‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Presales Are Already Rivaling ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ as Marvel Brings Its Biggest Gamble Yet

Marvel fans have spent months wondering whether the Avengers can still pull audiences back in the way they once did. The studio’s 2026 slate has gone a long way toward answering that question. The early ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ presales are now turning heads across the industry.

‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ set the bar very high this summer. It became the biggest Marvel opening weekend on record with $360 million worldwide, edging past the $357.1 million debut of ‘Avengers: Endgame.’ It has since grossed $2 billion globally.

That is the benchmark ‘Avengers: Doomsday‘ is now being measured against. According to a growing number of box office watchers, advance ticket sales in many markets are similar to where ‘Brand New Day’ stood just 10 days before its release. That is a striking comparison for a film that is still more than 10 weeks away and opens on December 18.

Part of the story is simply timing. Premium-format tickets for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ went on sale on July 20, with general advance sales opening roughly 4 months before release. ‘Brand New Day’ began selling tickets only about 45 days out, which makes the head start hard to ignore.

The early numbers have been loud. TheWrap reported that after 2 days, ‘Doomsday’ was running about 65% ahead of the pace ‘Brand New Day’ set in its first 2 days. Disney’s CFO later said the film had passed $50 million in presales three months out, with roughly 70% of that tied to the new Infinity Vision premium format.

The international picture is where things get especially interesting. On October 6, Global Box Office reported that ‘Doomsday’ had crossed $100 million in worldwide presales. ‘Brand New Day’ did not reach that mark until about 40 days before release.

Overseas, the film became the fastest to reach $1 million in pre-release sales in both Brazil and the U.K. In Australia, it passed $1 million in its first 24 hours, the best opening day for presales in that country this year and the highest 24-hour result in 5 years. A Bulgarian tracker also reported that the film matched ‘Brand New Day’ at the 10-day mark while leaving ‘Dune: Part Three’ far behind.

Not everyone is treating the numbers as a done deal. Some analysts have called the ‘Brand New Day’ comparison imprecise, since Marvel’s new film has had a much longer sales window. In the U.S., ‘Doomsday’ sits ahead of ‘The Odyssey,’ which sold $40 million in advance tickets, but behind ‘Avengers: Endgame’ at $60 million and ‘Brand New Day’ at $72 million.

Then there is the competition. ‘Doomsday’ opens on the same day as Denis Villeneuve’s ‘Dune: Part Three,’ a showdown fans have nicknamed Dunesday. The ‘Dune’ sequel holds IMAX exclusivity through the holidays, which is why Marvel built its own Infinity Vision label. A Disney insider has said the studio still believes it can reach $1 billion without IMAX.

He used to be different. Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters everywhere December 18. Get your tickets now: https://t.co/J5PUbxvAkc https://t.co/OUutSMZneq

— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) August 15, 2026

Marvel has assembled plenty of reasons for fans to show up early. Anthony and Joe Russo, who directed ‘Avengers: Infinity War’ and ‘Avengers: Endgame,’ are back in the director’s chair. Robert Downey Jr. returns to the franchise as Doctor Doom, and Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Tom Hiddleston, Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan and Paul Rudd are all part of the huge ensemble.

The marketing push has been just as aggressive. The film’s July trailer became the second-biggest movie trailer launch on record and Disney’s most-viewed trailer to date. A single day of Infinity Vision sales also brought in $16.5 million from just 1,000 premium theaters, twice the first-day presales of ‘Deadpool & Wolverine.’

It’s worth remembering that presales measure intent rather than final results. But the trend is hard to dismiss, and it has some analysts openly asking whether ‘Doomsday’ could challenge ‘Brand New Day’ for the biggest opening weekend of all time. With ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ already dated for December 17, 2027, Marvel has a lot riding on this one.

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