Image: © Disney / Marvel Studios, via the Disney UK media kit. A still from the Avengers: Doomsday trailer.
Avengers: Secret Wars is scheduled to open in US theaters on December 17, 2027, exactly one year after Avengers: Doomsday, with Anthony and Joe Russo directing both. Beyond the date and the directors, very little about it is confirmed. This page lists what is, what has changed and what is still rumour. For the first film’s dates and cast, see our Avengers: Doomsday guide. Details are as of November 9, 2026.
Release date and why it moved
Good Morning America and 9to5Marvel both give December 17, 2027 for the US. Rolling Stone’s May 24, 2025 report says Secret Wars was moved from May 7, 2027 to December 17, 2027, at the same time as Doomsday moved from May 1, 2026 to December 18, 2026. Rolling Stone quotes the stated reason for the Doomsday delay as giving the Russo brothers “more time to complete the film” while production continued in London, and gives no separate reason for Secret Wars, which moved alongside it.
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9to5Marvel adds one caveat: a ComicBookMovie report dated November 4 says some international markets may get the film on December 16, 2027. Disney has not confirmed that, and we treat it as unconfirmed.
Who is making it
Marvel announced at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2024 that the Russo brothers, who directed Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, would direct both Doomsday and Secret Wars, ABC News reported at the time. 9to5Marvel lists Stephen McFeely as the writer, working with Michael Waldron and Chris McKenna. Wikipedia’s production article lists those three and also Erik Sommers. Since the lists differ, treat the writing credits as unsettled until Marvel publishes them.
Where production stands
According to 9to5Marvel’s tracker, updated November 8, filming has not started. It has slipped repeatedly, and Anthony Russo has described the current stage as “soft prep.” A report from the scooper Daniel Richtman put the start in February 2027; 9to5Marvel rates that a rumour, and we do the same. Marvel has not confirmed any start date, so any shoot dates you see online are unconfirmed.
Cast and story: what Marvel has said
Nothing official yet. 9to5Marvel says Marvel has announced no cast specific to Secret Wars and that no official synopsis exists, and that every cast name and plot detail in circulation, including Tom Holland, Mark Ruffalo and Paul Bettany, is a rumour or unconfirmed. We do not repeat them.
What can be said safely is how Doomsday sets it up. Good Morning America calls Doomsday the 39th MCU film and the setup for Secret Wars, and notes that Spider-Man: Brand New Day hints Spider-Man may turn up in Secret Wars rather than Doomsday, which is that outlet’s reading, not a Marvel statement. Marvel’s own line for Doomsday, quoted by Good Morning America, is that “beloved heroes from three distinct universes will be set on a deadly collision course.”
The comics behind the title
The title comes from Marvel’s Secret Wars comics. In the 2015 series by Jonathan Hickman and Esad Ribic, Wikipedia says Doctor Doom and Doctor Strange build a patchwork world called Battleworld from the wreckage of the multiverse and Doom rules it as a self-declared god, until Reed Richards defeats him and restores everything. TV Insider points to Hickman’s earlier Avengers: Time Runs Out as the comic Doomsday will likely follow most closely, with Doom as the mastermind behind the multiverse’s collapse. Both of those are the outlets’ descriptions of the comics, and neither is a statement that the film will adapt them. 9to5Marvel says the film is based on the 2015 event; Marvel has not published a plot.
What to watch for next
- Doomsday opens December 16 to 18, depending on where you live. How it ends is the clearest signal of what Secret Wars will be.
- Marvel’s official start of filming and any cast announcement.
- Any change to the December 17, 2027 date. It has moved before, and Disney has not announced another change.
Sources
- 9to5Marvel: Avengers: Secret Wars tracker (updated November 8, 2026)
- Good Morning America: trailer, release date and details (August 27, 2026)
- Rolling Stone Australia: Marvel delays Doomsday and Secret Wars (May 24, 2025)
- ABC News: Robert Downey Jr. returns as Doctor Doom, Russos return
- Wikipedia: Production of Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars
- Wikipedia: Doctor Doom
- TV Insider via Yahoo: Doctor Doom comics and backstory guide
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