Marvel just quietly started the countdown clock to the biggest movie on its slate, and it handed the stopwatch to a fan. The Countdown to Avengers Doomsday podcast is officially live, and the first episode dropped this morning with Ms. Marvel herself, Iman Vellani, in the host chair.
It is not a leak, it is not a rumour, it is a real Marvel Studios production, and it is the clearest sign yet that the Doomsday marketing engine has switched on. Here is exactly what it is, and why the way it ends should have you circling a date in September.
What is the Countdown to Avengers Doomsday podcast?
The Countdown to Avengers Doomsday podcast is an official Marvel Studios rewatch series that walks back through the five Avengers-era films that built to this moment. Vellani co-hosts alongside Frank Alvarez, and the whole thing is framed as a road trip through MCU history on the way to December.
Think of it as Marvel setting the table. Five episodes, one a week, each one revisiting a major chapter and the fan-favourite beats inside it, before Avengers: Doomsday lands on 18 December 2026. Episode one, out now, tackles the one that started it all: 2012’s The Avengers.
Who is hosting, and where can you watch?
Iman Vellani is the perfect pick here. She is a lifelong Marvel obsessive who reads the comics for fun, she is rumoured to be suiting up again in Doomsday, and she talks about this universe the way the rest of us do. Alvarez plays the co-pilot, and together they keep it loose, funny and deep in the weeds.
You can watch or listen wherever you already live: the podcast is on Disney+, YouTube, Apple Podcasts and Spotify, so there is a version for the treadmill and a version for the couch. Vellani being front and centre also folds neatly into everything we broke down about her wider MCU future, after we first flagged this podcast when it was announced.
Why does the final episode matter so much?
Here is the part that turns a fun rewatch into a marketing masterstroke. The series does not just stop at Endgame, it lands on it, and the timing is not an accident.
| Episode | Avengers film | Release |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Avengers (2012) | Aug 27 |
| 2 | Avengers: Age of Ultron | Sept 3 |
| 3 | Captain America: Civil War | Sept 10 |
| 4 | Avengers: Infinity War | Sept 17 |
| 5 | Avengers: Endgame | Sept 24 |
Episode five drops on 24 September, one day before Avengers: Endgame Encore returns to cinemas on 25 September. So the podcast spends five weeks warming fans up on nostalgia, then hands them straight to a ticket. That is a funnel, and it is a smart one, connecting to everything in the Encore re-release we already unpacked.
What does this mean for Avengers: Doomsday?
Marketing rhythm tells you a lot. A studio does not launch an official countdown podcast for a movie that is still far off the radar, it does it when the promo push is about to go loud. This feels like the opening move before the trailers, posters and toys start landing.
It also quietly reinforces the throughline Marvel wants in your head: everything from 2012 to now has been leading to Doom. If you want the full map of who is fighting, what is at stake and how the multiverse tips into chaos, our complete Avengers: Doomsday guide keeps every confirmed piece in one place.
What happens next
Expect the countdown drumbeat to get louder from here. Episode two on Age of Ultron lands next week, the Encore re-release gives Marvel a September cinema moment, and all signs point to the Doomsday marketing blitz finally kicking into gear this autumn.
So here is our question for you: if you were hosting a Marvel rewatch podcast to hype Doomsday, which movie would you have made episode one, and did Marvel pick right by starting with The Avengers? Tell us in the comments.
Sources: Marvel.com, Marvel Entertainment on YouTube, ComicBookMovie. Image: Marvel Studios.
