Chris Evans in ‘Avengers: Infinity War’. Photo: Marvel Studios.
Preview:
Chris Evans has been confirmed as returning to the MCU.
He shows up in the first teaser for ‘Avengers: Doomsday.’
The footage was shown before ‘Avatar: Fire & Ash.’
While the man himself has been cagey in the past as to whether his time with the Marvel Cinematic Universe is done, there were reports back in December of last year that pointed to more MCU time for Chris Evans as Steve “Captain America” Rogers.
Chris Evans in ‘Captain America: The Winter Soldier’. Photo: Marvel Studios.
If you haven’t taken yourself out to one of the initial showings of James Cameron’s latest ‘Avatar’ movie, and you really want to know what’s included in the ‘Doomsday’ footage, read on…
The teaser shows Steve riding home on a motorbike, wearing a helmet reminiscent of his time as Captain America. He’s then seen handling his old uniform and cradling what is presumably his and Peggy Carter’s (Hayley Atwell) newborn child.
This first tease ends with “Steve Rogers will return for ‘Avengers: Doomsday.’ ” A countdown timer begins at the end that’s set to expire a year from now when ‘Doomsday’ hits theaters.
The cast for the next big Avengers team-up promises a mix of faces both old and new.
Robert Downey Jr. is back, though this time playing Big Bad Doctor Doom (Marvel has yet to reveal whether he’ll be a new character or a variant of Downey’s Tony Stark).
(L to R) Alex Woo, Cristin Milioti, and Simu Liu attend Netflix’s ‘In Your Dreams’ premiere on October 28, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix.
‘In Your Dreams‘ follows Stevie (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) and her brother Elliot (Elias Janssen) as they journey into the absurd landscape of their own dreams in order to find the Sandman, who they believe will grant them their ultimate dream come true… the perfect family. Moviefone was in attendance at a press conference for the animated film, which featured director/writer Alex Woo, and stars Simu Liu, Cristin Milioti, and Craig Robinson.
1) Simu Liu Says His Character Is Just A Big Kid At Heart
Simu Liu attends Netflix’s ‘In Your Dreams’ premiere on October 28, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix.
When asked about taking inspiration from any of the dads in his life, Simu Liu admits that he did not, at least not consciously. However, he was very inspired by the fact that his character is just a big kid at heart.
Simu Liu: In approaching this character of Dad, it’s funny, because Dad in this film, he is actually such a kid on the inside. And so much so that I almost feel like he’s like actively resisting this idea of growing up. Because he’s very passionate about his music career. I think he’s at a place where he doesn’t want to let it go. He’s being faced with this pressure to kind of be realistic and face reality and accept responsibility for the whole family. I think for him, it’s like, well, if I give up on my dreams, what kind of example am I setting for the kids? That’s where I approached from. Where Dad is actually not very dad-like at all. I really wanted to bring out his child-like quality.
2) Cristin Milioti Says The Process Of Making An Animated Film Is Extremely Interesting
Cristin Milioti attends Netflix’s ‘In Your Dreams’ premiere on October 28, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix.
Cristin Milioti recalls the process of recording for the voice of Mom in ‘In Your Dreams’, saying that it is very different than working on a live-action project.
Cristin Milioti: The way an animated film is made, it’s so many years. And it’s such an interesting process. You record something and then you don’t return to it for four or five months. You have to like get back into that mind frame of how did we calibrate it? Oh, we went to a seven last time, this should be at a five now. It’s constantly changing. Which is so cool and so rare. You would never get to do that, obviously, on a live action thing. The rewarding part, I feel like is hopefully, any kids or adults that are dealing with like a nuanced situation at home feel comforted as well as entertained.
3) Craig Robinson Loved Bringing Humor and Heart To Baloney Tony
Craig Robinson attends Netflix’s ‘In Your Dreams’ premiere on October 28, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix.
Baloney Tony is Elliot’s stuffed giraffe and while he does not appear in the movie a lot, he is the heart of the story. Craig Robinson reveals that he had a lot of fun bringing both sides to Baloney Tony, but admits that the heart came as a surprise.
Craig Robinson: It came as a surprise. I did not know. We found everything in the room. It’s good to hear that that’s what came across, but no, I didn’t go in thinking, oh man, yeah, I gotta bring that heart. We just kind of rolled it out there.
4) Alex Woo Channeled A Very Personal Story When Writing ‘In Your Dreams’
Alex Woo attends Netflix’s ‘In Your Dreams’ premiere on October 28, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix.
Alex Woo: The challenge with a movie about dreams is that anything can happen. And when anything can happen nothing really means anything. So, we had to find a way to ground it with a real-world, human story. And that’s when I thought about this thing that happened to me when I was maybe six or seven years old. I woke up one morning and I found my mom at the front door with her bags packed. She had to sort of gently explain to me and my brother that she was going away for a little while. And she had to figure things out for herself and her family. It was really scary for us. This movie is very much about me reconciling and dealing with the fact that life is not perfect. And that there’s a lot of messiness in life. But there’s also a beauty in that. So, it’s a combination of this really intimate, personal story with this big, adventurous, fantastical, spectacular world of dreams.
