Insider @Cryptic4KQual recently claimed that Avengers: Doomsday would basically be a "literal" adaptation of "[Jonathan Hickman's] New Avengers/Secret Wars run with the MCU's mainline story [woven] in," and he has now elaborated while sharing some intriguing new details.
Possible spoilers follow.
"There are elements that have been changed so the story makes sense," he posted on X. "Loki, for instance, will essentially replace the Beyonders. There's going to be some sort of Black Swan alternative in there too."
This isn't the first time we've heard that Loki will take the Beyonders' role (apparently, Doom steals his powers, destroying the God of Stories in the process), but who could this "Black Swan alternative" be?
The Black Swans were a fanatical all-female order who served Rabum Alal, aka the great destroyer, aka Doctor Doom. We have previously heard that Doom will recruit some familiar followers in Doomsday, including Doctor Strange and Peggy Carter (or possibly a Carter variant).
If there is just a single character who will be introduced as an alternative, could it be the Scarlet Witch?
In any event, it seems at least some of Doom's followers' identities will remain hidden during Doomsday.
"Time Runs Out is in effect (DS:MOM post-credits), but from what I currently know, I don't think it's fully expanded in DD. Maybe reshoots will pick it up?? Like Doom, his followers are also gonna be introduced in DD without context and their identities hidden."
Apparently, Doomsday will have "heavy connections" to Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and not just the movie's post-credits scenes.
Strange left with Clea to investigate the incursions at the end of Sam Raimi's sequel, which will likely have some bearing on Doomsday's plot. The main story focused on the Scarlet Witch attempting to harness America Chavez's powers to access a reality where her children were still alive. Arguably, the movie's most memorable sequence saw Wanda lay waste to a version of The Illuminati.
Cryptic also posted the following in relation to Spider-Man: Brand New Day, but didn't provide any additional context.
Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars were hit with significant delays last year, with Doomsday now set to arrive in theaters on December 18, 2026, and Secret Wars positioned for December 17, 2027.
Both movies will be directed by the Russo brothers, who also make their MCU return after helming Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
"Being able to create stories and explore characters within the Marvel Universe fulfilled a life-long dream of ours, and we discovered a powerful connection with audiences in each film that we made. We’re thrilled to collaborate once again with Kevin, Lou and the entire Marvel team to bring this epic adventure in storytelling to new and surprising places for both the fans and ourselves”, said The Russos in a statement after the SDCC panel.
Doomsday will star:
Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Lewis Pullman as Sentry, Florence Pugh as Yelena, Danny Ramirez as Falcon, Ian McKellen as Magneto, Sebastian Stan as Bucky, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Kelsey Grammer as Beast, James Marsden as Cyclops, Channing Tatum as Gambit, and Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent
Along with Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, Letitia Wright as Black Panther, Tenoch Huerta Mejia as Namor, Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing, Anthony Mackie as Captain America, and, of course, Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom.