Watch the trailer
Trailer: X-Men. Cast, where to watch and more on the title page.
Avengers: Doomsday arrives on 18 December carrying more than the usual weight of a team-up. It closes Marvel’s Multiverse Saga, it brings the original screen X-Men into the same frame as the Avengers, and, as of last week, it holds Patrick Stewart‘s last performance. Here is what Marvel and Disney have actually put on the record, and nothing they haven’t.
The date and the directors
The film opens exclusively in theatres on Friday 18 December 2026 in North America. Marvel’s film page and Disney’s own explainer both carry that date; check local listings for the exact opening day in the UK, Australia and New Zealand. Tickets went on sale on 20 July through theatres certified for Infinity Vision, a new certification Marvel describes as one for “Premium Large Format theaters.”
Anthony and Joe Russo direct, returning to the series they steered through Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame. Kevin Feige, Louis D’Esposito and Jonathan Schwartz produce for Marvel Studios. The official synopsis keeps it short: heroes from three distinct universes on a collision course, facing an existential threat.
Marvel Studios
Marvel Studios
Marvel Studios
The cast, and who they play
The headline casting is Robert Downey Jr. as Victor von Doom, the monarch of Latveria and longtime adversary of the Fantastic Four. Disney’s explainer is careful on one point: it confirms no connection between Doom and Tony Stark, and calls the theories speculation.
Around him, Disney lists Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Steve Rogers, Anthony Mackie as Captain America, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man and Simu Liu as Shang-Chi. The Fantastic Four arrive from The Fantastic Four: First Steps: Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm. Wakanda sends Letitia Wright as Shuri, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Tenoch Huerta Mejía as Namor and Mabel Cadena as Namora.
Florence Pugh, Wyatt Russell, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen and Lewis Pullman return from Thunderbolts*. Tom Hiddleston, Danny Ramirez and Kathryn Newton are confirmed without named roles. Hayley Atwell confirmed at D23 in August that she returns as Peggy Carter, with Evans reminding the crowd that Steve Rogers “was so close” to his happy ending in Endgame.
The X-Men come back
Disney’s explainer names the mutant contingent outright: Ian McKellen as Magneto, Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier, James Marsden as Cyclops, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, Kelsey Grammer as Beast and Channing Tatum as Gambit. Several of these actors first played their roles in the X-Men films that began in 2000, and Marvel puts the first two, X-Men and X2: X-Men United, at the top of its own catch-up list. Placing that generation inside an Avengers film is the clearest sign yet of how far the Multiverse Saga has stretched.
Patrick Stewart’s final role
Patrick Stewart died last week at 86. In its 29 October tribute, Marvel describes his return as Professor X in Avengers: Doomsday as his final on-screen appearance, closing a run as Xavier that began with X-Men in 2000 and took in Logan and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Marvel has released no further detail about the role, and The Remote will not guess at it.
Where it sits in the MCU
Doomsday is the fifth Avengers film, after The Avengers, Age of Ultron, Infinity War and Endgame, and Disney positions it as the final chapter of the Multiverse Saga. Marvel already lists the next instalment, Avengers: Secret Wars, for 17 December 2027. No Disney+ date has been announced for Doomsday; Disney says only that it will reach the service eventually. For the usual sequence, here is how the cinema-to-streaming window works.
How to catch up on Disney+
Marvel’s official countdown list runs to 15 titles, in this order: X-Men, X2: X-Men United, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Avengers, Avengers: Infinity War, Avengers: Endgame, Loki (seasons one and two), Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, Captain America: Brave New World, Deadpool & Wolverine, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Disney+ also carries a Countdown to Avengers: Doomsday collection and a weekly official podcast hosted by Iman Vellani and Frank Alvarez. The two early Fox X-Men films are the ones most likely to vary by country: Disney+ title pages list X-Men in Canada, the UK, Australia and New Zealand, but Disney notes that availability varies by region, so search the app in your market before you plan a marathon.
Where to watch
- Avengers: Doomsday: in theatres, CA and US, 18 December 2026; UK, AU and NZ, check local cinema listings
- Countdown to Avengers: Doomsday collection and podcast: Disney+, check your market’s app
- X-Men (2000): Disney+ title pages in CA, UK, AU and NZ; US, check local listings
- Avengers: Doomsday on streaming: Disney+, date not announced
Sources
- Marvel.com: Avengers: Doomsday film page
- Disney+: Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday, release date, trailer, cast and more, 30 Sep 2026
- Marvel.com: Marvel remembers Patrick Stewart, 29 Oct 2026
- Marvel.com: Countdown to Avengers: Doomsday with Marvel movies and shows on Disney+, 5 Oct 2026
- Marvel.com: Avengers: Doomsday trailer and Infinity Vision tickets, 20 Jul 2026
- Marvel.com: D23 2026, the stars of Avengers: Doomsday unveil new footage and poster, 14 Aug 2026
- The Walt Disney Company: Marvel Studios at San Diego Comic-Con 2026, 25 Jul 2026
- Disney+ Canada: X-Men title page
Titles in this story.
Explore The RerunBefore you go