5) Simu Liu Reveals That A Lot Of Things Changed From When He First Signed On
(L to R) Craig Robinson and Simu Liu attend Netflix’s ‘In Your Dreams’ premiere on October 28, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. Photo by Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix.
‘In Your Dreams’ went through a lot of changes, even after Simu Liu started recording his lines. He admits that even the ending changed, and more than once.
Simu Liu: We signed on four years ago. And then we come in and we’re not recording our lines with anybody. The lines are changing. The scenes are changing. The ending of this movie changed, at least for us, at least four or five times over the course of the entire process. I think our names changed. Our band name changed. Our kids didn’t change, though. Our kids were always amazing.
Stevie and her brother Elliot journey into the absurd landscape of their own dreams, and if the siblings can withstand a snarky stuffed giraffe, zombie breakfast foods, and the queen of nightmares, the Sandman will grant them their ultimate dream come true… The perfect family.
In theaters on limited release November 7 (and November 14 on Netflix) is ‘In Your Dreams,’ a new animated adventure from first-time feature director Alex Woo.
You might be more used to hearing about the Sandman –– particularly on Netflix –– via the work of a certain controversial author. But the concept of the mythological figure who can weave dreams has been used in stories for centuries, which also presents something of a challenge when someone wants to use it.
Fortunately in the case of Netflix’s new animated charmer ‘In Your Dreams’, it’s a recipe for wild adventures, silly characters and a storyline that only occasionally dips into treacly sentiment.
While it runs on some fairly predictable lines –– tensions between siblings, potential family ruptures as successful mother and slacker musician father face a crossroads –– ‘In Your Dreams’ still manages to find new things to say on the subjects.
The highlights, though, are certainly the surrealistic worlds within dreams and the characters lurking within, including talking breakfast food, a nightmarish threat and one very talkative stuffed toy.
Woo and Benson shake off an initially odd-looking facial structure for the human characters in an introductory flashback, fashioning appealing leads and even tapping into anime for one effective moment of the kids realizing their powers within the dreamscape.
Hoang-Rappaport and Janssen do solid work as the leads, and you’re happy to follow them along this journey. While Liu and Milioti naturally have less to do (until later in the movie), they’re both good.
Robinson’s giraffe-like Baloney Tony (a toy from the real world who finds his voice in dreams) is the stand-out: a funny, sometimes cowardly type who comes through in the end.
Final Thoughts
A scene from ‘In Your Dreams’. Photo: Netflix.
‘In Your Dreams’ won’t be challenging the best family movies any time soon, but it’s cute and diverting, full of enjoyable imagery and worth checking out if the kids have watched ‘KPop Demon Hunters’ once too often.
Stevie and her brother Elliot journey into the absurd landscape of their own dreams, and if the siblings can withstand a snarky stuffed giraffe, zombie breakfast foods, and the queen of nightmares, the Sandman will grant them their ultimate dream come true… The perfect family.
Landing on Disney+ on September 24th is the new Marvel Animation limited series ‘Marvel Zombies’, which spins off from the zombie-filled episode of ‘What If…?’ and loosely adapts the comic book run.
While Marvel’s Disney+ output has been somewhat hit-and-miss, the Marvel Animation team has been enjoying much more success, and ‘Marvel Zombies’ certainly counts as one of those.
It may not be perfect, but it’s certainly a lot of gory, darkly-hued entertainment.
Zeb Wells has enjoyed unusual power in the Marvel world, overseeing much of the animated output, but with good reason –– he and his writing team have crafted sharp, clever takes on the MCU, with ‘Zombies’ as no exception.
It’s not for the faint of heart and certainly dives into some dark areas (don’t get attached to all the characters, even some well-known ones), but it delivers the Young Avengers action many have been waiting for on the big screen, albeit in bite-sized chunks.
Bryan Andrews’ direction is also solid. Though the animation might not be the most advanced, it’s certainly stylish enough and gets the job done.
Featuring the usual mix of MCU veteran performers and some talented voice types who imitate others, this is a great showcase particularly for the infectious enthusiasm of Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan and the usual great work of Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova. Kudos also to Simu Liu, whose Shang-Chi really goes through it in this story, and to Todd Williams, who voices a very different version of Blade from any we’ve seen before.
‘Marvel Zombies’ is by turns full of action and drama, some impressive set-pieces and ideas, and emotionally fun performances from MCU actors and others.
It’s funny despite the post-apocalyptic storyline, and with just four episodes, doesn’t outstay its welcome.
After the Avengers are overtaken by a zombie plague, a desperate group of survivors discover the key to bringing an end to the super-powered undead, racing across a dystopian landscape and risking life and limb to save their world.
Who stars in ‘Marvel Zombies’?
Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan
Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova
Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff
David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov
Simu Liu as Shang-Chi
Awkwafina as Katy Chen Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop Randall Park as Jimmy Woo
Todd Williams as Blade Knight
Moviefone attended a special sneak peek event for Netflix’s ‘In Your Dreams’
The event also included an in-person Q&A with Director Alex Woo and actor Craig Robinson
‘In Your Dreams’ explores what happens when your dreams don’t come true
On Thursday, June 5, in Hollywood, Netflix hosted an ‘In Your Dreams‘ sneak peek presentation to highlight the upcoming animated film. Director Alex Woo and Craig Robinson (voice of Baloney Tony) were there in person to share a couple of clips and participate in a detailed Q&A session, where they revealed the inspiration behind the movie and Baloney Tony.
‘In Your Dreams’ follows Stevie (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) and her younger brother, Elliot (Elias Janssen), as they search for the Sandman (Omid Djalili), who has promised them that they can make their dreams come true. Cristin Milioti and Simu Liu provide the voices of Mom and Dad, respectively. The film will start streaming on Netflix on November 14, 2025.
Moviefone had the pleasure of attending the event, along with other members of the press.
Press were shown two clips from ‘In Your Dreams’ which Alex Woo introduced.
The first clip features Stevie and Elliot in the basement of a bookstore, where they discover an old book titled ‘The Legend of the Sandman: The Giver of Dreams’. When they arrive home after a teenage employee tells them that they are not allowed down there, Elliot reveals that he stole the book using slight of hand.
Stevie and Elliot read some of the book together, where it states the Sandman can make your dreams come true. Later that night, Elliot’s bed comes alive and the two end up on an adventure flying through the sky through it – think ‘Bedknobs and Broomsticks‘.
They both learn that whatever they can think of, appears in the dream, including a Rocket Mode button on the bed that Elliot pushes, sending them soaring faster and higher than before. The clip ends with them hearing the voice of the Sandman, telling them to find him to make their dreams come true.
The second clip finds Stevie in Breakfast Town, one of the favorite dreams where the townspeople are all walking, talking breakfast foods. When Elliot crashes her dream and declares he wants to help her find the Sandman, the two are distracted by a familiar smell.
Following it leads Elliot to discover his beloved stuffed animal Baloney Tony, who gets his name because Elliot stores his baloney inside of him, trapped behind a refridgerator. It is revealed that the reason he is there is because in the real world Stevie hid him back there, to get the smell out of the bedroom they share.
Both ‘In Your Dreams’ clips offer several laugh-out-loud moments, but also prove that this movie is going to be filled with a lot of heart. Stevie is easily annoyed by her little brother, which anyone with a sibling will be able to relate to.
The kids are off to find the Sandman to make their dreams come true. Elliot’s dreams are that of a normal young kid, while Stevie staring longingly at a photo of her family during happier times insinuates that hers is much deeper than that.
Just getting a couple of minutes of Baloney Tony was enough to know that viewers are going to fall in love with him instantly. Robinson brilliantly voices the character, knowing exactly when to hit the comedic beats. The animation is stunning, as well.
Alex Woo makes his directorial debut with ‘In Your Dreams’. During the Q&A he explained why an animated dream movie is difficult to pull off.
‘A dream movie in the animated space has been a white whale. I think every animation studio in the world has had a dream movie in development at some point over the last couple of decades, but none of them have ever been made because I think nobody could figure out how to give a dream movie stakes. When we started our company and we were dreaming up different movie ideas, when we cracked it, we were like, ‘Oh my gosh, we’ve got to make this really quickly, otherwise somebody else is going to figure it out before us.”’
Alex Woo went on to detail how he wanted to make a movie that explores what happens when your dreams don’t come true.
“I grew up on movies that told me that if I wished hard enough, if I wanted something badly enough, that my dreams could come true. And as I grew up, I realized, well, sometimes that’s true, but sometimes it’s not. And I really wanted to make a movie that explores the question of, what do you do when your dreams actually don’t come true? How do you find hope? How do you keep moving forward in life? How do you find a way through? So that was sort of the big inspiration for me for this movie, and that’s why I wanted to so desperately make it.”
He then talked about how his relationship with his brother helped to inspire ‘In Your Dreams’.
“I have a little brother and Elliot is very much based on him. I’m very much Stevie, and me and my brother, we’ve had our epic battles throughout our childhood. I’m the perfectionistic, overbearing older sibling. He’s the carefree, fun-loving, charming little brother. I think a lot of this movie was me trying to understand and appreciate him and his unique perspective and take on life. One of my good friends, who knows me a little too well, saw the movie, and he said, ‘You know this film is just a really circuitous way of you telling your brother that you love him.’ And I was like, ‘I guess?’ Maybe making movies is easier than dealing with your feelings.”
Alex Woo also gives Netflix credit for taking a chance on an original film like ‘In Your Dreams’.
“I really got to give it up to Netflix for making an original. It’s such a bold statement and it’s really showing leadership in the industry because a lot of studios are just doing IP plays, sequels, video game adaptations, and those things are great but, it’s nice to have an original story every now and then.”
