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Avengers: Doomsday release date delay means 2026 might get its own last-minute Barbenheimer event, but I don't think it'll happen
Marvel's next superhero team-up movie may go head-to-head with Dune: Messiah in December 2026.
- Avengers: Doomsday may go head-to-head with another huge movie in late 2026
- The Marvel film's release was recently pushed back from May 2026 to December of that year
- Florence Pugh is expected to star in both movies
It's time to start preparing for the 2026 edition of Barbenheimer, everyone.
With Avengers: Doomsday being delayed until December 18, 2026, the highly-anticipated Marvel movie is set to do battle with another massive film late next year.
The film in question? Dune: Messiah, the third entry in the Denis Villeneuve-directed sci-fi epic franchise. At the time of publication, another of 2026's most exciting new movies is also set to land in theaters next year on December 18, and as long as Avengers 5 and Dune 3 keep their current release dates we could have another Barnerheimer-style movie viewing event on our hands.
For those who might need a reminder, Barbenheimer was the title bestowed on the event that saw the Margo Robbie-starring Barbie film and Christopher Nolan-directed Oppenheimer flick released on the same day in 2023. Their contrasting styles and genres, coupled with the sheer amount of talent involved in both productions, saw many fans flock to their local theater to watch back-to-back screenings of these films.
Avengers: Doomsday and Dune: Messiah won't be as polarizing stylistically, but two of 2026's hottest commodities occupy different genres. The fifth Avengers film is unquestionably a comic book/superhero movie, while the Dune franchise – both Frank Herbert's books and its movie series namesake – sits squarely in the sci-fi realm.
In my view, that's enough to ensure they meet the criteria first laid out by Barbenheimer. That being, the stark contrast between both films is valid enough to create a similar movie-based phenomenon event around them. Avengers: Dunesday, anyone?
Of course, none of this will matter if Avengers 5 suffers another launch day setback. Alternatively, Warner Bros. Pictures and subsidiary studio Legendary might blink first and decide to delay Dune: Messiah's own release so it isn't forced to compete with the cinematic juggernaut that is the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
If Dune 3 and the second Marvel Phase 6 film retain their current release dates, though, Christmas 2026 is sure to be a happy (and money-spinning) one for Florence Pugh.
Pugh, who recently starred as Yelena Belova in another MCU movie in Thunderbolts*, was announced as part of the initial 27-strong cast for Avengers: Doomsday in late March. However, Pugh is also expected to reprise her role as Princess Irulan, who she first played in Dune Part Two, in Dune: Messiah.
As long as Irulan is part of the latter's cast, Pugh is set to appear in two of the most anticipated films that'll launch before the end of 2026 – not bad for someone whose breakout role only came in 2019's A24 folk horror indie flick Midsommar, eh?
Realistically, though, I can't see Doomsday and Messiah releasing on the same day.
Filming isn't underway on the latter yet, and won't be for some time. Meanwhile, since the 2023 Hollywood strikes, numerous Marvel films have been delayed at least twice, so Doomsday could suffer a similar fate.
I'm not sure which movie will be shunted back into 2027 but, as much as I want Avengers: Dunesday to be a thing, it's already looking like a pipe dream – and that's before any more release date delays are potentially announced.
