Marvel Star Confirms Avengers: Secret Wars Return, And Now We Know Their Role in Doomsday

With Avengers: Endgame Encore now opening in theaters, Marvel fans are starting to really feel the hype around Avengers: Doomsday. The Endgame Encore bonus scenes do a lot to fuel the excitement, revealing the cataclysmic collapse of the Marvel Multiverse – all because Steve Rogers broke the rules of the universe in order to get his own happy ending. As worlds (literally) collide and die, every Marvel movie superhero (of any franchise) will be battling for their survival, and that lineup has some clear breakout favorites.

One Marvel Studios star has confirmed that not only are they appearing in Avengers: Doomsday, but also returning for Avengers: Doomsday, but for Avengers: Secret Wars, as well.

Yelena Belova Will Return… To Fight the Secret War

It’s now been confirmed that Florence Pugh will be returning as Yelena Belova in Avengers: Secret Wars. Pugh got an in-depth feature about her career in Vanity Fair, and it focused on her ability to alternate between high-art cinema, indie films, and blockbuster franchises like Marvel and Dune. In 2026, she will have appeared as Yelena/Black Widow II in both Spider-Man: Brand New Day ($2+ billion box office) and Avengers: Doomsday (expected to break $2 billion), as well as Dune: Part Three. However, while Spider-Man and Dune only required brief screen time from Pugh, apparently that won’t be the case with Doomsday.

In the same interview, it was mentioned that when it comes to Avengers: Doomsday, “Marvel boss Kevin Feige hints” that the film “will be anchored” by Pugh’s character, Yelena, rather than it being a supporting role or cameo. That’s a very interesting statement to hear; last seen in Thunderbolts*, Yelena stepped up to become the leader of the “New Avengers” squad; rumors claim that Doomsday will see Yelena’s New Avengers clashing with Sam Wilson’s (Anthony Mackie) O.G. Avengers about how to protect the Earth. Even with major characters like Doom, Steve Rogers, Thor, the X-Men, or the Fantastic Four on the game board, Doomsday is still an “Avengers” movie, and the Avengers (in whatever form) still need to be a central focus of the story. Sam and Yelena are a pairing we never knew we needed, and seeing them both trying to lead the Avengers (competitively and cooperatively) will be entertaining for sure.

After Avengers: Endgame Encore, we know that Steve Rogers broke the multiverse by using the Infinity Stones to change the Sacred Timeline. Those dominoes started falling, causing increasingly violent incursions between worlds. Now, as Doomsday begins, the TVA is seeing thousands of worlds dying all at once, and it’s only a matter of time before Earth-616 (the MCU) faces that same threat. Meanwhile, Doom’s (Robert Downey Jr.) role is getting more complex and interesting by the day: not so much an arch-villain as a powerful leader battling against extinction harder than most others.

Avengers: Doomsday has a release date of December 18th.

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