"Doomsday" is set to bring Robert Downey Jr. back to the franchise as villain Doctor Doom, Marvel revealed at Comic-Con in July. Downey now joins a star-studded list of returning names, as seen in a more than five-hourlong livestream in March.

Marvel Studios about the dates and it confirmed that the shift is largely to give the filmmakers more time. These are massive movies, after all, and with directors Joe and Anthony Russo helming both films,

Avengers: Doomsday is pushing back its release date in theaters from May 1, 2026 to Dec. 18, 2026, while Avengers: Secret Wars will now open Dec. 17, 2027 instead of May 7, 2027. Disney, however, isn’t giving up the coveted start-of-summer-slot in 2026 and has set 20th Century’s The Devil Wears Prada 2 to take Doomsday ‘s date and open May 1.