He teases that there are lots of Easter eggs and film homages to look out for in ‘In Your Dreams’, but he will not give them away.
“One of my favorite movies in the world is ‘Back to the Future‘, and that song by The Chordettes is used in that movie. So there’s a secret homage to that film for me, with the Sandman in that song…. Our studio’s first show was ‘Go! Go! Cory Carson’, which is a preschool show on Netflix. We love that show. I’m really proud of it. We put a bunch of ‘Go! Go! Cory Carson’ Easter eggs in the film. You can keep an eye out for those. There are homages to other films that I love, just as a filmmaker, but I’m not going to give them away. You’ll just have to figure it out for yourself.”
Craig Robinson discussed what it was about Baloney Tony and ‘In Your Dreams’ that drew him to want to be a part of it.
“This script touches all of us, right? Everybody dreams, and if you don’t, you daydream. We all dream about dreaming. So it was just to be a part of something real. Tony was just so funny and silly. And I could see me as this crazy stuffed animal for some reason.”
He explains how his relationship with his siblings helped him craft the voice of Tony Baloney.
“It was such a collaboration of jokes and improvising in the moment. I would say something and it would be ‘Oh, Craig, say that, okay, do it like this.’ It was ongoing, it was so much fun. And also it is a love letter to our brothers and sisters, because I have a younger brother and an older sister. So that was all real. My brother and I are relentless in teasing our sister, with all love and faith, but the text messages, you can’t misspell a word in our text, it’s over, you know what I’m saying? ‘Really, I never heard that word before.’ So it’s all there.”
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What is the plot of ‘In Your Dreams’?
A girl named Stevie (Jolie Hoang-Rappaport) and her brother named Elliot (Elias Janssen) magically travel into the world of dreams to find The Sandman (Omid Djalili), who would grant their wish of saving their parents’ (Simu Liu and Cristin Milioti) marriage.
Disney and Marvel have shifted the release dates for the next two ‘Avengers’ movies.
‘Doomsday’ and ‘Secret Wars’ are moving from their May slots to December premieres.
Dates for ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2’ and ‘The Dog Stars’ were also confirmed.
Turns out, making two giant ‘Avengers’ movies back to back is going to take a little longer than originally thought.
Disney and Marvel have announced that the next two team-up films from the comic book behemoth are now set to arrive a little later in theaters than originally planned –– ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ is shifting from a planned May 5th, 2026 slot to December 18th, 2026.
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Likewise, ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ will now decamp from a May 5th, 2027 release date to –– you guessed it! –– December 18th that year.
Clearly, directors Joe Russo and Anthony Russo have decided the new movies will require some more work than they figured. Which honestly, is no bad thing –– better to wait and get it right in the hopes of an ‘Infinity War’ and ‘Endgame’-level success, than pump out something quickly.
The sprawling cast for at least the first movie (we’re expecting several to appear in both) was first announced in a viral video Marvel put online showing director’s chairs with the actor’s names on them.
Simu Liu will return as Shang-Chi, a character who really has deserved a sequel before now. And Danny Ramirez, who was introduced as Joaquim Torres in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ and reprised the role in February’s ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ will show up as the new Falcon.
Finally, because you can’t really have ‘Doomsday’ without Doom, Robert Downey Jr. is making his big MCU return, this time playing classic ‘Fantastic Four’ villain Doctor Doom.
We’re sure more cast will be announced before ‘Doomsday’ arrives, but Disney has more time to get the message out.
“We’re very close with Kevin [Feige] and Lou [D’Esposito, Marvel Studios’ Co-President] and the entire Marvel team and we’ve had conversations through the years. We’ve talked about a lot of ideas. Really what happened was, we ended up stumbling upon a [‘Secret Wars’] idea that activated all of us, you couldn’t see it coming until it came, and once it came it was like, ‘Well, that’s a story we need to tell.’”
And that creative spark extended to regular collaborator Stephen McFeely, who is also back writing the new movies.
While other co-writer Christopher Markus is so far sticking with the Russos’ AGBO company to keep it running, McFeely was tempted back into the MCU machine.
Here’s what Joe told Empire:
“There were ideas that we were trying to wrap our heads around that preceded this one, and we just never found the story. I remember calling Steve and said, ‘Hey, crazy idea. What do you think if we all go back and do Secret Wars?’ He was like, ‘F*** no. Absolutely not.’ And then he hung up. And the next morning at 7.30 he called and were like, ‘Alright, I have an idea…’ ”
‘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,’ so this one made sense.
What other movie release dates were announced?
Director James Cameron at D23 2024 presenting ‘Avatar: Fire and Ash’. Photo: Disney.
In a Thanos-like snap, three Marvel dates have disappeared from the calendar completely. The place holders for February 13th, 2026, November 6th, 2026, and November 5, 2027, have all been removed from Disney’s calendar, pointing towards the result of Marvel’s commitment to quality over quantity.
