Sam Wilson, it seems Atwell would be back as Peggy Carter, AKA the MI6 and S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who is the great love of Steve’s life.
To say the road to the new ‘Avengers’ films has been problematic is to say ‘Kraven the Hunter’ had a slightly disappointing start at the box office this past weekend.
‘Secret Wars’ would draw from (through the usual Marvel movie filter where changes will be made) a pair of 1980s comic book series focused on an all-powerful antagonist known as the Beyonder, who in the first installment pitted Marvel’s heroes and villains against each other on a planet known as Battleworld.
In a 2015 revival by Jonathan Hickman, the resulting conflict left the multiverse collapsed, the survivors living on a single planet ruled by classic villain Doctor Doom.
The Russos have previously talked about their enthusiasm for ‘Secret Wars’, and they’re bringing along scripter Stephen McFeely, who co-wrote most of their previous Marvel output.
Carter’s return also makes sense for McFeely, who along with regular writer Christopher Markus, created the ‘Agent Carter’ series.
Alongside Evans in whatever capacity, we’ll of course see Downey plus the ‘Fantastic Four’ cast.
Mackie is very likely to show up as Cap, and Benedict Cumberbatch has been talked about to return as Doctor Strange. We’ll have to wait and see whether the likes of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man or any of the other stalwarts will be back.
There’s good money on Chris Hemsworth as Thor (since he’s still active) and hopefully the likes of Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi and Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes will report for duty.
What is Peggy Carter’s Marvel history?
Hayley Atwell as Peggy Carter / Captain Carter in ‘Agent Carter’. Photo: Marvel Studios.
Introduced (on screen, at least) in ‘Captain America: The First Avenger,’ Peggy Carter is a heroic British agent who met Evans’ Steve Rogers before the experiment that turned him into Captain America.
Believing Steve lost for decades at the end of that film, Peggy forged ahead with her own career, helping to build S.H.I.E.L.D. and appearing in her own TV series, ‘Agent Carter.’
By the time Rogers was discovered in the ice, Peggy was an old woman, and the pair had an emotional reunion. At the end of ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ Steve chose to go back in time and live a life with Peggy.
Where and when (and how) we’ll find Peggy this time around remains to be seen. Could it be a multiversal variant of the character? (We met an ill-fated version of Peggy, who got the Super Soldier Serum herself and became Captain Carter in ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.’)
However she returns, we’ll be happy to see Peggy on screen again.
Chris Evans is reportedly heading back to the Marvel family for ‘Avengers: Doomsday.’
Joe and Anthony Russo are aboard to direct the movie.
Robert Downey Jr. will be playing Dr. Doom.
With the giant announcement back at Comic-Con this past July that Robert Downey Jr. would be returning to the sprawling Marvel Cinematic Universe –– but as Doctor Doom, rather than a variant of the late Tony “Iron Man” Stark –– talk has naturally turned to his fellow veteran Marvel actors and whether they’ll be back alongside the newer crop.
It seems one of the other main players has made the choice to come back, as The Wrap reports that Chris Evans is now deep in talks to return for the first of the two new ‘Avengers’ movies that the studio has planned –– ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ –– which will see the heroes going up against Doom.
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What the story doesn’t specify is whether Evans will be back as Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America, who, let’s not forget was last seen as an old man at the end of ‘Avengers: Endgame’ after he opted to spend a different timeline’s life with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell).
So Evans could well be playing someone else, as he did when he reprised his old Fox Marvel role as Johnny Storm in this summer’s ‘Deadpool & Wolverine.’
But at the very least, it’s exciting news.
What has happened with the new ‘Avengers’ movies so far?
To say the road to the new ‘Avengers’ films has been problematic is to say an erupting volcano is a little toasty.
Originally announced as part of a big reveal by studio boss Kevin Feige at the 2022 San Diego Comic-Con about future “phase” developments, the new movies were called ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’ and ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’.
‘The Kang Dynasty’ has been the real sticking point here. Though the plan had presumably been to build to a confrontation with Jonathan Majors’ multiversal villain, Majors found himself cut by Marvel after accusations (and, later a guilty result) of harassment.
While ‘Shang-Chi’ director Destin Daniel Cretton boarded the film shortly after it was announced, he’s since stepped away. ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’s Shawn Levy has reportedly offered been the gig since then, but the July Con announcement also confirmed that ‘Infinity War’ and ‘Endgame’ directors Joe and Anthony Russo are back to handle the two giant team-up efforts.
‘Secret Wars’ would draw from (through the usual Marvel movie filter where changes will be made) a pair of 1980s comic book series focused on an all-powerful antagonist known as the Beyonder, who in the first installment pitted Marvel’s heroes and villains against each other on a planet known as Battleworld.
In a 2015 revival by Jonathan Hickman, the resulting conflict left the multiverse collapsed, the survivors living on a single planet ruled by classic villain Doctor Doom.
