Marvel’s Future Just Got a Whole Lot More Interesting at D23

D23 covered a lot this year, and as much as I loved hearing about the new Frozen film, I couldn’t wait for the Marvel masterminds to take the stage. And when they did, they certainly didn’t disappoint.

Although there weren’t as many movie and TV series announcements as I’d hoped, the ones they did cover were pretty exciting, to say the least. Here’s the Big 3, plus a little extra,  that Marvel’s president Kevin Feige took the stage to give us a preview of.

Avengers: Doomsday

Who Took the Stage

Feige brought out some heavy hitters to really set the stage for this December release, and it included none other than Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, and Hayley Atwell.

Interestingly enough, he also mentioned the characters that each would be playing: Atwell returning as Peggy Carter, Robert Downey Jr. as Victor von Doom, and Chris Evans—he claims—is returning as Steve Rogers.

There has been a lot of fan speculation about Downey as Von Doom, wondering if it all ties back to Iron Man, but recently there’s also been speculation about Chris Evans returning as Steve Rogers. Some think there are signs that point to him being either A. Steve Rogers from another universe, or B. Loki posing as Steve so that the others would trust him.

Honestly, whatever twists lie behind these characters, I doubt Kevin Feige would give them away at D23.

A Surprise Appearance

Two people who weren’t physically on stage but appeared via video were none other than Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds. The pre-recorded video was their apparent plea for Wolverine and Deadpool to return in Avengers: Doomsday—as the saying goes.

Of course, this wasn’t Deadpool’s first plea to the creators to join Doomsday (or the Avengers in general). Besides the constant mentions in his own films, a denim-style Deadpool recently crashed the 2026 SDCC Marvel Studios Hall H panel to plead his case. Despite these attempts, there has been no official announcement of him joining the cast, and the same goes for Wolverine.

However, Kevin Feige did mention that the OG X-Men would make an appearance, which could lead one to believe that Wolverine might be included. And if we connect the dots from there…I’d say our chances of seeing Deadpool this December are around 83.5%.

The Special Look

Of course, we couldn’t have a Doomsday presentation without at least a new clip or special look, and I have to say—this one definitely didn’t disappoint.

It opened with a brief glimpse into Doom’s backstory, with Sue Storm explaining that he used to be kind and caring, but everything he loved was taken from him. The quote that stood out to me was when she mentioned:

“Victor was always the smartest guy in any room.”

Why does this sound exactly like Tony Stark? Did he cross universes when he died and end up with a pretty unique accent and thirst for revenge? I mean…everything he loved was taken from him when he sacrificed himself for everyone, and maybe they are living stolen lives because, if it weren’t for him, most of them wouldn’t be alive?

Maybe.

Or maybe I’m just really hoping Tony comes back…even if he’s evil now.

The clip then cuts to Reed Richards as he frantically asks Doom, “Did you do this, Victor?” as they stand in a destroyed city of some sort.

Following that is our character reveal reel, as it flashes from Magneto to Ant-Man to Johnny Storm (plus many, many others), proving that they really are merging our favorite universes into one epic film.

It finishes with Doom awakening massive Sentinels, which has led some more knowledgeable fans to speculate that they are somehow connected to the X-Men.

VisionQuest

Who Took the Stage

To introduce the newest Marvel television series, Kevin Feige brought out Paul Bettany, who plays Vision, and James Spader, the voice of Ultron.

I think most of us were a bit shocked at the announcement of the show itself, but then, when James Spader took the stage, it was like…wait a minute…what?

Ultron was one of the most intense villains to ever exist in the Marvel universe, and after his demise in the second Avengers film, we could only assume that was the last we’d see of him.

But I guess Paul Bettany was right when he accurately stated, moments after taking the stage:

“No one who dies in the Marvel universe stays dead…unless Kevin Feige says so, and even then, I wouldn’t really trust him anyway.”

The Show’s Premise

Claimed to be the concluding chapter in a trilogy that started with WandaVision and was followed by Agatha All Along, this eight-episode series will premiere on October 14, 2026.

