Does The Leaked 'Avengers: Doomsday': Concept Art Hint At A Popular Comic Story Being Adapted?

Avengers: Doomsday, the fifth Avengers film and beginning of the end for the MCU's Multiverse Saga, is set to begin filming this April for a May, 2026 release. Little was known about the film, apart from the fact that Robert Downey Jr. will star as Doctor Doom, and the casts of Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, and Fantastic Four: First Steps will be heavily involved.

However, a recently leaked collection of concept art for Doomsday reveals art depicting many characters not previously confirmed to be present in the film, and led some fans to speculate that it may be adapting a popular Marvel Comics story.

Will the MCU's Young Avengers debut as a team in 'Avengers: Doomsday'?

One piece of leaked Doomsday art depicts a gathering of characters having some sort of meeting. The image includes Kate Bishop, aka Hawkeye, Cassie Lang, Ms. Marvel, Wiccan, and another boy whom most fans assume to be Wiccan's twin brother, Speed, currently rumoured to appear, played by Scottish actor Ruaridh Mollica, in the upcoming Vision Quest series. All of these characters are assumed to be part of what will become the MCU's Young Avengers team, currently speculated to be an amalgamation of the Young Avengers and Champions line ups from the comics.

The image also includes Wong and Star-Lord, possibly acting as mentors to the younger heroes. Interestingly, another piece of leaked art features the rather odd pairing of Star-Lord and White Vision.

Early versions of the comics Young Avengers team feature a 'young' Vision, born from some of the temporarily deceased adult Vision's memories and a suit left behind by time-travelling Young Avenger Iron Lad. It is possible this could be adapted in the MCU as White Vision seeming mentally younger while he rediscovered himself.

With the concept art hinting that the Young Avengers, or a version of them, will be present in Avengers: Doomsday, some fans speculate that the film may include an adaptation of a popular Young Avengers comic book story that prominently featured Doctor Doom.

Young Avengers: The Children's Crusade

Young Avengers: The Children's Crusade begins with Billy Maximoff, aka Wiccan, giving a massive and unintended show of power during a mission attended by both the Avengers and Young Avengers teams. The older Avengers, fearful of the extent of Wiccan's power, confine him to the Avengers HQ for study. Wiccan expresses his belief that he and teammate Tommy Shepherd, codenamed Speed, are the reincarnated sons of Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, and sees the incident with his powers as further proof of his connection to her. His fellow Young Avengers break him out, with the team then embarking on a quest to find the Scarlet Witch.

Considering Wanda had been missing for some time at this point, the search runs into some snags. Unfortunately, the biggest snag of all comes when they do manage to track down Wanda. Why? Well, she is in Latveria, suffering amnesia, and about to marry Doctor Doom himself.

It is left to the Young Avengers to help Wanda regain her memories in time to thwart Doom's latest plot.

Would this work for the MCU?

Fans have eagerly awaited the arrival of the Young Avengers in the MCU, and there have already been rumours of an adaptation of The Children's Crusade before this point. One potential issue with adapting the story in Avengers: Doomsday, though, comes in the fact that in the comics, The Children's Crusade occurs after the Young Avengers are already established. However, there is a way around this, if the MCU strategically speed-runs the formation of the team.

The potential for a younger team of MCU heroes is first established in the final scene of The Marvels, when Kamala Khan attempts to recruit Kate Bishop in a scene reminiscent of Nick Fury's MCU debut in the post-credits scene of Iron Man.

While we don't hear Kate's answer, she certainly seems receptive to the idea. Kamala is also shown to be aware of, and hoping to recruit, Cassie Lang. Cassie, already eager to be a force of good in the world, as seen in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, could be recruited offscreen, with Billy, Tommy, and possibly Vision recruited in a Vision Quest teaser, or early in Doomsday.

While the Scarlet Witch does not appear to be present in any of the leaked art, anyone who owns a Marvel Studios Art of book knows there is much more art produced for each MCU project than what we've seen in the leak. Recent rumours have suggested that Wanda will be on a quest for redemption across Doomsday and Secret Wars, and may be misguidedly working with Doom to make this happen. Similar to The Children's Crusade comic story, it may be left to the Young Avengers to convince Wanda of the threat Doom poses.

Of course, this is all speculation. We can't wait to get some real answers closer to Avengers: Doomsday's release next year.