Disney is already off to an exciting start to 2026 after finishing off 2025 with three of the four highest-grossing movies of the year at the box office, including two major sequels in Avatar: Fire and Ash and Zootopia 2. Surprisingly, this was achieved without much help from one of Disney’s biggest franchises, the MCU, which had a down year overall financially and critically. While Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps both earned excellent reviews and won fans over, those films and Captain America: Brave New World only combined to gross just over $1.3 billion globally.
Thankfully, along with Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Disney has a massive MCU crossover event planned for release in Avengers: Doomsday, the first Avengers film released since 2019. Even after so much turmoil across the rest of the Multiverse Saga from other smaller movies, anticipation is still quite high for the next time the Avengers assemble in theaters.
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According to a Variety report regarding upcoming Disney CEO Josh D’Amaro, Avengers: Doomsday is expected to be Marvel Studios’ next massive hit movie. Sources inside Disney’s film division note that the health of the MCU does not hinge on any specific titles and that executives are happy with what they have seen from Doomsday. In fact, top rival studio executives are already predicting that Doomsday will gross more than any other 2026 movie at the global box office.
On top of this report, Doomsday star David Harbour offered a small tease of the Avengers sequel while speaking with Extra, specifically touching on Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of Doctor Victor Von Doom. While he avoided going into specifics, he told fans that he is “really excited for [them] to see” what Downey does and called him “really special” in this movie. This comes ahead of him returning to London for reshoots for Doomsday, which will happen in the next few weeks.
Considering both Harbour’s comments about Robert Downey Jr. and the reports from Disney insiders, Avengers: Doomsday is expected to be Marvel Studios’ biggest hit since 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, which still ranks as the second-highest-grossing movie in history. With Joe and Anthony Russo back to direct this movie, Marvel seems to be going back to what they know will work with fans who have been slightly soured by recent films.
On top of the Russos’ return, the movie will feature the most star-studded cast of any movie in the MCU, which already has over 30 actors set for roles. This includes Phase 4 fan-favorites like Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi and Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, and it will bring back at least half a dozen legacy X-Men stars as well, including Sir Patrick Stewart’s Professor X and Sir Ian McKellen’s Magneto.
Looking back at the MCU’s past, every Avengers movie has grossed at least $1.4 billion worldwide, placing all four films in the top 20 highest-grossing films in history. Both of the last two films, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, crossed the $2 billion mark and sit firmly in the top 10 on that same list. Most expect Doomsday to join that established group of hit MCU movies, and with the hype continuing to build, it could challenge to be one of the biggest hits in movie history. Avengers: Doomsday will debut in theaters on Dec. 18, 2026.