It wasn’t all Marvel changes –– Disney also confirmed the dates for some of the movies headed our way via its 20th Century Studios, including Ridley Scott’s post-apocalyptic thriller ‘The Dog Stars,’ starring Jacob Elordi and Josh Brolin. That one will be released on March 27th, 2026.
Then there is sequel ‘The Devil Wears Prada 2,’ which will see the return of Meryl Streep‘s imperious magazine editor Miranda Priestly as she navigates the challenges of the declining print industry. The comedy drama sequel is due on May 1st, 2026.
Marvel says Sam Wilson will assemble his Avengers team off screen before ‘Avengers: Doomsday’
Who will Sam Wilson recruit for his new team?
SPOILER ALERT: Some spoilers for ‘Thunderbolts*’ and possibly ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ below.
Back in April, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige announced at CinemaCon that the upcoming ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ “will focus on The Avengers, Wakandans, Fantastic Four, Thunderbolts and original X-Men all fighting Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.).”
That’s quite a promise! But now that ‘Thunderbolts*’ has been released in theaters, fans have learned that they are really the New Avengers, and the movie’s end-credit scene reveals that Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) has filed a copyright claim against the team for the rights to the name and is putting together his own group of Avengers.
Marvel has recently announced that Wilson will assemble his Avengers off screen, so the real question is who will be on his team in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’? Luckily, Marvel has also released many of the names of ‘Doomsday’s cast in a recent video stunt, which could, by process of elimination, give us a basic idea of who will be on Wilson’s team.
With other new and returning cast members yet to be announced, Moviefone is breaking down the cast list to guess who could be on Sam Wilson’s Avengers team.
‘Thunderbolts*’ is now titled ‘The New Avengers’ and is currently playing in theaters. Photo: Marvel Studios.
The end of the ‘Thunderbolts*’ sees Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine saving public face by holding a press conference and announcing that Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), John Walker/U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), Ava Starr/Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour) and Bob Reynolds/Sentry (Lewis Pullman) are the New Avengers.
With Pugh, Stan, Russell, John-Kamen, Harbour, and Pullman all confirmed to return for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’, it is now clear that they will be referred to as the New Avengers and not the Thunderbolts, nor will they be members of the team Sam Wilson is recruiting. In fact, it was also recently revealed that the ‘Thunderbolts*’ end-credit scene setting up the Fantastic Four’s MCU arrival was shot on the set of the ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ by directors Anthony and Joe Russo.
Which ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ characters could be on Sam Wilson’s Avengers team?
Chris Hemsworth in ‘Thor: The Dark World’. Photo: Marvel Studios.
Now that we know the Thunderbolts are the New Avengers, and assuming none of them will crossover to Sam’s new team, it’s not hard to have an idea who might be recruited by the new Captain America for his Avengers team.
We can also eliminate the cast of ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’ and the returning ‘X-Men’ actors, as one would assume that they will be on their own teams and not Sam’s. It is possible that Channing Tatum‘s Gambit could crossover, since he was not an “original” X-men from the previous films, but I think he will most likely be on the Mutants’ side, especially because the character has no ties to the Avengers in the comics.
As a founding member of the original Avengers, it makes sense that Chris Hemsworth’s Thor would be a member of Sam’s new team. Sam partied with him at Avengers Tower in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’, and even fought side by side against Thanos with Thor in Wakanda during ‘Infinity War’. We also know that Danny Ramirez’s Joaquin Torres/Falcon was asked to join the team by Sam during the events of ‘Captain America: Brave New World’, so it’s safe to say that you can expect to see him fighting as a member of Sam’s new team in ‘Doomsday’.
Besides Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Bucky Barnes, Paul Rudd‘s Scott Lang/Ant-Man is probably the Avenger that Sam is closest to in the MCU having appeared in 2015’s ‘Ant-Man’ and helping to recruit him for Captain America’s team in ‘Captain America: Civil War’. So, it would also make sense for Scott to join Sam’s team. Sam also has close ties to Wakanda, with Shuri (Letitia Wright) helping to create his Captain America suit and wings. Now that she is the new Black Panther, I also assume she will be on the new team as well.
Actor Winston Duke has been confirmed to return for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ as M’Baku, and while it is possible for him to be recruited for Sam’s team along with Shuri, Feige’s CinemaCon comment mentions “Wakandans fighting against Doctor Doom”, which makes me think he will be leading the Wakandans and not joining Sam’s team.
Having been introduced in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, and having a close connection to Shuri, I would also bet that Tenoch Huerta Mejia’s Namor will appear on Sam’s new team. Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi, who was introduced in his own 2021 movie will most likely join the team as well. The end-credit scene for that movie saw the character being recruited for the Avengers by Wong (Benedict Wong), Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), making his inclusion almost a forgone conclusion.
Of the announced cast, that just leaves Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, but given how his character’s arc ends in season 2 of Disney+’s ‘Loki’, I’m guessing he won’t be a member of Sam’s team and instead saved for a different role in the movie.
