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There's a lot riding on Avengers: Doomsday. Not only is the 2026 film bringing back some of the stars from the Fox X-Men films, like James Marsden, Rebecca Romijn, Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, and Alan Cumming, it's also going to bring back Robert Downey, Jr. to play Doctor Doom. Lots of moving parts here!

With this in mind, Anthony Mackie shared some thoughts with IGN about what's in store for fans with Avengers: Doomsday. Mackie said, "I feel with the script and having the Russo brothers back, it's going to be great. I'm really excited for what this project is going to be. It's going to give the audience that old Marvel feeling that they've always had." 

The stakes for Marvel Studios are high: with the exception of Spider-Man: No Way Home and Deadpool and Wolverine, which both grossed over a billion dollars at the box office, the MCU hasn't had the same bulletproof reputation that it did when Avengers: Endgame became the biggest movie in history in 2019. That's not to say that Marvel Studios hasn't made good or even great movies since Endgame - Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 was outstanding, and Shang-Chi: The Legend of the Ten Rings gave the character the respect he's always deserved. Hell, I loved Eternals even if I'm not really sure how Marvel Studios wanted it to fit within the larger MCU, but that's another story for another day. 

It's also worth remembering that Anthony Mackie's time in the MCU began with the Russos in Captain America: The Winter Soldier back in 2014. His most commercially successful work within the MCU has been with Joe and Anthony Russo as directors. Mackie has been at the top of his game with the Russo brothers behind the camera, so perhaps that's the energy needed for the MCU at this point in time. 

Consider this a meta post-credits scene for Marvel fans - the four key articles you need to read next to continue the thrills:

• How to watch the Marvel Cinematic Universe in release or chronological order
• The best Marvel Comics stories of all time
• All the MCU movies ranked from best to worst
• Our weekly Marvel insider's column, Marvel Matters