Avengers 5 – Release Date, Cast, & Story Details

In 2026, the Avengers will return to the big screen with Avengers 5, reuniting the first MCU superhero team for the first time since Avengers: Endgame. While concrete story details are limited so far, Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton’s Avengers 5 promises to be a crossover event of unprecedented magnitude, with potentially thousands of extremely powerful villains facing off against the biggest hero line-up ever united in the MCU timeline within one project. There can be no doubt that blood will be spilled.

However, complications for Avengers 5 have arisen based on Jonathan Majors’ legal matters, as Majors was found guilty on two misdemeanor counts of harassment and assault on December 18 2023. Shortly after, reports came in that the MCU had cut ties with the actor going forward, and that Avengers: The Kang Dynasty would henceforth be Avengers 5 for the time being, though Marvel’s intention at the current time is still to go forward with the movie.

Avengers 5 Key Articles

Avengers 5 Latest News

The most recent news for Avengers 5 released in July 2024, as reports surfaced that reiterated the idea that Avengers: The Kang Dynasty would be undergoing a retitle, and discussed a subsequent plot alteration for the release in order to move away from the story revolving around Kang himself. Following Marvel cutting ties with Kang actor Jonathan Majors, this adjustment has been much theorized about, as Majors also playing the vast selection of introduced Kang variants would make a potential recasting somewhat trickier to explain.

Even if the MCU were to recast, the new actor in the role would be sure to experience much scrutiny in the role, and this complicated past could already put the character on the back foot when it comes to a potential upcoming starring role. As such, this report being true would align with the prior audience speculation about the franchise, though nothing has been officially confirmed at this time.

Another major report regarding the upcoming MCU movie has also surfaced in July 2024, with The Hollywood Reporter stating that the Russo brothers were in talks to potentially direct Avengers 5 & Avengers 6. With the director duo having helmed Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame, this is a seriously exciting prospect, as this movie roster demonstrates a clear ability to create critically and financially acclaimed MCU releases.

Given the collective box office of these movies is over $5 billion, this would definitely put Avengers 5 in a promising position. This is doubly true given on November, 15, 2023 it was reported that the director of Avengers: The Kang Dynasty stepped down from the role, leaving the project in a complicated position for the time being – and meaning that the project has been without a director for some time, which could further warrant bringing in experienced Marvel directors to take the wheel while the franchise is in a more precarious position than it perhaps has been historically.

Destin Daniel Cretton – who also directed Phase 4’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings – is reportedly in talks with Marvel to helm another project instead of Avengers 5. As such, the final cut of Avengers 5 is sure to look different from what it might have prior when a new creative takes over the directing role.

Finally, a June 2024 Deadline report brought news that the Avengers 5 cast could feature more than 60 characters, which would make it a story of truly epic proportions. While this could present some potential narrative issues in terms of ensuring the wide range of figures brought into the film are paid off over the course of its runtime, this considerable roster would help the next Avengers movie after Avengers: Endgame live up to its predecessor, and could well prove exactly what the franchise needed – especially if the Russo brothers do end up becoming the movie’s directors.

Avengers 5 Release Date

While it was originally set for release on May, 2, 2025, Marvel shifted the Avengers 5 release date to May 1, 2026. It will follow The Fantastic Four‘s debut at the start of the MCU’s Phase 6, as long as plans remain the same.

Avengers 5 Cast Info

So far, Avengers 5 has no confirmed actors, as Jonathan Majors was the only figure prior who was definitely set to be in the movie – and the MCU reportedly dropping him means that the film currently has no clear actors. However, there are a lot of Kang variants who could appear still appear in the movie if Marvel goes the route of recasting Kang and his various other iterations.

Every Kang Variant Who Could Still Appear In Avengers 5

• Immortus, The Once & Future Kang
• Rama-Tut
• Scarlet Centurion
• Mister Gryphon (the suit-wearing Kang in Quantumania)
• Reptilian Kang the Conqueror
• Victor Timely (if he survives Loki season 2)
• Thousands of Nameless Kang variants

This said, it is worth noting that reports stating the film may move away from Kang could make other figures more integral to the story. This could instead mean the first official casting for the movie is that of whoever plays Doctor Doom, given the latter antagonist is a popular candidate to take over as the Multiverse Saga’s central enemy.

While this would result in less villains for the Avengers to potentially face, Doom matches Kang’s technological know-how and tools, making him a potentially perfect replacement. Bringing in Doctor Doom would also potentially be a great lead-in to the Secret Wars storyline, as he’s also been an antagonist in one of the comic iterations of this narrative.