Who could be on Sam Wilson’s Avengers team that has not been announced yet for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’?
(L to R) Charlize Theron and Benedict Cumberbatch in ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.’ Photo: Marvel Studios.
There have been rumors that Wong, who is now the Sorcerer Supreme in Doctor Strange’s absence, could appear in the movie. Rumors have also swirled around the eventual return of Captain Marvel and Bruce Banner/Hulk, and with their inclusion in the ‘Shang-Chi’ end credit scene, if they are added to the cast, all three characters could align themselves with Sam Wilson and his new team of Avengers.
There have also been rumors of Benedict Cumberbatch and Charlize Theron returning as Doctor Strange and Clea, respectively, both last seen in 2022’s ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’. But, with Wong being the new Sorcerer Supreme, I doubt Strange and Clea will join Sam’s team, and more likely, just like Loki, would have a different role in the plot of the film.
Finally, there have also been rumors about Jeremy Renner’s return as Hawkeye, and Tom Holland’s return as Spider-Man. But we’ve also heard that Holland’s character may sit out ‘Avengers: Doomsday’, next appearing in ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ before returning for ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’.
And with Renner’s recent admission that he declined returning for ‘Hawkeye’ season 2 due to having his salary cut in half by Marvel, his return to the franchise is completely up in the air. Even if he does return, Renner could be playing a multiverse version of his character and therefore not be joining Sam’s new team.
Marvel is planning to have ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ on screens on May 1st, 2026, followed by ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ on May 7th, 2027.
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What is the plot of ‘Avengers: Doomsday’?
Fourteen months after the events of ‘Thunderbolts*’, the Avengers, Wakandans, Fantastic Four, New Avengers, and the “original” X-Men team up to face Doctor Doom.
While Marvel usually prefers to keep its secrets close (at least, closer than the current government seems to manage), there is also the conflicting compulsion to promote the next movie in its sprawling cinematic universe, ‘Avengers: Doomsday‘.
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We’ve known for a while that the Avengers will be back to face the threat of Victor Von Doom (Robert Downey Jr.), but the rest of the cast was largely in the realm of speculation, even for those who have been part of the MCU family for years.
The company used a livestream to confirm who will show up in the new movie, consisting of footage of the backs of director’s chairs featuring the cast names.
We’re happy to see Simu Liu will return as Shang-Chi, a character who really has deserved a sequel before now. And Danny Ramirez, who was introduced as Joaquim Torres in ‘The Falcon and the Winter Soldier’ and reprised the role in February’s ‘Captain America: Brave New World’ will show up as the new Falcon.
Any surprises? We’re not sure we predicted Tenoch Huerta Mejia –– who played Namor in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’ coming back, but his chair is among the others (not dripping with water –– missed joke opportunity there!).
(L to R) Lashana Lynch and Kelsey Grammer in ‘The Marvels’. Photo: Marvel Studios.
Lewis Pullman, who is introduced as a character called “Bob” (but who has since been revealed to be powerful character Sentry) in ‘Thunderbolts*’ is also listed. So we’re guessing his character –– who also appears to be an antagonist in the movie given the new trailer –– factors in somehow.
Last, but by no means least, the doors to the cavernous soundstage holding all the chairs opens up, and in strides Downey Jr., who sits in his own named chair and puts his finger to his lips. It’s over!
We’re sure there will be other announcements to come –– the company loves to hold back cameos and other roles, so we’ll have to wait and see if Tom Holland or Mark Ruffalo spoil the appearances or if an official press release arrives in due time.
If you’re desperate to see the Livestream, please click on the video player at the top of the page.
The new movie is now kicking off shooting in London, with Marvel veteran directors Joe and Anthony Russo –– who count the giant two previous Avengers outings ‘Infinity War’ and ‘Endgame’ on their shared resume –– back marshalling the chaos that is a team-up movie on this scale.
“We’re very close with Kevin [Feige] and Lou [D’Esposito, Marvel Studios’ Co-President] and the entire Marvel team and we’ve had conversations through the years. We’ve talked about a lot of ideas. Really what happened was, we ended up stumbling upon a [‘Secret Wars’] idea that activated all of us, you couldn’t see it coming until it came, and once it came it was like, ‘Well, that’s a story we need to tell.’”
And that creative spark extended to regular collaborator Stephen McFeely, who is also back writing the new movies.
While other co-writer Christopher Markus is so far sticking with the Russos’ AGBO company to keep it running, McFeely was tempted back into the MCU machine.
Here’s what Joe told Empire:
“There were ideas that we were trying to wrap our heads around that preceded this one, and we just never found the story. I remember calling Steve and said, ‘Hey, crazy idea. What do you think if we all go back and do Secret Wars?’ He was like, ‘F*** no. Absolutely not.’ And then he hung up. And the next morning at 7.30 he called and were like, ‘Alright, I have an idea…’ ”
‘Avengers: Doomsday’: The Russos talk Robert Downey Jr.
