Thunderbolts* star David Harbour explains why Avengers: Doomsday will be a game-changing MCU movie in 2026. One of the main teams featured in Avengers: Doomsday‘s packed cast is the New Avengers, which transformed lesser-known anti-heroes into the next generation of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. One of Avengers: Doomsday‘s many main heroes is Red Guardian, who’s currently at the New Avengers headquarters.

Speaking with ScreenRant‘s Joe Decklemeier at Rose City Comic Con, Red Guardian actor David Harbour praises Joe and Anthony Russo’s direction and the layers of drama and comedy in Avengers: Doomsday. Harbour compares Avengers: Doomsday‘s sheer scale and quality with mᴀssive events like Captain America: Civil War and Avengers: Infinity War. Read Harbour’s full quote below:

SR: I feel that the one thing the MCU, specifically, I would say, the Russos, do really well, is having actors in a movie that might not necessarily be there as your scene partner at the time. They’re really good at putting all that together, making it look seamless. Can you talk to me about working with the Russos?

David Harbour: “I was not even convinced when we started, and this movie’s gonna be really good. They have a special sauce. I don’t even really understand, but they [the Russos] just know how to do these things. And I think that as evidenced in Civil War, as evidenced in Infinity War, there’s something about the layers in which they put the comedy and the drama and the surprises and the scale and the epicness and all that stuff. It’s incredible.

I will say I’ve never been on a set like this in my life. I’ve never seen anything like this. You saw those chairs. So it’s like, every one of those guys and girls has a trailer. It’s just insane to look around the room and be like, “Oh my god, I’m in the movie. There’s what’s his face doing that speech”. It’s just enormous.”

What David Harbour’s Avengers: Doomsday Comments Mean

Avengers: Doomsday‘s scale is unmatched. With at least twenty-seven primary and secondary characters, a brand-new villain, and multiversal stakes, Avengers: Doomsday must balance dozens of character arcs with unprecedented fan expectations. The sheer coordination between writers, directors, and actors makes Doomsday a unique challenge for Marvel.

Every MCU crossover has raised the bar beyond imagination, and Avengers: Doomsday faces the tallest order yet. Back in 2012, The Avengers achieved a dream lineup that not even die-hard fans expected to see on the big screen. Only seven years later, Avengers: Endgame became one of cinema’s biggest events. Seven years after Endgame, Avengers: Doomsday‘s plot and cast must raise the bar even higher.

Our Take On David Harbour’s Avengers: Doomsday Comments

Avengers: Doomsday is shaping up to be one the most ambitious MCU projects so far. Entire universes will collide on screen, which demands visuals on a scale unlike anything seen before. However, the scope of such multiversal convergence still needs to feel coherent from a narrative and audiovisual perspective, and it needs to do each character justice.

Marvel Comics’ 2015 Secret Wars comics proved that a multiversal epic can succeed by prioritizing the humanity at its core, contrasting with the more straightforward 1984 event. Avengers: Doomsday must similarly ensure its plot isn’t drowned out by its own ambition. A significant portion of Avengers: Doomsday‘s success hinges on Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom casting alone.

While Avengers: Doomsday‘s scale shocks even the actors themselves, it also needs to hold back in order to set up an even bigger movie event one year later. After all, Doomsday is the final step before 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars, which may become the biggest sci-fi movie event in history. To properly set it up, Avengers: Doomsday must leave enough surprises for the Multiverse Saga’s truly definitive showdown.