The Russos have previously talked about their enthusiasm for ‘Secret Wars’, and they’re bringing along scripter Stephen McFeely, who co-wrote most of their previous Marvel output.
Alongside Evans in whatever capacity, we’ll of course see Downey plus the ‘Fantastic Four’ cast.
Mackie is very likely to show up as Cap, and Benedict Cumberbatch has been talked about to return as Doctor Strange. We’ll have to wait and see whether the likes of Tom Holland’s Peter Parker/Spider-Man or any of the other stalwarts will be back.
There’s good money on Chris Hemsworth as Thor (since he’s still active) and hopefully the likes of Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi and Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes will report for duty.
(L to R) Dwayne Johnson and Chris Evans in ‘Red One.’ Photo: Amazon MGM Studios.
Since hanging up his shield, Evans has been seen in the likes of ‘Knives Out,’ in a cameo as himself in ‘Free Guy’ and Pixar’s ‘Toy Story’ spin-off ‘Lightyear.’
There has also been Netflix pill-slinging film ‘Pain Hustlers,’ Apple action movie ‘Ghosted,’ and he reunited with the Russos to play a scheming villain in thriller ‘The Gray Man.’
More recently, there was the aforementioned ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ and Christmas-themed movie ‘Red One’ opposite Dwayne Johnson.
Coming up, we have adventure comedy ‘Sacrifice,’ rom-com ‘Materialists’ and Ethan Coen’s latest, ‘Honey Don’t.’
When will the next two ‘Avengers’ movies head to screens?
Marvel is planning to have ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ on screens on May 1st, 2026, followed by ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ on May 7th, 2027.
(L to R) Joseph Quinn, Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach star in ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’. Photo: Marvel Studios.
Preview:
Kevin Feige confirmed the Fantastic Four as appearing in the next ‘Avengers’ movies.
Their stand-alone new movie is about to wrap shooting.
The studio head also offered an update on the use of X-Men characters going forward.
With the huge theatrical success of ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ and the buzzy Disney+ hit ‘Agatha All Along,’ Marvel Studios finds itself in a better place heading in 2025 than at almost any point in its turbulent time since ‘Avengers: Endgame.’
And, looking to assure fans (not to mention his Disney paymasters), Marvel boss Kevin Feige offered an upbeat tone at the recent Disney APAC Content Showcase in Singapore, talking up things to come.
While he didn’t announce anything new, he did confirm a few details and offered some updates about when we can expect to see the likes of the X-Men characters in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
That movie is due next summer (July 25th, to be exact) and Feige, sporting a cap bearing the characters’ iconic logo, talked it up as the movie he’s most excited about for 2025.
Here’s what he said about their movie and beyond, via Deadline:
“They wrap next week, the movie comes out next summer, and then all those characters go right into the next Avengers movies, so I’m very excited for the future of the Fantastic Four.”
Yes, the new reboot will indeed usher the characters into the wider MCU, and they’ll be facing one of their biggest antagonists, Dr. Doom (played by Robert Downey Jr., no less) in ‘Avengers: Doomsday.’ They’ll also be seen in ‘Avengers: Secret Wars,’ with both movies directed by Joe and Anthony Russo and landing in 2026 and 2027.
Feige talks the X-Men
Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige at Disney’s 2024 CinemaCon Presentation. Photo: Disney.
With Disney’s purchase of 20th Century Fox in 2019, the opportunity arose not only to use the Fantastic Four, but also the sprawling universe of X-Men characters. We’ve seen alternate universe versions in a couple of movies (and ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ served as a wry, loving tribute to Fox’s X-Movies and more), but according to Feige, we can expect to see more mutants in the future.
This was his comment:
“I think you will see that continues in our next few movies with some X-Men players that you might recognize. Right after that, the whole story of ‘Secret Wars’ really leads us into a new age of mutants and of the X-Men. Again, it’s one of those dreams come true. We finally have the X-Men back.”
But let’s not forget ‘Thunderbolts*’ which lands on May 2nd, 2025. Feige also took a moment to acknowledge their appeal:
“That’s what Marvel is all about: it’s taking characters from all different types of places and franchises and putting them together. That’s what the ‘Avengers’ is, that’s what ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ is.”
Tom Holland in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home.’ Photo: Marvel Studios.
Preview:
The fourth, untitled MCU ‘Spider-Man’ movie lands in July 2026.
Tom Holland is starring.
Destin Daniel Cretton is in the director’s chair.
With ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ gobbling up huge amounts of money back in 2021 (an even more impressive achievement given that audiences were still wary of movie theaters during the ongoing COVID pandemic), you knew that Sony and Marvel were not going to just give up on future installments of the web-slinging franchise, even if it represented the end of star Tom Holland’s then-current contact.
