Avengers: Doomsday Lines Up Its Heroes Beside Doctor Doom

Superhero Round-up · Edition of Saturday 31 October 2026 · covering 24–31 October

Seven weeks out, Avengers: Doomsday has stepped up its campaign, with six new Doctor Doom posters, a new international poster that lines up the heroes beside him, and the first look at the popcorn buckets UK cinemas will be selling. On the DC side, James Gunn has told fans not to expect a Man of Tomorrow trailer in December. Elsewhere, VisionQuest has reached its final stretch on Disney+, and Clayface has passed $60 million worldwide as it fights for the top spot on Halloween weekend.

The Superhero News That Matters

Avengers: Doomsday lines up its heroes beside Doctor Doom on a new poster

• New development: Marvel Studios released six premium-format posters on Thursday 29 October, for RealD 3D, 4DX, ScreenX, Dolby Cinema, Disney’s own Infinity Vision and Fandango. Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom is on every one. A new international poster followed on Friday 30 October
• Who is on it: Thor, Steve Rogers, Sam Wilson’s Captain America and Yelena Belova stand around Doom and his three Latverian witches, with Gambit, Bucky Barnes, Mystique, Magneto, Cyclops, Shang-Chi, the Invisible Woman, Mister Fantastic and Shuri’s Black Panther lined up below
• The cinema extras: Cinema chains revealed their Doomsday collectibles on the same day, from Doom’s throne and Sentinel popcorn buckets in the US to Vue’s range in the UK, which includes a stained-glass throne bucket and a Doctor Doom bust and goes on sale from 16 December. ODEON and Cineworld have also shown their ranges
• Where to watch in the UK: In UK cinemas from Wednesday 16 December 2026, two days before the US, including Infinity Vision screens

Anthony Mackie has also given a rare hint about where the film picks up. Speaking to SYFY Wire, he said Sam Wilson’s story starts “literally months after Brave New World”, with Cap “invested in the idea of getting the Avengers together” to take on Doom. “I’ve always wanted to fight Robert Downey Jr.,” he added.

Until now, almost every poster has been about Doom alone, so seeing heroes from three universes on one sheet is a clear sign that Marvel is moving to the team-up part of the campaign. It follows last week’s World Series special look, and the news that Sir Patrick Stewart’s final screen performance will be as Professor X in this film, which will make the December release a more emotional one than anyone planned.

James Gunn says there will be no Man of Tomorrow trailer in December

• New development: Replying on Threads this week to claims that the first trailer would play in cinemas with Dune: Part Three in December, Gunn asked “Expected by whom???”, then added: “More like James not wanting people to be disappointed when there’s no trailer in December”
• On Batman: In the same thread, he dismissed reports about actors being considered for the DCU’s Batman: “No one is in the running. We haven’t started casting yet”
• The bigger plan: Gunn also said DC Studios’ long-term plan has always included focusing on its “diamond characters (Superman, Batman, WW)” as well as smaller characters “we could turn into diamonds (Krypto, John Stewart, Peacemaker)”. Seeing things “START to come together”, he said, made him “even more excited” for Man of Tomorrow
• Where to watch in the UK: Man of Tomorrow is due in cinemas on 9 July 2027 (US date; UK date to be confirmed)

One of the film’s mystery cast members has added a small clue of his own. Matthew Lillard told The Direct that his role is “a very James Gunn moment. So, I wouldn’t worry too much about finding him in the comics”, which suggests an original character rather than a familiar DC name.

A trailer-free December means Man of Tomorrow won’t be competing for attention with Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Part Three, which is probably no bad thing. It caps a busy week of Gunn clearing the air, after he said last weekend that DCU stories don’t have to be “building towards” anything and told a podcast that casting Batman “won’t be too long”.

Update: VisionQuest reaches its final stretch as episodes 5 and 6 arrive on Disney+

• What is new: Episodes 5, “Firewall”, and 6, “Deadlock”, arrived on Disney+ in the UK in the early hours of Wednesday 28 October. They are the last double bill before the series switches to one episode a week
• Still to come: Episode 7, “Immolation”, arrives on Wednesday 4 November, and the finale, “Forever”, on Wednesday 11 November
• The series: Created by Terry Matalas, it follows Paul Bettany’s rebooted Vision on the run with the mysterious Thomas Shepherd (Ruaridh Mollica), with James Spader as Ultron. It completes Marvel’s WandaVision trilogy
• Where to watch in the UK: All six episodes so far stream on Disney+ in the UK

We won’t spoil what happens, but the middle of the season has given Spader’s Ultron plenty to do, and Marvel has marked the new episodes with a short promo called “Devil on His Shoulder”. If you are just starting, the season opened with a two-episode premiere, and we covered Jocasta’s MCU debut at the halfway point. Switching to weekly episodes for the last two is a sensible way to build up to a finale that lands a little over a month before Avengers: Doomsday.

Watch the VisionQuest promo

Update: Clayface passes $60 million worldwide as it fights for No 1 on Halloween weekend

• What is new: DC Studios’ body-horror film ended its first week in North America with $33.6 million. Box Office Mojo puts its worldwide total at $61.9 million, including $28.2 million from overseas
• The Halloween fight: Friday’s figures, reported by Deadline, put Clayface neck and neck with A24’s documentary You Can See Everything, both heading for more than $10 million in North America this weekend
• In the UK: It opened at No 2 in the UK and Ireland last weekend with £2,011,764, behind Ghosts: The Possession of Button House, according to the Film Distributors’ Association
• Where to watch in the UK: In UK cinemas now, rated 18

Warner Bros. has been calling it “the #1 movie in the world” in its Halloween promotion. A second weekend of more than $10 million would mean a drop of around 55 to 60%, which is steep but normal for a horror film, and the A- CinemaScore it earned on its opening weekend suggests word of mouth is on its side. On a reported budget of around $40 million, it is already in decent shape. We’ll have the final UK and US figures in Monday’s box office report. Until then, our Clayface Super Review will tell you whether it is worth the trip.

Which are you more excited about: Avengers: Doomsday in December, or Man of Tomorrow next July?