It seems to follow a specific version of Vision, whom we can call White Vision.

In WandaVision, Wanda created a magical version of Vision inside her fake, hexed town. When that magical world came to an end, her version of Vision disappeared, but his memories were transferred into the S.W.O.R.D.-rebuilt version of Vision, known as White Vision. The series ended with Vision flying off into the sky, and that was that.

I guess perhaps we could have seen this show coming after all.

VisionQuest shows us what happens after White Vision flies off into the sky, and apparently it involves him getting stuck in some sort of world created in his own mind—a world with pretty much every AI that has ever existed in the Marvel universe, including J.A.R.V.I.S., F.R.I.D.A.Y., E.D.I.T.H., and, of course, Ultron.

From the trailer shown at D23, it doesn’t seem like Ultron will play the role of the diabolical villain this time around, but rather a mentor-like figure that does mundane things like…watch TV.

Weird, I know.

 There will also be another interesting aspect of the show, as it seems that Vision will encounter a teenager named Thomas Shepard in his mind world. Although the trailer was rather vague about the role he plays, fans of the comics know that Thomas Shepard is the name associated with Tommy Maximoff, Wanda and Vision’s son. 

Which leads me to my big question—will Wanda return?

And honestly, I don’t just mean in this series. I mean in the Marvel universe at all.

I hope she does, but Elizabeth Olsen hasn’t been listed in the cast for this series and is also absent from Doomsday’s announced cast. There are even rumors that they might recast the Scarlet Witch altogether…which I truly wouldn’t understand.

Let’s just hope Kevin Feige has some secret plans for her return and that’s why she’s been MIA.

A New X-Men Film

Who Took the Stage

At first, Kevin Feige brought Sadie Sink on stage with the Spider-Man: Brand New Day poster showing in the background—which made sense since her recent reveal as Jean Grey in that film.

But then—the background changed to reveal the X-Men symbol, and the next thing we knew, Kevin was introducing every new X-Men member to the crowd.

The announced cast includes Kit Connor as Cyclops, Christopher Abbott as Professor Charles Xavier, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, Inde Navarrette as Rogue, and Maya Boyd as Storm.

It’s clear that the goal of this new film is to establish an X-Men group for a new generation to love, with a cast of younger, less-established actors.

A Surprise Appearance

Just when we thought they were done with the cast announcement, a video popped up on the big screen with Adam Driver announcing that he would be joining the cast as well.

At first, he claimed that he would be playing Magneto—which would be pretty cool, honestly—but apparently that was just a joke. He then corrected himself and said that he would be playing Nathaniel Milbury.

For those who aren’t as familiar with the comics, Nathaniel Milbury is an alias associated with Mister Sinister—and as you might assume, he is a villain. It makes sense, I suppose; Driver already played a pretty harsh villain in Star Wars, so I am sure he will do a good job here as well.

The Bad News

If you were like me and assumed the release date for the film would be spring or summer 2027, you would be incorrect.

At the end of the presentation, they flashed the release date, and it was a bit further out—May 5, 2028, to be exact.

So we have a few years to go before we see this film on the big screen, but hey, hopefully that means it will be worth the wait.

Marvel’s Wolverine

To end the Marvel segment, Insomniac Games, Marvel Games, and Sony Interactive Entertainment presented a new trailer for the new PlayStation 5 game, Marvel’s Wolverine.

It was a great way to hype us up for the September 15 release and to give us a different look into the game. Recently, at SDCC, they had a similar presentation, and a summary of that can be found here.

Concluding Thoughts

It seems Marvel has been keeping a few surprises up their sleeves as of late, and they used D23 to give us a tiny glimpse into the future they have planned for our favorite superhero universe.

Honestly, though, we all know they didn’t show us all of the cards, and I am certain there is a lot more in store than what we realize.

Either way, I am certainly hyped for the rest of 2026—especially Doomsday December.