Industry experts see big things ahead for Avengers: Doomsday. The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been in a slump for a few years, outside of films like Spider-Man: No Way Home and Deadpool & Wolverine. However, the MCU is putting a lot of faith behind their next major release, which hits in December 2026. This movie, Avengers: Doomsday, will present the next major threat to the universe as Doctor Doom arrives to threaten to upend life as people know it. With a monstrous cast that includes the return of Robert Downey Jr. in a new role as Doctor Doom, the MCU wants to see if it can turn things around with this release.
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The good news is that ComicBookMovie reports that over 700 industry experts believe that Avengers: Doomsday will be the box office king of 2026. The last Avengers movie, Avengers: Endgame, was one of the highest-grossing movies of all time. According to the industry experts, 174 of them said that they believed Avengers: Doomsday would have the biggest box office of any other movie in 2026.
The experts listed eight movies with a chance to take the box office crown. Ranking second to Avengers: Doomsday was The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, with 139 votes. This is a sequel, and the first Super Mario Bros Movie made $1.3 billion at the box office. In third place was Toy Story 5, with 109 votes. This is a long shot, as Pixar movies are highly regarded, but rarely box office blockbusters. Toy Story 4 made $844 million worldwide.
The fourth spot with 104 votes went to an original movie, with Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey, based on Homer’s epic. Nolan’s last movie was an Oscar contender, with Oppenheimer making $976 million at the box office. Dune: Part Three (55 votes), The Mandalorian and Grogu (43 votes), Minions 3 (41 votes), and the live-action Moana (41 votes) round out the voting.
Can the MCU Rebound With Avengers: Doomsday?
Marvel Studios just started marketing next year’s Avengers: Doomsday release. These releases have been met with a polarizing reaction. On one hand, people love seeing that Steve Rogers and Thor are coming back in the new movie. However, while these people are happy to see familiar and beloved faces back for the franchise, others feel it is taking a step backward and not leaving things open for the future of the MCU. However, all Marvel has to do is get people into the theater and show that the old heroes are there to usher in the next generation of heroes.
This is why a large box office is so important. If the drop in box office for the MCU is because fans are not happy that the old heroes are gone, Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars have a chance to redo their exits and, hopefully, help fans feel more secure in the future movies without these heroes. The past few years of MCU releases have presented some great films that fans refused to give a chance, often bashing them without ever seeing them. That has to change for the MCU, and superhero movies in general, to survive.
If the industry experts are right, and Avengers: Doomsday brings in a massive crowd to see the returning heroes, this will give Marvel one more chance to set up a future that includes the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and possibly a Young Avengers team, as well as the street-level Disney+ heroes like Daredevil and Jessica Jones.
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