The Avengers Doomsday team has a problem that even Earth’s strongest heroes cannot solve with brute force: the Marvel Cinematic Universe no longer has one united superhero organization. With Doctor Doom approaching and several groups operating separately, Sam Wilson must prove that carrying Captain America’s shield also means knowing how to lead.
Marvel Studios has now confirmed who belongs to his Avengers lineup. However, the more interesting question is whether five heroes who have never fought together on screen can become the force the MCU desperately needs.
Why the Avengers Doomsday team starts at a disadvantage
According to Empire’s exclusive Marvel Studios preview, published on November 13, 2026, the official Avengers consist of Sam Wilson’s Captain America (Anthony Mackie), Joaquin Torres as Falcon (Danny Ramirez), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), Thor (Chris Hemsworth) and Shang-Chi (Simu Liu).
Sam assembled this group following the events teased in Captain America: Brave New World. Nevertheless, audiences have not yet seen these five characters operate as a complete team. Their individual abilities are established, but their chemistry remains an unanswered question.
That creates an unusual starting point for Avengers: Doomsday. The original Avengers were introduced through separate stories before their first major collaboration in 2012. This time, Marvel is approaching another enormous crossover without showing viewers how its newly established team works together.
Furthermore, the lineup brings together very different levels of experience. Thor has faced cosmic threats for years, while Joaquin Torres is still relatively new to his superhero identity. Shang-Chi possesses extraordinary combat skills, and Scott Lang contributes a different kind of perspective. Making those strengths work together could be just as important as confronting Doom.
The Avengers Doomsday team is not the New Avengers
Another complication comes from the existence of a second group using the Avengers name. Following Thunderbolts*, Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) publicly branded her crew the New Avengers.
That group includes Yelena Belova, Bucky Barnes, Red Guardian, Ghost, John Walker and Bob. Unlike Sam’s newly confirmed roster, these characters already share a collective history. Yet their organization has a very different origin, raising questions about which group other heroes will recognize when a global emergency begins.
The distinction matters because Marvel is no longer dealing with a simple absence of superheroes. Instead, it has several powerful groups without an established common command structure. The Fantastic Four occupy another universe, while the Fox-era X-Men come from their own separate reality.
Consequently, the challenge goes beyond recruiting additional fighters. Someone must coordinate people who have different loyalties, experiences and ideas about leadership. The confirmed roster tells us who Sam recruited, but it does not establish how every other superhero faction will respond to his authority.
Sam Wilson must finally deliver on Steve Rogers’ legacy
Anthony Mackie has connected Sam’s upcoming role to one of the MCU’s most important transitions. At the end of Avengers: Endgame, Steve Rogers entrusted him with Captain America’s shield. Mackie recalls that Steve also wanted Sam to take responsibility for leading the Avengers.
Doomsday will give audiences considerably more opportunities to watch Sam command others during combat. This represents a meaningful progression from accepting a heroic identity to making difficult decisions while other heroes depend on him.
Unlike Steve Rogers, Sam does not possess the super-soldier serum. His leadership therefore cannot rely on overwhelming physical power. Instead, his experience, judgment and ability to earn trust become essential qualities, particularly when stronger characters such as Thor are involved.
Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige also sees an advantage in this difficult situation. Speaking to Empire about heroes facing interdimensional incursions after years without an organized Avengers team, he remarked: “That’s always fun, to put your heroes on the back foot”.
From a storytelling perspective, this could give Sam a more distinctive role than simply becoming another version of Steve. His greatest achievement may not be defeating an enemy personally, but convincing powerful individuals to fight toward the same objective.
Doctor Doom could exploit Marvel’s fractured universe
Robert Downey Jr.’s return to Marvel as Doctor Doom introduces another layer of uncertainty. Rather than returning as Tony Stark, the actor now portrays the antagonist facing a superhero landscape that is already divided.
Pedro Pascal, who plays Reed Richards, has highlighted an important connection between his character and Doom. Both approach problems through scientific thinking, giving them a distinctive intellectual relationship. That connection could become especially relevant as different universes begin colliding.
However, Marvel has not confirmed how this relationship will develop throughout the film. Nor has it explained exactly how Sam’s Avengers, the New Avengers, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men will interact. Those unanswered questions leave considerable room for conflict without requiring assumptions about unannounced plot twists.
Doctor Doom is also attracting attention beyond cinemas. Battle4Play recently examined Doctor Doom’s rumored dual-role appearance in Marvel Rivals. Those gaming claims remain unconfirmed and are separate from Marvel Studios’ official film announcements.
Meanwhile, the theatrical calendar brings another interesting comparison. As covered in our analysis of Dune: Part Three’s darker direction, both major productions are scheduled for December 18, 2026, offering audiences two very different science-fiction spectacles on the same day.
Avengers: Doomsday, directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, marks the first Avengers theatrical installment since 2019’s Endgame. Empire’s expanded 22-page coverage will appear in its January 2027 issue, reaching newsstands on Thursday, November 19, with four alternative covers.
Ultimately, the Avengers Doomsday team may be defined less by how many heroes it can assemble and more by whether Sam Wilson can unite them when everything begins falling apart. Seven years after Endgame, Marvel’s biggest challenge could be making the Avengers feel like a genuine team again.
A Fortnite player since the very first storm: I jump off the Battle Bus with a plan (that rarely survives the landing), build faster than I think and never miss a live event on the island. Here I bring you every new season, collab and secret before the storm closes in.
