Marvel has confirmed ‘Avengers: Doomsday’s first characters, and they reveal the crossover we’ve been dying to see for 20 years

Doomsday is nigh, and Marvel fans couldn’t be happier. Avengers 5 was sputtering there for a while, ever since it lost both director Destin Daniel Cretton and its villain/title character in Jonathan Majors’ Kang, but now it’s speeding along better than ever. Not only are the Russo brothers back to helm it, but Robert Downey Jr. himself is returning to the MCU as the big bad this time, Doctor Doom.

But you already knew all that, of course. What’s less understood is which characters Downey’s Victor Von Doom (no, not Tony Stark from another Earth, but Victor Von Doom) will be facing off against. It’s a tad too early for Marvel to give that away just yet, but the same Comic-Con panel that saw the Iron Man icon’s comeback revealed likewise teased a certain group of characters who will definitely be teasing up with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. And it’s a long time coming.

We don’t know who’ll be on the Avengers’ roster in Doomsday, but we know who they’ll be teaming up with

There were so many mind-blowing revelations to come out of Marvel Studios’ SDCC showcase that some which would usually be enough to generate a ton of headlines are being entirely overlooked. Case in point, during the Fantastic Four portion of the panel, studio prez Kevin Feige confirmed something exciting: the foursome will officially feature in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

While this might not be a wholly unexpected announcement — their arch-enemy literally has his name in the title — prior rumors had indicated the gang wouldn’t show up in Avengers 5 (and maybe that was actually true at the time), so it’s a relief to know we will finally get the Avengers/Fantastic Four crossover of our dreams. Ever since Fox brought the Fantastic Four to film in 2005, there have been various attempts to get them to crossover with other Marvel characters — an X-Men vs. Fantastic Four movie was never made and an appearance in Deadpool 2 was cut. Leave it to Marvel to finally put that right.

All in all, that makes six 100% confirmed characters for Doomsday — the Four, Doom, and Doctor Strange, as Benedict Cumberbatch has previously let slip his involvement. We can guess at a few others — Deadpool and Wolverine seem like certs, for starters — and it’s possible that number could reach as high as 60. Nevertheless, it’s clear that Reed, Sue, Johnny, and Ben are at the core of these movies. It’s sure sounding like, after a decade of despair, Fantastic Four fans are about to be well-fed over the next few years.

Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled for May 2026.