It suddenly feels like 2019 once again for Marvel fans. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is riding a high that will take it directly towards the long-awaited Avengers: Doomsday. That high currently looks like critical comebacks with the likes of Thunderbolts* and The Fantastic Four: First Steps, a franchise record-breaker in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and an eagerly-awaited re-release of its biggest ever movie.
Speaking of which, Avengers Endgame: Encore has arrived in theaters and it has already increased anticipation for Doomsday. The film features four new scenes which are highly-speculated to be direct connections to the upcoming event film. We won't spoil it here, but you should definitely be heading out to theaters to see this one for the experience of the new footage alone.
Speaking of must-see experiences, Marvel fans in the UK got a surprise when the Doomsday trailer confirmed that major release date update.
UK-exclusive Avengers: Doomsday trailer confirms earlier release date
A brand new trailer for Avengers: Doomsday has been released exclusively in UK cinemas confirming that the upcoming MCU movie will indeed be released two days earlier in the United Kingdom. Attached to the theatrical release of Avengers Endgame: Encore, the clip is a reworked, shortened version of the "A Special Look" teaser trailer that Marvel Studios released during the D23 Entertainment Showcase event in August, closing out with the confirmation that "Doomsday is coming" on December 16 in the UK.
You can watch the original "A Special Look" trailer below to get an idea as to what UK audiences are seeing in theaters:
That trailer showcases just what kind of threat-level Doctor Doom is - and why the Avengers are not taking his arrival lightly. Thor himself says that he's frightened to encounter such a threat, and the trailer shows us all why: As the villain easily blocks an attack from the God of Thunder's signature axe Stormbreaker and overpowers him in seconds. He then raises Sentinels from the ground and announces to all that he is Doom.
While all of that footage remains in the UK-exclusive trailer, including the opening sequence in which Sue Storm recounts to the Avengers and the X-Men how Victor von Doom used to be kind and decent until he lost everything (likely due to a multiversal incursion), it's condensed so that it can be shown to audiences in movie theaters. It also features the alternate conclusion that reads "16.12.26 is Doomsday".
Avengers: Doomsday's release date in the UK has been the topic of discussion for weeks now, with some theater chains listing it as December 16. However, in recent days, Marvel Studios and Disney officially confirmed to Digital Spy that the film would indeed release two days earlier in the UK. And that means that international audiences will get to see the most highly-anticipated movie of the year two days before domestic audiences. It's something of a common release pattern for Marvel movies at this point, but for it to still happen to a movie of this scale - in an era of social media in which spoilers are rife at all times - it's unexpected, to say the least.

That being said: Marvel fans in the UK can officially celebrate as they will be among the earliest in the world to see Avengers: Doomsday. While domestic previews will launch in the US on Thursday, December 17 (which often keeps global rollouts in the US' favor), it's the UK that has the head-start this time around. And to those fans constantly counting down the Doomsday clock, that will undoubtedly be music to their ears.
Doctor Doom is coming to movie theaters, but he'll be making a stop in the UK first it seems. Earth's Mightiest Heroes might not be ready for him, but you can rest assured that MCU fans most certainly are!
Avengers Endgame: Encore has officially arrived in movie theaters. Avengers: Doomsday arrives in UK cinemas on December 16, 2026, before launching in US movie theaters on December 18, 2026.
