Avengers: Doomsday Is Getting Bigger — Could It Surpass Infinity War and Endgame?
Avengers: Doomsday Is Becoming Marvel’s Biggest Gamble Yet
There was a time when the words Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four and Deadpool belonged to very different corners of the Marvel universe.
That time is disappearing.
Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday is shaping up to be a massive collision of Marvel’s past, present and future, and the latest developments have made the movie feel considerably bigger than a traditional Avengers sequel.
The question now is almost inevitable:
Could Avengers: Doomsday become bigger than Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame?
We don’t know yet.
But Marvel is certainly building something that has the potential to compete with them.
Doctor Doom Is at the Centre of Everything
At the heart of Doomsday stands Robert Downey Jr. but not as Tony Stark.
He is Victor von Doom (Doctor Doom).
Marvel has already positioned Doom as an extraordinary threat, while the footage shown at San Diego Comic-Con and D23 has expanded the mystery surrounding his motivations, his connection to the Fantastic Four and the enormous conflict ahead.
The latest D23 footage reportedly shows Doom facing Thor, confronting Reed Richards and awakening Sentinels, giving audiences a glimpse of the scale of the threat facing the heroes.
And that is only one part of the equation.
Marvel’s official Doomsday synopsis describes heroes from three distinct universes being placed on a collision course with an existential threat.
That single description tells us just how ambitious this movie is.
The Avengers Are Not Alone
The film already includes a remarkable combination of MCU heroes, the Fantastic Four and legacy X-Men characters.
Chris Hemsworth’s Thor.
Anthony Mackie’s Captain America.
Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers.
Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards.
Vanessa Kirby’s Sue Storm.
Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man.
Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova.
Tom Hiddleston’s Loki.
And then comes the X-Men.
Doctor Doom. The Avengers. The Fantastic Four. The X-Men. Deadpool wants in. Wolverine wants in. And Marvel Studios appears to be building something enormous with Avengers: Doomsday. Could this become bigger than Infinity War and Endgame? Time will tell — but the stage is already set for an epic Marvel event.”
The X-Men Have Entered the Battlefield
The return of the original Fox-era X-Men actors may be one of the most exciting elements of Doomsday.
Patrick Stewart returns as Professor X.
Ian McKellen returns as Magneto.
James Marsden returns as Cyclops.
Kelsey Grammer returns as Beast.
Alan Cumming returns as Nightcrawler.
Rebecca Romijn returns as Mystique.
And Channing Tatum returns as Gambit.
Marvel officially announced these returning performers as part of the Doomsday cast.
At D23, Marvel also unveiled the cast of its upcoming new MCU X-Men film, including Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Kit Connor as Cyclops, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, Maya Boyd as Storm, Inde Navarrette as Rogue and Christopher Abbott as Professor X, with Adam Driver playing Mister Sinister.
Suddenly, the X-Men aren’t merely a future possibility.
They are becoming part of Marvel Studios larger plan.
And Then Ryan Reynolds Crashed the Party
Just when Marvel fans thought the cast couldn’t get any crazier, Ryan Reynolds showed up at San Diego Comic-Con.
Reynolds appeared in disguise during the Marvel presentation, eventually revealing himself as Deadpool and jokingly asking about getting into Avengers: Doomsday.
It was classic Deadpool.
It was also extremely clever marketing.
Marvel has not officially confirmed Deadpool for Doomsday. Reynolds’ appearance was a tease, not an announcement.
But think about the possibilities.
Deadpool has already crossed the boundary between the Fox Marvel universe and the MCU through Deadpool & Wolverine.
The X-Men are now entering Marvel Studios larger story.
And Doctor Doom is bringing multiple universes into conflict.
If there was ever a movie where Deadpool could unexpectedly walk through a portal and start insulting everyone in the room…
This would be it.
Then Hugh Jackman Took It Further
And then came D23.
Hugh Jackman appeared and essentially asked Kevin Feige to find a place for Wolverine in Avengers: Doomsday.
The moment was amplified by Ryan Reynolds, who helped tease the possibility of another Deadpool and Wolverine collaboration.
Again, there is an important distinction:
Wolverine has not been officially confirmed for Doomsday.
But the timing could hardly be more interesting.
The original X-Men are returning.
Deadpool has already entered the MCU.
Ryan Reynolds is openly joking about Doomsday.
Hugh Jackman is publicly asking Feige for a role.
And Marvel is preparing a multiversal collision.
At this point, fans are naturally going to ask:
How do you make an Avengers movie about multiple universes without Wolverine and Deadpool?
Maybe Marvel doesn’t.
Or maybe it does.
That’s the fun part.
Could This Be Bigger Than Infinity War and Endgame?
This is where things become fascinating.
Infinity War had an almost impossible task, that is bring together years of MCU storytelling and make Thanos the centre of it all.
Endgame then became the emotional culmination of more than a decade of Marvel storytelling.
Doomsday has a different advantage.
Marvel Studios now has decades of superhero cinema to play with.
It doesn’t just have the MCU.
It has the Fantastic Four.
It has the legacy X-Men.
It has Deadpool.
It has Wolverine.
It has multiple generations of actors who have already played iconic Marvel characters.
And it has Doctor Doom at the centre of a multiversal crisis.
That gives Doomsday something neither Infinity War nor Endgame had:
the ability to collide different eras of Marvel’s cinematic history.
Imagine seeing Steve Rogers standing alongside Sam Wilson.
Imagine the Avengers fighting beside the Fantastic Four.
Imagine Professor X and Magneto entering the same battlefield as the MCU heroes.
Imagine Wolverine walking into the middle of it.
And imagine Deadpool reacting to all of it.
That is the kind of cinematic spectacle Marvel Studios can now attempt.
But Bigger Doesn’t Automatically Mean Better
This is important.
A bigger cast doesn’t guarantee a better movie.
More characters don’t automatically create more emotion.
And more cameos don’t automatically create the magic that made Endgame so memorable.
Marvel’s biggest challenge will be giving all these characters a meaningful role while ensuring that Doctor Doom remains the centre of the story.
If Doomsday becomes nothing more than a parade of cameos, it could lose the emotional weight that made Endgame special.
But if Marvel manages to balance spectacle with character, the Russos’ large scale storytelling with Stephen McFeely’s narrative structure, who knows this could become something genuinely extraordinary.
The Road to Secret Wars
There is another reason Doomsday matters so much.
It is not the final destination.
It is the doorway to Avengers: Secret Wars.
Marvel is effectively setting up a two part mega event in which Doomsday establishes the collision and Secret Wars takes the consequences even further.
That makes Doomsday more than another Avengers movie.
It could be the moment when Marvel Studios finally brings together the various generations of Marvel’s cinematic history.
Bigger Than Endgame?
Maybe.
Maybe not.
Time will tell.
Nobody can honestly say today that Avengers: Doomsday will surpass Infinity War or Endgame. Those films became cultural events in a way that is extremely difficult to replicate.
But Marvel Studios isn’t playing small.
Doctor Doom is coming.
The Avengers are assembling.
The Fantastic Four are involved.
The legacy X-Men are returning.
The new MCU X-Men are on the horizon.
Deadpool is knocking on the door.
And Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine is practically asking Kevin Feige to let him in.
If Marvel gets this right, Avengers: Doomsday could become one of the biggest superhero spectacles ever put on screen.
Is it bigger than Infinity War and Endgame?
We will find out.
But one thing already feels certain:
Marvel Studios is building something epic. Cheers – Comics Byte!!
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