‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Has 10 Credited Writers, Including Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds

It appears that Marvel has assembled a team of earth’s mightiest screenwriters to shape its most epic blockbuster yet. The Writer’s Guild of America has added the full list of writers who worked on “Avengers: Doomsday” to its directory, and comic book movie fans are already scanning it for clues about the film‘s contents. For one thing, the credits erase all doubts that Deadpool and Wolverine will appear in the film, as both Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman are listed as providing additional literary material for the film. Reynolds was a writer on 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine,” but this is actually Jackman’s first official writing credit listed in the WGA directory. When the credits finally roll at the end of the gargantuan superhero team-up, audience members will see that the screenplay was written by Marvel veterans Stephen McFeely and Michael Waldron. But the Guild’s database also lists writers who did behind-the-scenes work on the script. A whopping eight writers received that “additional literary material” credit: Reynolds, Jackman, Eric Pearson, Chris McKenna, Erik Sommers, Jeff Loveness, Andrew Lanham, and Destin Daniel Cretton. The large list of writers is understandable when you consider how many characters “Doomsday” has to cover. In addition to catching audiences up with everyone who survived “Avengers: Endgame” (and in all likelihood, some people who didn’t thanks to the endless power of multiverses), the film also has to introduce Robert Downey Jr.’s Dr. Doom as the MCU’s new villain, integrate the characters from “Thunderbolts*” and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” and introduce the new X-Men that the studio hopes will become its next juggernaut superhero property. Many of the credited writers on “Doomsday” have recently written or directed those characters’ standalone films. The writing credits also speak to the uniquely chaotic production process that the film employed. Joe and Anthony Russo, who returned to direct their first Marvel movie since “Endgame,” have publicly admitted to starting production without a finished script. Joe Russo recently told the Associated Press that they “always view the script as a living organism” that evolves throughout the shooting process. It’s unsurprising that such long shoot with a changing script and a revolving door of A-list actor schedules required the services of double digit writers along the way. Disney will release “Avengers: Doomsday” in theaters on Friday, December 18.