Believe it or not, there are already big plans for some major Avengers starting in 2028. The Avengers are on a collision course (literally) with Doomsday and Secret Wars set to release in December of 2026 and 2027. This is Marvel Studios and its President Kevin Feige’s grand plan to conclude the Multiverse Saga, which began in 2021, and launch a new generation of MCU projects beginning in 2028. If anyone has looked at the future slate, there’s no Avengers film currently slated beyond 2027, but look deeper, and they’ll find an exciting hero team-up coming in 2028.
Marvel Studios launched its Avengers brand back in 2012, forever changing the comic book film industry and Hollywood as a whole. Connected universes and team-ups were all the rage.
Marvel Studios is finally bringing that back in the 2020s with Avengers: Doomsday, releasing over seven and a half years after Endgame, which is probably why Endgame: Encore, a theatrical re-release, is coming out this month.
In all the Avengers films so far, the actual core team of heroes has always been adjusting and expanding. That’s certainly no different in Doomsday, with several new characters from the Multiverse Saga and old-school X-Men from the first 20th Century Fox timeline.
Doomsday will then set up Secret Wars in a real way, and the future from there is unclear, yet bright. That said, Disney and Marvel have already announced that six Avengers actors will return after Secret Wars in 2028. And no, this doesn’t include any of the theatrical films set to release that year.
The Avengers are teaming back up after the events of Secret Wars, but this time it’s part of a Disney experience. Avengers: Infinity Defense is a new mission-based ride coming to Disney California Adventure’s Avengers Campus in 2028, tasking park guests with reassembling the Avengers to battle King Thanos.
Before anyone gets too excited, this is purely a park attraction, not a new movie or Disney+ series, so nothing confirmed for the ride is confirmed for the actual MCU timeline.
Still, Marvel and Disney are bringing back a stacked lineup of actors to reprise their roles, with a range of expected screen time across both Doomsday and Secret Wars.
Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) headlines the ride as Iron Man, which is more than a little ironic, given that Stark’s been dead since Endgame and is technically already back in the MCU as Doctor Doom for Doomsday. It was really cool for fans to hear that Downey was filming new scenes as Tony for the ride while on the set of Doomsday. Maybe a multiversal return to the suit of armor is possible in Secret Wars?
For now, RDJ isn’t expected to suit back up as Stark in either film, making Infinity Defense the only place to see new Iron Man footage of him anytime soon.
Thor (Chris Hemsworth) never left the MCU and is still living and breathing, so his return is natural. Thor confirmed for Doomsday as one of the lead Avengers, and expected back for Secret Wars, unless he dies, of course.
On the ride, it’s already confirmed that he shows up on-screen to hype recruits up ahead of the King Thanos attraction, and they brought him back in his Ragnarok gear, short hair, and non-cracked Mjolnir.
He has said he’d return as the character “a couple more times” beyond those films, making this ride more of a bonus stop than a swan song (save that for Thor 5).
Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson is in a similar spot: the new Captain America is expected to fight alongside Thor in both films, too, so his ride cameo is just adding to his stature as Cap, though the return of Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers has taken away a bit from his ascension, in some fans’ eyes.
Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) is noticeably absent from Doomsday‘s cast list, with no official word on Secret Wars either, especially after The Marvels became the MCU’s lowest-grossing movie at just $206 million worldwide.
Larson isn’t part of Infinity Defense, but she’s confirmed for the campus’s other new 2028 attraction, Stark Flight Lab, a flight-simulator ride where she joins Downey and Mackie as in-universe flight instructors. Sadly, this is currently Larson’s only confirmed future MCU role, but many believe that has to change in Secret Wars, even if a film to close out her trilogy is unlikely.
Over at Infinity Defense, Clint Barton (Jeremy Renner) is making his first MCU appearance since Hawkeye wrapped in 2021. He hasn’t been confirmed for Doomsday, though he reposted the film’s trailer on Instagram, and Feige has said his ride footage was filmed on the Doomsday set, making many fans wonder.
Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) rounds out the roster of Avengers, delivering a “pre-mission briefing” to recruits before they suit up.
She’s also hosting a new official Marvel Studios podcast ahead of Doomsday‘s release, but for now, expect her next performance to be at Disneyland, not on the big screen.
As described by Disney, Infinity Defense will blend physical sets with on-screen media, with the ride vehicle physically moving riders through recreated versions of New York City, Wakanda, and Asgard.
Stark Flight Lab, meanwhile, is a thrill ride where two-person vehicles are picked up by robotic arms and flung around to simulate a hero’s flight patterns, and it will offer three different ride variations depending on which character guides the mission.
For now, the only upcoming Disneyland Avengers actors set to take center stage this year in Doomsday are Downey, Hemsworth, and Mackie, while the other three will (seemingly) have to wait their turn.
