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LAS VEGAS: Disney showcased the first theatrical trailer of the new Marvel franchise film &quot;Avengers: Doomsday&quot; on Thursday during the closing day of CinemaCon in Las Vegas. The clip -- played twice for the enthusiastic audience at the Colosseum at Caesars Palace -- offered the first look at Robert Downey Jr. as the villainous Doctor Doom. It marks the actor&#39;s return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe since the death of Iron Man in 2019&#39;s &quot;Avengers: Endgame.&quot; The footage also teased several dramatic moments from the movie, including a fight between Gambit and Shang-Chi -- played by Channing Tatum and Simu Liu, respectively -- and Patrick Stewart reprising his role as X-Men&#39;s Professor Xavier, warning: &quot;Something&#39;s coming, something we may not be able to deter.&quot; At the very end of the trailer, Chris Evans returns as his character Steve Rogers, otherwise known as Captain America, appearing before a surprised-looking Thor (Chris Hemsworth) as the Norse god&#39;s Mjolnir hammer flies into Rogers&#39; hands. Both Evans and Downey Jr. were on the stage at CinemaCon to present the trailer alongside the film&#39;s directors, brothers Joe and Anthony Russo. &quot;I said I would only come back if there was a real reason,&quot; Evans told the crowd. &quot;And in Doomsday, there is a very real reason that these heroes need Steve Rogers.&quot; &quot;Avengers: Doomsday&quot; follows the events of &quot;Avengers: Endgame,&quot; bringing together a host of Marvel characters new and old, including the X-Men, previously excluded from the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The movie will have its US premiere on December 18, the same day as Denis Villeneuve&#39;s &quot;Dune: Part Three.&quot; Theater owners hope the double-whammy will be a box office bonanza, ending the year on a high note amid declining revenues. Sequels on the way&nbsp;Marvel&#39;s presentation was the grande finale of Disney&#39;s CinemaCon showcase. The annual convention allows movie studios to preview their upcoming slates to theater owners and the press. Tom Hanks, Dwayne &quot;The Rock&quot; Johnson and Queen Latifah were among the superstars to showcase footage from their upcoming Disney films. Director Jon Favreau introduced the opening scene of his new movie, the latest Star Wars flick &quot;The Mandalorian and Grogu,&quot; out next month. Disney also played clips from the upcoming sequel films &quot;The Devil Wears Prada 2&quot; with Meryl Streep reprising her role as icy fashion magazine editor Miranda Priestly, and &quot;Toy Story 5,&quot; the latest Pixar animated film with lifelike toys Woody and Buzz Lightyear coming together more than 30 years since the original released.

Film & TV

Disney closed CinemaCon with the first Avengers: Doomsday trailer, revealing Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom, Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers return, and previews of major upcoming sequels and franchise films.

Marvel premieres first 'Avengers: Doomsday' trailer at CinemaCon

LAS VEGAS: The first images of late American film star Val Kilmer returning to the big screen courtesy of artificial intelligence were unveiled Wednesday in Las Vegas, in what will likely stir debate over the technology&#39;s role in Hollywood. A youthful, digital version of Kilmer appears in the trailer for &quot;As Deep as the Grave&quot;, telling another character: &quot;Don&#39;t fear the dead and don&#39;t fear me.&quot; The footage premiered at CinemaCon, the annual conference where studios present upcoming releases to movie theater owners. Brothers Coerte and John Voorhees, director and producer of the film, said they hope to release the historical drama by the end of the year. Kilmer, best known for his roles in &quot;Top Gun,&quot; &quot;Batman Forever&quot; and &quot;The Doors,&quot; died of pneumonia in April 2025 at the age of 65. The project drew headlines last month when the filmmakers revealed they had recreated the actor using AI with the consent of his family. The use of artificial intelligence remains one of the most sensitive issues in the entertainment industry and was central to the 2023 strikes that shut down Hollywood, as actors and writers warned that unchecked technology threatened their livelihoods. &quot;As Deep as the Grave&quot; follows pioneering archaeologists Ann and Earl Morris, the latter credited by some with helping inspire the fictional Indiana Jones and originally cast Kilmer before the coronavirus pandemic to play a Catholic priest. Health problems forced Kilmer, who was battling cancer, to step away from the role. But after pandemic delays, the Voorheeses revisited the project as AI technology advanced. They recast Kilmer digitally as Father Fintan, an early Catholic missionary suffering from tuberculosis who, like many at the time, traveled to the US southwest for the dry climate and opened missions in the Four Corners region. &quot;It was a very dark time,&quot; Coerte said, adding that the character was central to the story. The filmmakers said they approached Kilmer&#39;s children, Mercedes and Jack, after concluding the role could still be realized. The family gave its approval and granted access to Kilmer&#39;s video archives, which were used to recreate the actor at multiple stages of his life. Val Kilmer had spoken to his children before his death about his legacy and what he wished he could still accomplish as an actor, the brothers said. &quot;We were so glad they were excited and so supportive of the idea,&quot; Coerte added. &#39;Painstaking&#39; The Voorheeses did not detail the technical process behind their film, but said digitally reviving Kilmer was a &quot;painstaking process.&quot; &quot;Just like any artistic endeavor, you spend a lot of time drafting and redrafting,&quot; John Voorhees said, so the performance feels faithful to how he might have done it. They conceded the project could unsettle some people, but stressed that they followed SAG-AFTRA guidelines, which rest on what the union calls the three Cs: consent, compensation and collaboration. &quot;Following this process, working with the family we can actually demonstrate the right way to do it,&quot; Coerte told AFP. &quot;We believe artists will galvanize around that and take control back, because it&#39;s not in the hands of the artists right now. It&#39;s actually a free-for-all,&quot; he added.

US actress Camila Mendes, British actor Nicholas Galitzine and US director Travis Knight promote the upcoming film "Masters of the Universe" during the Amazon MGM Studios presentation at CinemaCon at The Colosseum at Caesars Palace on April 15, 2026 in La

Artificial Intelligence

A new film, “As Deep as the Grave,” uses AI with family consent to digitally recreate Val Kilmer, reigniting debate over artificial intelligence’s role in Hollywood.

Articles tagged with "CinemaCon"

Marvel premieres first 'Avengers: Doomsday' trailer at CinemaCon

Val Kilmer returns via AI as filmmakers test Hollywood's red line