Of course, one of the biggest plot elements for the new movies has already been revealed on Marvel’s terms, with Robert Downey Jr. taking the stage at last year’s San Diego Comic-Con to confirm he’s playing Victor Von Doom.
And according to the directors he’s very involved in helping to shape the character.
“It’s a very intense process developing the character. He’s so immersed in it. He is so dialed in. That’s the kind of artist he is. That’s the kind of actor he is. He just loves really rich three-dimensional characters and I think he sees a real opportunity here with that character.”
And following ‘Doomsday,’ we’ll see ‘Secret Wars’…
‘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,’ so this one made sense.
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.
‘Last Breath’ is part of a curious phenomenon – which mostly seems to exist on Netflix – in which a documentary about a real-life incident or series of events is followed by a fictional limited series or movie about the same subject (or vice versa). ‘Last Breath,’ out this week from Focus Features, is a narrative feature remake of the 2019 documentary of the same name, with one of the doc’s directors, Alex Parkinson, handling the same duties for the feature (he co-directed the doc with Richard da Costa).
The true story is a harrowing one – in which a deep-sea saturation diver was stranded in hundreds of feet of water with no oxygen for 29 minutes – but Parkinson’s feature is curiously lacking in tension or the kind of character development necessary for an audience to get fully involved in the story. It attempts in part to make up for that with a bombastic, intrusive score from Paul Leonard-Morgan, which does its best to make the viewer think they’re watching hugely dramatic moments, and it’s got two solid leads in Woody Harrelson and Simu Liu, but the movie feels flat and, at just 93 minutes, oddly brief and inconsequential.
We’re not here to downplay in any way the experience that deep sea diver Chris Lemons (played here by British ‘Peaky Blinders’ actor Finn Cole) went through in 2012. In the movie, as in real life, he and fellow diver Dave Yuasa (Simu Liu) are carrying out repairs at an underwater pipeline juncture more than 300 feet below the surface of the North Sea.
With team leader Duncan Allcock (Woody Harrelson) in the diving bell and the two divers in the water, their ship the Bibby Topaz is buffeted by heavy storm winds and dragged off its location as its computerized positioning system fails, causing Lemons’ umbilical tether to snap and leave him with no fresh air (or heliox, a mix of helium and oxygen) to breathe.
With only eight minutes of air left in his backup supply, Lemons – in the dark as his suit’s power has also failed – must find his way to the pipeline and climb to the top of its supporting structure if there is to be any chance that he can be spotted by the ship’s underwater camera, so that Yuasa can return and rescue him.
Meanwhile, the ship’s crew above is trying to repair its positioning system so that it can get back over the precise location. In the end, Lemons loses consciousness after his air runs out and is trapped for some 29 minutes without anything to breathe – leaving his fate uncertain as his friends and crewmates desperately try to save him.
Before all this plays out, however, ‘Last Breath’ takes us through the pre-game of the ship’s mission, which includes, most fascinatingly, the deep-sea crew living in a large capsule for several days to get used to the pressurization underwater. But even that, as well as the teammates’ interactions, is presented in surprisingly humdrum fashion, while the characters themselves get only some perfunctory fleshing-out. We know that Chris loves his fiancé Morag (Bobby Rainsbury, glimpsed in the opening and closing of the film), that Duncan is being asked to retire under protest, and that Yuasa is a seemingly cold-hearted son of a bitch who nonetheless loves his kids.
When the main event finally occurs, Parkinson runs into trouble making it as suspenseful as it could be, relying more on that deafening score to push the story along. There are, to be sure, moments of true terror, as when Lemons first loses his connection to the diving bell and the ship and finds himself surrounded by utter darkness, not even knowing that the pipeline is just a few yards behind him. The initial assault of the storm is unsettling as well, and Yuasa’s difficult, climactic climb up the diving bell tether, dragging what could well be Lemons’ corpse under him, makes for a tense few minutes as well.
But the whole thing feels curiously small for a feature film, especially since Lemons’ accident and rescue all essentially take place in under an hour. While that is more than enough to leave his fate deeply uncertain, the relative brevity of the film’s narrative combined with the murky cinematography and paucity of character work make ‘Last Breath’ seem more perfunctory than clearly intended.
‘Last Breath’ is clearly bolstered by the presence of Harrelson and Liu, both thankfully avoiding attempts at British accents by playing slightly fictionalized versions of their characters. Harrelson can do the role of Allcock in his sleep – the grizzled veteran full of wisdom and war stories – but he’s also mostly passive in the film, as he sits in the diving bell while Lemons and Yuasa are the focus of the action below and the ship’s crew the center of the drama above.
Liu is formidable and steely as Dave Yuasa, probably giving the film’s best performance – while ironically having the least to say. Yet there is something in his presence and silence that radiates both authority and cynicism, along with a slight touch of fatalism that is probably inherent in this kind of dangerous work. The one moment when he lets his guard down at the end – as he silently gazes at a photo of his children – is also a nice moment of minimalism on his part.
