Avengers assemble... at the Oscars!
Academy Awards telecast executive producers Katy Mullan and Raj Kapoor took part in a press conference alongside host Conan O’Brien (via THR), and revealed that this year's ceremony will include a little something for MCU fans.
"There’s also going to be a Marvel reunion for the superhero fans. So we’re gonna have superstar superheroes, and there is also going to be an extraterrestrial on the stage. So you can figure that one out."
We're not sure which alien has been enlisted to appear, but this news has led to speculation that we might see a new teaser for Avengers: Doomsday. Wishful thinking, maybe, but Disney has debuted first looks at several movies (The Little Mermaid, Lightyear) during the Oscars broadcast in the past.
Marvel has already released four character-focused clips for the movie, but we're still waiting on a full trailer.
It remains to be seen what Mullan and Kapoor have planned (it may turn out to be little more than a bunch of actors taking the stage and cracking a few jokes), but we do know that several Marvel Cinematic Universe actors have already been confirmed as presenters: Chris Evans, Pedro Pascal, Lewis Pullman, Channing Tatum, Gwyneth Paltrow and Robert Downey Jr.
The two EPs also addressed this year's In Memoriam section, which is often met with criticism for its omissions.
“It has been a really, really tough year this year, so the In Memoriam has been something we’ve been talking about for many, many months,” said Mullan. “We’ve lost a huge amount of people this year who are so meaningful to so many in the film community. We take it really, really seriously. We have been having many, many discussions. … It continues to change right up until rehearsal, because we want to get the strike, the balance, just right and make sure that it feels like the right moment in the show for the moment in time. So I guess we can’t really go into detail of what it’s going to be this year, but we really hope that it is a tribute that moves people and feels like it does the incredible people we’ve lost this year justice.”
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.