Regardless of which villain comes to the forefront of the movie, it’s clear they’ll be a seriously powerful one. That means Avengers 5 needs an Avengers team to match, and while the New Avengers line-up for Phase 6 is yet to be revealed, we already have a good idea who will appear. For a start, the new Fantastic Four will most likely appear, with their movie coming just before Avengers 5, and they should be joined by the Avengers who are still active in the MCU. The list of the most likely candidates is pretty huge:

Who Are The Avengers In Avengers 5?

• Thor – Chris Hemsworth
• Captain America – Anthony Mackie
• Doctor Strange – Benedict Cumberbatch
• Spider-Man – Tom Holland
• Captain Marvel – Brie Larson
• Hulk – Mark Ruffalo
• Ant-Man – Paul Rudd
• Wasp – Evangeline Lily
• Black Panther – Letitia Wright
• War Machine – James Rhodes
• Wong – Benedict Wong
• Shang-Chi – Simu Liu
• Ms Marvel – Iman Vellani
• Monica Rambeau – Teyonah Parris
• She-Hulk – Tatiana Maslany
• Hawkeye – Hailee Steinfeld and/or Jeremy Renner
• Cassie Lang – Kathryn Newton

Tom Hiddleston’s Loki is a strong bet given how Loki season 2 informs the Multiverse story. Then there’s the supporting characters like the entire Thunderbolts line-up, including Sebastian Stan’s Bucky and Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova, other Young Avengers like Thor’s daughter Love (India Rose Hemsworth) and America Chavez – not to mention the prospect of Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool or Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine appearing in these movies following the upcoming multiversal plot of Deadpool & Wolverine.

Related

15 Avengers Who Can Return For Kang Dynasty & Secret Wars

Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars are expected to boast an impressive cast, which may see the return of many of the MCU’s Avengers.

Also, don’t rule out Tenoch Huerta’s Namor or Oscar Isaac’s Moon Knight. On top of them, we’ll likely see the return of Awkwafina’s Katy, it’s possible Tim Roth’s Emil Blonsky and Danny Ramirez’s new Falcon both reappear, Samuel L Jackson’s Nick Fury is presumably going to be back and we might see Harrison Ford’s President Ross again. Then there’s the entire supporting Wakandan cast, including Winston Duke, Danai Gurira, Lupita Nyong’o, and Dominique Thorne’s Ironheart. Then again, Marvel may hold back some of the other heroes for Secret Wars, which has the potential to be the biggest cast ever assembled.

Avengers 5 Story Details

Strictly speaking, Avengers 5 should be the culmination of the Multiverse Saga, alongside Avengers: Secret Wars, bringing the threads established in various MCU multiverse storylines together for a huge showdown with the Council of Kangs – should the MCU decide to keep with the character even after going separate ways with Jonathan Majors. The announcement of Secret Wars – and the original comic book arc’s connection to the multiverse and incursions – should mean that Avengers 5 actually isn’t an ending, but rather an escalation that presumably sets up the true villain (or villains) of Avengers 6.

If Avengers 5 follows its setup prior to real-world complications, it’s set to deliver on the threat of the Council of Kangs set up in Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania‘s mid-credits scene. In the comics, the Council of Kangs unites as a ruse by Immortus to kick-off a multiversal war that would see him emerge victorious. In the MCU, it appears the Kangs will legitimately team-up to take over the Multiverse, threatening the Sacred Timeline. That will presumably see the New Avengers unite to fight the countless Kang variants shown in the coliseum at the end of Quantumania in a war considerably bigger than Endgame‘s final battle.

Every MCU Release You’ll NEED To Watch Before Avengers 5

• Loki Seasons 1 and 2
• WandaVision
• Doctor Strange in the Multiverse Of Madness
• Ant-Man & The Wasp: Quantumania
• Deadpool & Wolverine

Assuming you don’t want to rewatch the entire MCU before Avengers 5, the good news is that Avengers 5 has (so far) the least homework of any MCU crossover movie, at least in terms of the story. Despite multiple promises, the MCU has never actually tied the Multiverse into all of its releases in any really substantial way, with contradicting starting points and questionable pull-through in the likes of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which didn’t really add anything to the overarching narrative. That Spider-Man crossover works as a companion piece for the real Multiverse saga (and so does Ms. Marvel), but skipping it wouldn’t change anything about Kang’s story.

On the other hand, the sheer number of potential characters in Avengers 5 and the entirely new Avengers team might make you enthusiastic about watching every individual set-up release to see each Avenger’s journey to the team. That would require considerably more of an MCU rewatch, depending on what the eventual confirmed Avengers 5 cast looks like.

Avengers 5

Avengers 5 will bring Earth’s Mightiest Heroes together for the first time in the Infinity Saga. Not having appeared since Avengers: Endgame in the MCU Phase 3, the wide range of heroes must find a way to come together to defend Earth once more.