Doom came to CinemaCon Thursday, where Marvel Studios showed off the first extensive look at Avengers: Doomsday, its multi-verse mashup movie that brings Robert Downey Jr. back to the fold.
Marvel Studios honcho Kevin Feige took the stage in Las Vegas on Thursday to close out Disney‘s presentation. “Doomsday picks up where Avengers: Endgame left off,” Feige said, also expressing his excitement in introducing the Avengers to the X-Men.
Doomsday returns directors Anthony Russo and Joe Russo to the Marvel fray, as they helm the movie from a script by Michael Waldron and Stephen McFeely. Joe Russo said of Doom, “He’s not simply a villain — he’s one of the most complex Marvel characters. He’s always three moves ahead.”
At that, Downey took the stage to the tune of the Rolling Stones’ “Sympathy for the Devil.” The star, who is known for his previous Marvel Cinematic Universe role as Tony Stark’s Iron Man, exclaimed, “I couldn’t have imagined reuniting with this amazing team — let alone as a new character.”
The team then revealed a trailer that provided the first look at Downey’s Doctor Doom in his mask.
“If you return, you will return as brother and sisters,” Chris Hemsworth’s Thor tells his fellow heroes about the threat of Doom. “Mark my words: We are going to need a miracle.”
The footage ended with Chris Evans surprising Hemsworth, who says, “It’s not possible,” as Evans grabs Thor’s hammer.
Evans then took the stage and quipped about Doom, “This guy — I don’t like it.”
This marked the first extensive footage of Doomsday following brief teasers released in late 2025 and earlier this year focusing on Steve Rogers, Thor and the X-Men, as well as one centering on Shuri and Wakandan friends and The Thing from the Fantastic Four. Combined, the teasers generated 1 billion views online. Downey’s return as Doom was not revealed in those teasers (he briefly appeared as the character in Fantastic Four: First Steps, but his face was not shown).
Hitting theaters Dec. 18, Doomsday is top of mind for the gathered crowd of theater owners, as the film is a strong contender to be the top-grossing film of 2026. It reunites some of the talents behind Avengers: Endgame (the No. 2 film of all time) and Avengers: Infinity War (the No. 7 movie all time), including filmmakers Joe and Anthony Russo and much of their casts from those films.
There had been intense speculation that Doomsday might shift its Dec. 18 release date because Imax screens are committed to carrying Dune: Part Three for three weeks. Disney insiders insisted the speculation was nonsense, and on Thursday it became clear why: The studio is developing its own premium large-format certification program, Infinity: Vision Logos, that will signal to consumers which screens meet the same sort of standards that make Imax so popular.
As of now, there are a multitude of different premium systems across the U.S. and world that don’t have the brand awareness that Imax enjoys (even Imax screens or Dolby Cinema could receive the Infinity: Vision stamp of approval). PLFs account for millions of dollars in extra box office revenue, yet most of the attention goes to Imax, even if the combined revenue from other large-format screens account for a far larger share of the overall premium cinema pie. Infinity: Vision makes its debut with the September rerelease of Avengers: Endgame.
CinemaCon is the annual event for exhibitors and Hollywood studios that runs this year from April 13-16. It is the official convention of Cinema United.
