dates

The Avengers will return slightly later than expected.

Disney is pushing back the release dates of its next two “Avengers” movies. “Avengers: Doomsday” is now slated to hit theaters Dec. 18, 2026, and “Avengers: Secret Wars” will be released Dec. 17, 2027. Both films were previously planned for May in their respective years.

Marvel Studios initially unveiled “Doomsday,” its fifth “Avengers” film, at San Diego Comic-Con in July. The movie marks the return of Marvel Cinematic Universe stalwarts Anthony and Joe Russo — who previously directed “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” (2014), “Captain America: Civil War” (2016), “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018) and “Avengers: Endgame” (2019) — as well as “Iron Man’s” Robert Downey Jr., as new villain Doctor Doom.

In March, Marvel revealed, in a five-plus hour livestream, 27 members of the “Doomsday” cast, which includes veteran “Avengers” stars Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson/Captain America), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes), Paul Rudd (Scott Lang/Ant-Man) and Tom Hiddleston (Loki), as well as “Thunderbolts*” (a.k.a. New Avengers) actors Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova), David Harbour (Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian), Lewis Pullman (Bob Reynolds), Wyatt Russell (John Walker) and Hannah John-Kamen (Ava Starr/Ghost).

“Doomsday” will also feature members of the MCU’s newest superhero team, the Fantastic Four. Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm), Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm) and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm) will make their debut in the upcoming “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” which bows in theaters July 25. “First Steps” will mark the beginning of the MCU’s Phase 6. For now, Sony and Marvel’s “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” is the only MCU film expected to be released between “First Steps” and “Doomsday” on July 31, 2026.

The MCU’s Phase 5 will officially conclude on TV with the upcoming series “Ironheart,” which premieres June 24 on Disney+.

Amid the “Avengers” release date shuffle, Disney also revealed that its “The Devil Wears Prada” sequel, which will reportedly see Meryl Streep’s Miranda Priestly navigating the decline of magazine publishing (too real, says this reporter), is scheduled to open May 1, 2026, while Ridley Scott’s adaptation of the post-apocalyptic “The Dog Stars” will hit theaters March 27, 2026.

The mixed team final will make its competition debut at the Artistic European Gymnastics Championships.

The championships, in Leipzig, Germany, begin on Monday.

British Olympian Ruby Evans believes the mixed team event – which has also been added to the Los Angeles Olympics programme for 2028 – is an “exciting” addition.

Evans says it “adds a different challenge and a bit of variety to the championships”.

But what is it and how does it work?

One female and one male gymnast from each federation will compete in the event – in which scores in individual events are added together to make a team total.

Female gymnasts will score on vault, balance beam and floor, while male gymnasts compete on floor, parallel and horizontal bars – and the 16 mixed teams with the best scores in individual qualification go through to the final. The make-up of the teams is not decided in advance – it is determined by the qualification scores.

Jake Jarman, an Olympic floor bronze medallist for Team GB in Paris last year, said: “It’s a great way to bring men’s and women’s gymnastics together. It’s going to be really interesting to see the mixed team event debut and see how it goes down with the audience and fans.”

You can watch the mixed team final live on BBC iPlayer from 15:50 BST on Wednesday, 28 May.

Football is a big part of the holidays in the US. The Detroit Lions have hosted a Thanksgiving game every year since 1934 and this season they welcome the Green Bay Packers on Thursday, 27 November (18:00 GMT).

After hosting their first Thanksgiving game in 1966, only twice have the Dallas Cowboys not played on the holiday, and this year ‘America’s Team’ face the Chiefs (21:30 GMT).

The Baltimore Ravens then complete the Thanksgiving triple-header at home to the Cincinnati Bengals (01:20 GMT, 28 November).

In 2023, the NFL played its first game on Black Friday – the day after Thanksgiving – and this year the Eagles host the Chicago Bears in a game which will be broadcast on Amazon Prime (20:00 GMT).

After streaming two games on Christmas Day last season, Netflix will again feature two festive fixtures, with the Washington Commanders hosting the Cowboys (18:00 GMT) before the Minnesota Vikings welcome the Lions (21:30 GMT).

There is even a third Christmas game this year as Amazon Prime will show Kansas City’s home match with the Denver Broncos (01:15 GMT, 26 December).