UPDATE 8/16: Deadline’s D23 takeaway isn’t sweating the December 18 collision. After The Odyssey and Brand New Day both won this summer, the trade says two male-fandom tentpoles like Doomsday and Dune: Part Three won’t get in each other’s way, and expects both to rise. Original article follows.
Marvel never really said why Avengers: Doomsday abandoned its May 2026 release date and moved all the way to December.
Matt Belloni just gave the reason in two words.
The moment came during Belloni’s The Town interview with IMAX CEO Rich Gelfond, the same conversation where Gelfond confirmed Avengers: Secret Wars and Star Wars: Starfighter for IMAX.
Belloni Blames “The Russos”
Gelfond was explaining how Disney ended up creating Infinity Vision when the conversation turned to Doomsday‘s original release date.
“Just going through the history for a second, Avengers: Doomsday was supposed to come out over the summer,” Gelfond said. “It didn’t, for whatever reason.”
Belloni immediately filled in the blank.
“Oh, we knew. It’s two words. The Russos,” he said with a laugh.
Gelfond’s full response: “Okay, I’m not going there either.”
That response says plenty on its own. Gelfond runs IMAX and works with every major studio in Hollywood. He wasn’t about to get dragged into publicly blaming Joe and Anthony Russo for Marvel’s biggest release moving seven months.
Moving Doomsday To December Cost Marvel IMAX
Belloni’s comment matters even more because the delay came with a major consequence.
Doomsday was originally scheduled for May 2026, where it would have opened the summer movie season with IMAX screens readily available.
Once Marvel pushed the movie to December 18, it ran straight into Dune: Part Three, which had already secured an exclusive three-week IMAX run.
That left Marvel’s biggest movie since Avengers: Endgame without IMAX screens in most of the world.
Disney’s answer was Infinity Vision, a new branding push for premium non-IMAX screens being used to sell Doomsday as an event movie without the format normally attached to releases this big.
Avengers: Secret Wars moved at the same time, sliding from May 2027 to December 17, 2027. The Doomsday delay didn’t just move one movie. It reshuffled Marvel’s next two Avengers releases and handed Dune: Part Three the December IMAX window.
The Production Reports Point In The Same Direction
Belloni putting the delay on the Russos also lines up with what has been reported about the production itself.
Doomsday reportedly started filming without a finished script, and more recent claims coming out of post-production describe a half hour getting cut while actors fight over their scenes.
Belloni is also one of the most connected reporters covering the Hollywood business side. When he says, “we knew,” he’s saying the reason behind the delay wasn’t some mystery inside the industry even if Marvel never publicly spelled it out.
Put it all together, and his two-word answer is pretty clear: Doomsday needed more time, and the Russos weren’t ready to deliver it for May.
But maybe that’s a good thing. We’ll find out in December.
Avengers: Doomsday Release Date
Avengers: Doomsday opens December 18 in Infinity Vision, with IMAX in China.