And now, per Sony, we have news that the fourth film –– whose title we have yet to learn –– will be in theaters on July 24th, 2026.
What’s the story of ‘Spider-Man 4’?
Tom Holland in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’. Photo: Marvel Studios.
Given that ‘No Way Home’ changed things in a huge way for Tom Holland’s Peter Parker –– as you’ll likely recall, it ended with a spell that wiped everyone’s memory of him so as to protect the people he loves –– the storyline going forward is naturally something of a mystery.
“The first few meetings were about, ‘Why would we do this again?’ And I think we found the reason why,” Holland told the Reporter previously about the fourth movie. But that actual reason has yet to be divulged (and with Holland not currently doing press, we’ll have to wait until he does before any details emerge accidentally).
We do at least know that Chris McKenna and Erik Sommers, who contributed to or wrote the previous three Spider-outings, are back on board for this one.
Holland also recently told Jimmy Fallon that the movie will be shooting next summer.
Here’s what he had to say:
“Next summer, we start shooting. Everything’s good to go. We’re nearly there. “The project is super exciting.”
That makes sense given the new release plan and will make it the second confirmed MCU release for 2026 after ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ in May.
Zendaya in ‘Spider-Man: Homecoming.’ Photo: Marvel Studios.
Though the game was changed considerably in ‘No Way Home’, we can’t imagine that the franchise would continue without Zendaya as MJ (Peter’s big love interest) and Jacob Batalon as Ned (his best friend). Surely a way will be found to have them remember him?
What movies will the new ‘Spider-Man’ film be up against?
While the latest Spidey outing has its release date to itself, Holland may face competition –– from himself. He’s reportedly aboard the next Christopher Nolan film, which is scheduled to land on July 17th, 2026, so one week before the fourth ‘Spider-Man’ entry.
Could we be looking at the next “Barbenheimer” with a Double Holland coincidence? Only time will tell…
Tom Holland in ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’. Photo: Marvel Studios.
Marvel Studios revealed at Comic-Con that Robert Downey Jr. will return to the MCU as Doctor Doom in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ and ‘Avengers: Secret Wars.’
Both films will be directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, who helmed four of Marvel’s biggest movies, including ‘Avengers: Endgame.’
Marvel’s presentation also featured footage from ‘Fantastic Four,’ ‘Thunderbolts*,’ and ‘Captain America: Brave New World.’
Marvel Studios may turn up at Comic-Con only once every two years or so for a big Saturday night presentation in the San Diego Convention Center’s Hall H, but leave it to the Disney superhero powerhouse to blow the roof off the place as usual.
Just two years after Marvel president Kevin Feige announced in this same room that the next two Avengers movies would be called ‘Avengers: The Kang Dynasty’ and ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ – before harassment and assault charges leveled against Kang actor Jonathan Majors ended his brief reign as the MCU’s next Thanos-level threat – Feige unveiled how the studio would realign its upcoming slate.
At the conclusion of the hour-long showcase for thousands of fans, Feige confirmed the heavily-rumored news that Anthony and Joe Russo – directors of ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame’ – would return for ‘Secret Wars’ and the newly retitled ‘Avengers 5,’ now called ‘Avengers: Doomsday.’
Greeting the Hall H crowd, Anthony Russo said, “Joe and I truly believed that [‘Endgame’] was the end of us for the MCU ‘cause we had put all our passion and love into those past films.” He added, “In the time since, through a very special story, Joe and I have come to potentially see a road forward with you all.”
With a title clearly heralding the MCU introduction of one of Marvel’s greatest villains, the Russos and Feige then revealed the actor playing Doctor Doom – as one of a number of people onstage dressed as Doom whipped off his mask to reveal Robert Downey Jr.
Yes, that Robert Downey Jr., whose debut as Iron Man 16 years ago provided the launching pad for the MCU itself, and whose death scene in ‘Endgame’ hasn’t stopped recent rumors that Downey could return to the Marvel universe. Whether his Victor von Doom will be an alternate universe version of Tony Stark gone bad remains unclear for now.
Marvel’s highly-anticipated presentation began, cheekily enough, with a brief victory lap for the astounding success of the newly-released ‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’ as a choir in red and yellow robes took to the stage to sing Madonna’s ‘Like A Prayer,’ which scores a key moment in the already massive new MCU film.
As various Deadpools danced through the aisles, Kevin Feige and MC Rob Delaney came onstage as well, with Feige announcing that ‘Deadpool & Wolverine,’ the 34th MCU film, had just pushed the franchise’s total box office haul over $30 billion.
After saying that they would only talk about three movies (more on that later), Feige brought out the key cast of ‘Captain America: Brave New World’: Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson/Captain America), Tim Blake-Nelson (Samuel Sterns/The Leader), Danny Ramirez (Joaquin Torres/Falcon), and Giancarlo Esposito, who announced that his previously undisclosed character would be Sidewinder, “the king of the Serpent Society.”
(It was nearly a decade ago that Feige teased that the third Captain America movie would be subtitled ‘Serpent Society’ – based on a Marvel group of supervillains – before revealing it to actually be ‘Civil War.’)
The always effusive Mackie quipped onstage, “A few years ago Tom Holland [the MCU’s Spider-Man] made a joke about not having a Falcon movie. I said, ‘I don’t have a movie, but you’re not 5’11”!’” He added, “Now I have a movie, but he’s still not 5’11”!”
Feige introduced a sizzle reel of new ‘Captain America’ footage by saying that the movie harkens back to the ‘more grounded’ spirit of ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier.’ Within the action-heavy footage, however, two things stood out.
First, Harrison Ford’s President Thaddeus ‘Thunderbolt’ Ross refers to the Celestial that was left stuck in the Earth at the end of ‘Eternals,’ noting that it’s made out of adamantium – the same material as Wolverine’s claws and skeleton, and an ‘X-Men’ breadcrumb if we ever heard one.
Second, the footage featured a brief look at Ross turning into the Red Hulk right in the middle of giving a speech in front of the White House. As the lights came up in Hall H, Ford himself came onstage and did his best approximation of Hulking out for the delirious crowd. The legendary actor said, “I’m proud to become a member of the Marvel universe. I’ve been watching fantastic actors having a good time and I wanted a piece of that.”
‘Captain America: Brave New World’ arrives in theaters February 14, 2025.
Leave it David Harbour to arrive in Hall H by running up the aisles in his full Red Guardian costume, only to shout up to his fellow (normally dressed) cast members already onstage: “Guys, I sent that email and we all said we were gonna dress up ‘cause it was Comic-Con!”
Stan, perhaps the longest-termed MCU veteran onstage, said that Pugh “stands out” in the film as the adopted sister of the late Natasha Romanoff, both creations of the Black Widow program, while Pugh herself hinted at the ‘Suicide Squad’-type vibes of the team by saying, “The joy of watching them together is that they don’t play well together.”
In the first footage from the film (shown only at Comic-Con so far), both Yelena and Bucky seem to be at an impasse in their lives, with Yelena continuing to be an assassin, while Bucky ends up in court.
But the action soon picks up as the team comes together at the direction of Valentina, with Lewis Pullman’s (rumored) Sentry apparently the target of some kind of mission – except that it’s all some sort of set-up to get rid of Yelena and the others. “There are good guys, and you’re bad guys,” Valentina tells the team. “But there are worse guys.”
Directed by Jake Schreier, ‘Thunderbolts*’ comes out May 5, 2025.
Just prior to the huge ‘Avengers’ news, Kevin Feige welcomed ‘Fantastic Four’ director Matt Shakman and the cast – Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm/Invisible Woman), Joseph O’Quinn (Johnny Storm/Human Torch), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm/The Thing) – to the stage for the actors’ first public appearance together as Marvel’s First Family.
The film begins shooting in London this Tuesday (July 27) in London, exactly one year ahead of its planned July 25, 2025 release, and has now been officially titled ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps.’
Shakman showed off some early pre-production and conceptual test footage for the movie, including images of the Fantasticar, Reed Richards teaching some sort of class on television, the Four preparing to launch into space, and a brief glimpse of Galactus – looking quite huge and humanoid – peering into a building.
The director also confirmed the period setting of the movie, saying, “We’re not just doing the 60s, we’re doing retro future 60s…it’s part what you know from the ‘60s, but part what you’ve never seen before,” hinting as speculated that the Four come from an alternate timeline. Shakman added, “We want to be true to the comics, but we also want it to be true to life.”
For their part, the cast stressed the “family” aspect of the Fantastic Four’s story, with Quinn saying, “We’re all going to work very hard to bring a feeling of a family to this film.” Moss-Bachrach mentioned that he sought out Hulk actor Mark Ruffalo to get advice on doing performance capture to play the Thing.
The Fantastic Four’s portion of the Marvel presentation ended with the Fantasticar itself flying over the heads of the fans in Hall H, with one last bit of news: Marvel’s First Family will also appear in both ‘Avengers’ films – a perfect introduction to the mind-melting ‘Avengers’ news that concluded the presentation.
But now that the dust has settled, we should mention the news we didn’t get tonight: nothing on a new director for ‘Blade,’ no sign of ‘Shang-Chi 2’ or ‘Doctor Strange 3,’ no word on the future of legacy characters like Thor, Hulk, Black Panther, or Captain Marvel, and not a peep (save that tease about adamantium) about the X-Men or which movies will fill out Marvel’s slate in 2026 and 2027 around the ‘Avengers’ behemoths. Still, that ‘Avengers’ shocker should keep us all chattering away for a while…