Finn Cole is fine but rather bland as Lemons, who is also sidelined for much of the film’s second half. On board the ship we have the always great Cliff Curtis as the captain, along with sturdy character actors Myanna Buring and Mark Bonnar as his bridge officers, but aside from their welcome appearance there’s little insight into their characters.
‘Last Breath’ falls squarely in the tradition of movies about a collective human spirit battling adversity, and there’s no question that the efforts of the ship’s crew and Chris Lemons’ diving teammates were courageous and humane without compare. All are resolute in bringing Lemons back whether he’s dead or alive, and refuse to leave him down in the dark depths no matter what his ultimate fate is.
But ‘Last Breath’ doesn’t quite capture the emotion and tension of those events because of its prosaic pacing and handling, and even the most mysterious and intriguing part of the story – what ultimately happens to Lemons – is casually delivered at the end, although to be fair it’s difficult to say whether that aspect of the story can be visualized properly. Even with its terrific cast and intermittently gripping moments, ‘Last Breath’ never quite gives this tale – pardon the pun – room to breathe.
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What is the plot of ‘Last Breath’?
When a deep-sea diver (Finn Cole) becomes trapped hundreds of feet below the surface during a storm, his two teammates (Woody Harrelson and Simu Liu) and the crew of their ship race against time and the elements to save him before he runs out of oxygen.
Landing on Disney+ daily across eight days from December 22nd, the second season of Marvel’s Disney+ animated series ‘What If…?’ wraps up the show’s run –– at least for now –– with another set of episodes where several build to a grand, multiverse-hopping finale.
Disney’s Marvel arm has seen something of a renewal this year, between the success of ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ (even if that film poked plenty of fun at how tired the idea of the multiverse seems these days) and ‘Agatha All Along.’ And now here comes the welcome return of ‘What If…?’ which again blends more stand-alone stories with some clever easter eggs (and in one case, an actual egg) that knit together to spin a bigger tale around Jeffrey Wright’s powerful The Watcher. Who, it turns out, will have to answer for meddling in the affairs of different universes.
Does ‘What If…?’ Season 3 still provide multiversal fun?
In keeping with the previous two seasons, the new run of ‘What If…?’ offers a blend of intriguing possibilities and an overarching spine that only starts to reveal itself towards the end of this final eight episodes. Those who have seen the previous seasons won’t be surprised at what it is building to, though it’s mostly satisfying.
But the pleasure in this show is usually more in the individual episodes, which here run the gamut between the hilarious (one focused on Howard the Duck and his unlikely, but somehow perfect relationship) and the heartbreaking (an epic, dystopian story of what happens with a ‘Black Panther’-associated character following the near destruction of Earth by Tiamut the celestial). Indeed, there is better use of several elements of the ‘Eternals’ than in the movie itself.
Another welcome element, near prescient, given the runaway success of her solo show, is the presence of Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness.
And that’s probably about all we can say on that front, given the extensive embargoes in place on this!
The regular writing team of Matthew Chauncey, Ryan Little and A.C. Bradley are back for the season, and the scripts run the usual gamut of superb to solid. While there isn’t perhaps the knockout winner of, say, last year’s festive episode, there remains a good balance of character interaction and fascinating peeks into unusual corners of the MCU while also blending in some more comics-faithful moments for fans of the printed pages.
Bryan Andrews and Stephan Franck return to direct the episodes and the look of the show continues to evolve in subtle ways. Most of the characters will be instantly recognizable, while others, such as Obadiah Stane (voiced here by Kiff VandenHeuvel rather than Jeff Bridges) might take a moment.
There are the occasionally jarring replacements, but on the whole, it’s a satisfying set of voices. Seth Green is great as usual as Howard the Duck, playing perfectly off the energy of Kat Dennings as Darcy. And kudos to Wright who, when given more to do as the Watcher than simply observe and narrate.
Oh, and you won’t tire of hearing Jackson emote the phrase “Mr. and Mrs.… The Duck.”
It’s also fun to hear the likes of Jason Isaacs –– something of a genre titan thanks to ‘Harry Potter,’ ‘Star Trek,’ ‘Star Wars’ and the DC animated appearances he’s put in –– as a powerful cosmic entity whose voice fairly drips with withering sarcasm.
Though it may not quite hit the highs of last year’s festive season run, Season 3 of ‘What If…?’ certainly has enough pleasures to keep fans happy. And though the big finale feels a little predictable at times, it is definitely enough to leave you wishing the company would commission future seasons, especially given how effective the creative team has been in making compelling narratives fit in sub-30-minute episodes.
‘What If…?’ Season 3 receives 8 out of 10 stars.
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What’s the plot of ‘What If…?’ Season 3?
“What If…?” returns in Season 3 for its culminating adventure through the multiverse.
Watch as classic characters make unexpected choices that will mutate their worlds into spectacular alternate versions of the MCU. The Watcher (Jeffrey Wright) will guide viewers as the series traverses new genres, bigger spectacles, and incredible new characters.
