I'll admit it: I miss the days when a Marvel leak meant a blurry set photo, not a full-on blueprint for cinematic bedlam. Yet here we are—July 2025, and the supposed plot for the first act of Avengers: Doomsday is everywhere. It's chaos. Total, beautiful chaos. Or maybe it's just noise.
Let's get the facts straight, before the speculation eats us alive.
The Russo Brothers Return—With a Twist
Joe and Anthony Russo, the directors who turned superhero fatigue into a $2.8 billion adrenaline rush with Endgame, are back in the saddle. The script? Stephen McFeely—yes, the same guy who helped orchestrate Cap's “Hail Hydra” elevator moment. The release date? December 18, 2026. (Circle it. Tattoo it. Whatever.) And Avengers: Secret Wars isn't far behind, dropping December 17, 2027.
But this isn't just another victory lap. The Russos reportedly turned down the gig—twice. Not even Robert Downey Jr. could sweet-talk them into it, at least not until McFeely pitched a story that, as Joe Russo put it, “absolutely needs to be told”.
The Leak: Too Much, Too Soon?
Here's the alleged setup, courtesy of online scooper James Mack and a chorus of Reddit sleuths:
- Shuri, not Doctor Strange, detects the Incursions—those universe-colliding events that make even Kang nervous. She alerts Sam Wilson's Captain America, Wong, Hulk, and Captain Marvel.
- The Fantastic Four crash-land on Earth-616, hunting for Franklin Richards, who's been snatched by Doctor Doom. Galactus gets a name-drop. Bucky Barnes wants in.
- The team-up is absurd: Thor, Yelena, M'Baku, Namor, the Fantastic Four, and more. Their mission? Save Monica Rambeau and Franklin, stop the Incursion, and take down Doom.
- America Chavez opens the portal—then, apparently, disappears from the plot.
- Hero vs. hero brawl. Short-lived. They realize they're all being played by Doom, the TVA, and, of course, Loki.
It's like Marvel threw every leftover plot thread from the last five years into a blender and hit “multiverse.” Does it sound plausible? Sure. Does it sound… safe? Maybe too safe.
Familiar Faces, Unfamiliar Roles
Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom. That's the headline. The man who was the MCU for a decade, now the villain pulling the strings. According to leaks, Doom's plan is nothing less than multiversal annihilation—he wants to destroy the Sacred Timeline, and he's not above kidnapping children to do it.
The X-Men, the Fantastic Four, the New Avengers—everyone's here. And yet, the leak suggests some big absences. No Spider-Man (Tom Holland). No Chris Evans (at least, not yet). The Thunderbolts, Wakanda, Talokan, and Kamar-Taj are left to defend Earth-616 from an invasion, while the main team goes universe-hopping.
Is This the Future—Or Just More of the Same?
Here's where I get personal. I want to be floored. I want to gasp, loudly, in a silent theater and feel mortified. But this plot? It's almost too on-the-nose. Multiversal chaos. Hero vs. hero. A manipulative villain with a god complex. We've seen this before—Civil War, Infinity War, Multiverse of Madness, No Way Home. Are we chasing innovation, or just remixing greatest hits?
And yet… there's a weird comfort in that. The MCU's biggest gamble might be embracing its own excess. If the Russos can wrangle this circus—if Downey can make us hate him, even for a minute—maybe Marvel's got one last magic trick up its sleeve.
The Only Thing Certain? The Dates
Filming is underway, with scenes reportedly set on the Fantastic Four's home turf—yes, a baseball game, if you believe the insiders.
So, is this leak the real deal? Or just another fever dream cooked up by fans desperate for a dopamine hit? I'm torn. It's brilliant. Or maybe it's nonsense. Both work.
All I know is, come December 2026, I'll be there—popcorn in hand, ready to gasp, groan, and maybe, just maybe, believe in Marvel magic again.
