Robert Downey as Doom raises Sentinels at Comic-Con
Marvel stunned San Diego Comic-Con Hall H with exclusive Avengers: Doomsday footage featuring Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom. In the sneak peek, Doom overpowers Thor and raises an army of X-Men Sentinels against the Avengers, Fantastic Four and mutants. The film hits theaters Dec. 18, 2026.
Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige surprised fans with the clip inside Hall H, Variety reports. Directors Anthony and Joe Russo screened the footage after a brief, jokey Q&A with Ryan Reynolds in Deadpool costume — who is apparently not making his Avengers debut in Doomsday, according to TheWrap.
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Key Takeaways
- Robert Downey Jr. sits on Doom’s throne as Sue Storm recounts how Victor was broken.
- Reed Richards confronts Doom amid a ruined New York City skyline.
- Doom swats Thor aside and raises an army of Sentinel robots from the ground.
- The cast spans Avengers, Fantastic Four, Thunderbolts and Fox-era X-Men stars.
- Avengers: Doomsday opens exclusively in theaters on Dec. 18, 2026.
What happens in the Avengers: Doomsday Comic-Con footage?
The Hall H sneak peek opens with Victor Von Doom — played by Robert Downey Jr. — seated on a throne while Vanessa Kirby’s Sue Storm narrates his fall. “Victor was always the smartest guy in the room. He used to be different,” she says, adding that everything he loved was taken from him and that he is broken.
Quick cuts flash the sprawling cast, including Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), Black Panther (Letitia Wright), Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Cyclops (James Marsden), Magneto (Ian McKellen) and Gambit (Channing Tatum). A destroyed New York City appears in rubble as Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards asks if Victor caused the carnage.
Doom answers that all of them have lived stolen lives and must give them back. Thor confronts him, but Doom catches the magical hammer, throws it aside, tosses Thor away and raises Sentinels — the iconic androids from the X-Men films — from the ground. In TheWrap’s account of the same Hall H peek, Thor vows Doom will beg for hell; Doom replies, “Hell answers to me.”
Which Marvel stars appear opposite Robert Downey Jr.?
Beyond Downey’s Doctor Doom, Variety says the Doomsday lineup is headlined by Evans, Hemsworth, Paul Rudd, Sebastian Stan, Anthony Mackie and Simu Liu. Fantastic Four and Thunderbolts players — Pascal, Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen and Lewis Pullman — are teaming up with those returning Avengers.
Fox X-Men alumni crossing into the MCU include Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, James Marsden, Kelsey Grammer, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn and Channing Tatum. Yahoo Entertainment’s trailer breakdown also notes Bucky Barnes, Scott Lang with Cassie Lang, Shuri’s Wakandans, Namor and Namora, plus Mystique — while flagging no trailer sightings of Hulk, Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch, Nick Fury, Deadpool, Wolverine, Captain Marvel or the Guardians.
Earlier teasers had already teased Evans’s Cap with a child, Hemsworth’s Thor with daughter Love, the Fantastic Four meeting Wakanda, and the official MCU debut of Fox’s past X-Men team.
When does Avengers: Doomsday hit theaters — and why does this matter?
Doomsday arrives Dec. 18, 2026, positioning Robert Downey Jr.’s villain turn as the tentpole that finally collides Avengers, Fantastic Four and X-Men on one battlefield. TheWrap notes the film already racked up $16.5 million in presales in the first 24 hours — limited to about 1,000 premium-format screens under Disney and Marvel’s Infinity Vision push, since Imax will be exclusive to Warner Bros.’ Dune: Part Three that same date.
Doctor Doom first loomed over Reed and Sue’s son Franklin in the mid-credits of The Fantastic Four: First Steps. The Comic-Con peek suggests he may be targeting heroes’ children, with the sneak ending on Thor shielding his daughter — raising the stakes for Marvel’s biggest team-up yet.