May 2, 2025 was previously supposed to be the release date for what is now Avengers: Doomsday – and us now having reached this date makes its initial announcement feel all the more surreal to me now. The MCU timeline has expanded over the course of almost two decades now, which has made it essentially inevitable that some installments in this lineup would have their release dates changed. However, some release date changes are definitely more notable than others, as changing the release windows of the MCU’s biggest films has bigger ramifications for the franchise.
Avengers 5 is one prime example of this, as it underwent a significant delay from its previous release date – which would otherwise have seen the movie release today if it had followed its previous schedule. Given the significance the story of Avengers: Doomsday will have for the MCU – and the fact the installment continues one of the franchise’s biggest series – this decision is one that’s impossible to ignore, and reflects several other Marvel changes that took place during this period of time.
The Fifth Avengers Movie Was Originally Set To Release On May 2, 2025
2022’s San Diego Comic-Con brought with it a huge slew of announcements regarding the MCU’s upcoming releases, fleshing out what the next few years would hold for the franchise and its movie layout. While the considerable number of updates and release date reveals were all exciting in different ways, one of the biggest and most understandably focused on was that of the next two Avengers movies. Since the last Avengers movie people have seen to date is Avengers: Endgame, the prospect of following up on the superhero movie behemoth is one that’s colossally important for the MCU.
As such, the San Diego Comic-Con brought major excitement by giving both the fifth and sixth Avengers movies their very own release dates, allowing audiences to get an idea of when the series would finally begin anew and bring a fresh Avengers team roster to its forefront. Avengers 5 – which was at the time under the Avengers: The Kang Dynasty тιтle – was announced for a May 2, 2025 release date, and its successor, Avengers: Secret Wars, was announced for the very same year, with a November 7, 2025 release date.
However, things changed in no small way between the time of 2022’s San Diego Comic-Con MCU reveals and now, with the changed circumstances of the two upcoming Avengers movies being a prime example of this matter. As it stands, Avengers: Doomsday is currently set for a 2026 release, and Avengers: Secret Wars will hit screens another year after that, taking the films from both releasing in 2025 to coming out in the next two years, and extending the gap between the fourth and fifth Avengers movie so there are 7 years between the two Marvel film installments.
Why Avengers 5 Is No Longer Set To Release On May 2, 2025
It was revealed in June 2023 that a series of MCU releases would be pushed back – including Avengers: Doomsday, the Blade movie, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps – from their previous release dates, with ᴅᴇᴀᴅline reporting these moves alongside other notable project delays like that of Avatar 3 and two Star Wars movies. These were thought to be at least in part due to the WGA strikes and the impact they had on productions until they were resolved in September 2023, having begun that May.
Ultimately, this reflects a wider series of changes carried out regarding the release slate that was discussed at this time. With several other MCU releases being subject to delays or alterations, pushing these release dates back makes a lot of sense in terms of ensuring the installments had enough production time to not be forced to sacrifice quality for speed. This also prevented the overall real-world release timeline from being pushed together to the point that it overstuffed any specific period of time with MCU projects, even if this meant releases had to be pushed back by significant amounts of time.
For example, Ironheart was here given a Fall 2023 release date, though it is now expected to debut in June 2025, 2 years after its initially announced release window. Similarly, Daredevil: Born Again, Captain America: Brave New World, and Thunderbolts* were all here also set for a 2024 release window, though they would each later be delayed until the next year, subsequently meaning releases like Avengers 5 inherently also needed to be pushed back to give everything sufficient room.
The Original Setup For Avengers 5 Underlines Just How Much Has Changed Between Then & Now
Had the original real-world timeline for the MCU’s Multiverse Saga come to pᴀss, then we would at this point in time have just witnessed Avengers 5, and had Avengers: Secret Wars on the near horizon, being far further into this chapter of the franchise’s story than we now currently are. Instead, May 2025 brought us Thunderbolts*, with another movie impending between now and Avengers: Doomsday‘s release in the form of The Fantastic Four: First Steps, which will debut in July 2025, just weeks after the DCU’s Superman hits screens as well.
Avengers: Secret Wars is now set for a 7 May, 2027 release date.
It is also worth noting this date change came around the overarching time period where plans for the fifth Avengers movie shifted from Avengers: The Kang Dynasty to Avengers: Doomsday – and swapped from centering on Kang and his variants to centering on Doctor Doom. With Kang actor Jonathan Majors’ initial arrest taking place in March 2023 – leading to a court case that would see him found guilty of two misdemeanor counts of ᴀssault and harᴀssment in December, with Marvel cutting ties with him – this time was also a period of changes for what the fifth Avengers movie would hold story-wise.
Ultimately, this also means that instead of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty releasing on May 2, 2025, Avengers: Doomsday is set to release on May 1, 2026, marking a considerable overall change for the film and its story in several regards. Now the movie is confirmed to feature not only Robert Downey Jr returning to the franchise in a new role as Doctor Doom, but also the return of several notable Fox actors, some ideas about what the story might hold appear to be becoming clear, and paint a fascinating picture of what’s to come after all of these developments.
Upcoming MCU Movies
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Thunderbolts*
- Release Date
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May 2, 2025
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The Fantastic Four: First Steps
- Release Date
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July 25, 2025
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Avengers: Doomsday
- Release Date
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May 1, 2026
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Spider-Man: Brand New Day
- Release Date
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July 31, 2026
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Avengers: Secret Wars
- Release Date
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May 7, 2027
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