Avengers: Doomsday Just Hijacked Comic-Con Malaga, and Marvel Fans Are Losing Their Minds

Marvel just reminded everyone why it still owns the biggest stage in pop culture. On October 3, more than 3,000 fans packed Hall M of the Palacio de Ferias y Congresos in Malaga, Spain, for Disney’s presentation at San Diego Comic-Con Malaga 2026. What they expected was a nice preview of upcoming projects. What they got was a full blown Avengers: Doomsday takeover, complete with surprise star appearances, an extended trailer, and a brand new poster that has the entire internet playing detective.

If you thought the road to December 18, 2026 was going to be quiet, think again.

The Surprise That Shook Hall M

The panel opened with a recorded message from Anthony and Joe Russo, the directing duo steering Avengers: Doomsday. Then, without warning, the brothers introduced three of the film’s stars who had traveled to Spain in person: Anthony Mackie, David Harbour and Winston Duke.

The crowd erupted. Mackie, who plays Sam Wilson, better known as Captain America, walked out alongside Harbour, the scene stealing Alexei Shostakov, aka Red Guardian, and Duke, the proud M’Baku of Wakanda. The trio took the stage to talk about the most ambitious Marvel movie in years and then unveiled an extended trailer that left the Malaga crowd buzzing long after the lights came up.

This was not a polite panel appearance. This was Marvel planting a flag and telling the world that Doomsday is the main event.

According to the official synopsis shared at the event, Avengers: Doomsday will throw beloved heroes from three distinct universes onto a deadly collision course as they face an existential threat unlike anything they have encountered before: the collapse of the Multiverse itself. The ensemble is genuinely staggering, with Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Pedro Pascal, Paul Rudd, Florence Pugh, Vanessa Kirby, Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen all on the call sheet.

Mackie’s Reunion Joke That Sparked a Thousand Theories

Anthony Mackie gave fans a glimpse of the offscreen chemistry that has made the MCU what it is. Talking about filming, he described reuniting with Chris Evans and Sebastian Stan on set, saying that whenever the three of them get together it is like a powwow, just boys in the corner hanging out, laughing, joking and talking about what is happening.

Then came the line that set fandom on fire. Mackie joked that the three of them were busy debating which one of their characters would die in the film. It was said with a laugh, but in a movie where heroes from three universes are headed for a deadly collision, nobody in that hall took it as just a joke.

Chris Evans returning as Steve Rogers after Avengers: Endgame was already one of the biggest storylines of this movie. Now fans have one more reason to be nervous, and one more reason to count down the days to December.

The New Poster: Doctor Doom and His Mysterious Witches

Just when the crowd thought the panel was over, Marvel dropped the visual that will be dissected for weeks. A new Avengers: Doomsday poster puts Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom front and center, looking every bit as menacing as the comics’ most feared villain. But Doom is not alone. Standing behind him are three mysterious women in distinctive purple, red and green robes.

Marvel posted the poster online with the caption “Witching Season Has Arrived,” all but confirming that the three figures are witches with ties to Latveria, Doom’s home country. The same trio previously appeared in promotional material at San Diego Comic-Con in California back in July, and their identities have been the subject of furious debate among fans ever since.

The theories are wild, and honestly, some of them are pretty convincing. The popular guess for the figure in red is Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, whose story ended ambiguously and who has never been officially confirmed dead. The green robed figure has fans whispering about Sophia Di Martino’s Sylvie from Loki. And the one in purple? The betting is split between Kathryn Hahn’s Agatha Harkness and Charlize Theron’s Clea, who debuted in the post credits scene of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.

Marvel is saying nothing, which is exactly how Marvel likes it. But one thing is clear. Doom is not fighting this war alone, and whatever these witches are, they are important enough to stand beside the film’s central villain on the official poster.

Paul Bettany’s VisionQuest Got Its Moment Too

The Doomsday stars were not the only Marvel names in Malaga. Paul Bettany took the stage to give fans an early taste of VisionQuest, his Disney+ series arriving on October 14. Bettany introduced a montage and, remarkably, screened the first 22 minutes of the premiere episode for the Hall M audience.

The series follows a hunted Vision alongside Thomas Shepherd, a boy who may be his reincarnated son, with the shadow of Ultron hanging over everything. For fans who have waited years to see where Vision’s story goes after WandaVision, those 22 minutes were a genuine gift.

Disney’s panel also gave the packed hall previews of Hexed, starring Hailee Steinfeld, Pixar’s Gatto with Mark Ruffalo, Ice Age: Boiling Point and Whalefall. Josh Brolin and Austin Abrams also made surprise appearances during the presentation. But let us be honest. The night belonged to Doomsday.

Why This Changes Everything for the MCU

Step back for a second and look at what Marvel just did. The film does not arrive until December 18, 2026, and Marvel is already treating it like the cultural event of the decade. The Avengers: Endgame re release, subtitled Encore, recently stormed back into theaters with four brand new scenes built specifically to connect to Doomsday, proving that Marvel is orchestrating this rollout like a military campaign.

This is the movie that brings the Multiverse Saga home. Downey, the man who was Iron Man for over a decade, is now playing the villain. Heroes from the Avengers, the Wakandans, the New Avengers, the Fantastic Four and the X-Men are all converging from different universes. The Russo brothers, the pair behind the two biggest MCU films ever, are back in the director’s chairs. And the sequel, Avengers: Secret Wars, is already dated for December 2027.

After a few years of Marvel output that even loyal fans admitted felt scattered, Doomsday looks like the film that puts the whole saga back on one track. The Malaga presentation was Marvel’s way of saying the plan is real, the cast is real, and the stakes are as big as they have ever been.

What to Watch Next

The countdown is officially on. With the extended trailer now in the wild, the new poster fueling theory videos across the internet, and VisionQuest landing on Disney+ on October 14 as the appetizer, Marvel has given fans plenty to chew on.

One question hangs over everything: who are the three witches standing behind Doctor Doom? Marvel will not tell us. But December 18 is coming fast, and when those theater lights go down, we will all find out together.

Until then, keep an eye on the skies over Latveria. Witching season has arrived.

More on CelebDLT: October’s box office battle between Anne Hathaway’s Verity and Tom Cruise’s Digger is heating up, The Celebrity Traitors season 2 pulled 9 million viewers in the UK, and Emma Roberts shared her secret wedding photos with Cody John.

Sources

• Variety India – Marvel Studios drops new Avengers Doomsday poster
• The DisInsider – Disney brings Doomsday, Marvel surprises and movie magic to Malaga