CinemaCon 2026: Marvel Dominates While DC Stumbles — The Biggest Winners and Losers
From Avengers: Doomsday's explosive trailer to DC's underwhelming showcase, CinemaCon 2026 delivered plenty of surprises. Here's who came out on top.
CinemaCon 2026: Marvel Dominates While DC Stumbles — The Biggest Winners and Losers
CinemaCon 2026 in Las Vegas was packed with headline-grabbing moments — jaw-dropping trailers, surprise casting announcements, celebrity holograms, and a charm offensive from one of Hollywood's most controversial new power players. Here's a full breakdown of who walked away triumphant and who left with their tail between their legs.
WINNERS
Marvel Stole the Entire Show
If DC's presentation left audiences shrugging, Marvel's had them on their feet. The studio dropped the first full trailer for Avengers: Doomsday, and the reaction was nothing short of seismic. Multiple attendees described it as one of the most overwhelming crowd responses ever witnessed at CinemaCon. Disney was so confident in the footage that they screened the trailer not once, but twice — a bold move that paid off entirely.
Robert Downey Jr. appeared in full Dr. Doom regalia, reportedly unrecognizable behind his mask and a heavily accented voice. Whether that justifies the rumored $100 million payday remains a fair question, though scenes without the mask may well provide the emotional anchor the performance needs. What's certain is that Doomsday doesn't just look like a billion-dollar film — it looks like a multi-billion-dollar event.
Disney also unveiled something called Infinity Vision, a certification program designed to highlight premium-format theaters approved for screening Doomsday. In plain terms, it's a marketing maneuver to compete with IMAX — which Dune has locked up for several weeks. The initiative felt more like a corporate workaround than a genuine innovation, and few expect to hear the phrase "Infinity Vision" once the film leaves theaters.
One sobering footnote: the same studio generating this level of excitement still laid off roughly 1,000 employees — many of them Marvel staff who contributed directly to the project. That contradiction hung quietly over an otherwise triumphant presentation.
Epic Prestige Films Delivered Stunning Footage
Beyond the Marvel machine, CinemaCon served as a showcase for some genuinely ambitious filmmaking. Denis Villeneuve's Dune: Part Three opened with its first seven minutes, which left attendees comparing it to Saving Private Ryan — only set in a science-fiction war zone. Christopher Nolan appeared to present footage from The Odyssey, describing it with characteristic self-assurance as not merely "a story" but "the story," and joking that he'd have brought his star-studded cast had the collective weight of their talent not threatened to collapse the stage.
Aaron Sorkin's The Social Reckoning also turned heads, with Jeremy Strong delivering what many called an eerily precise portrayal of Mark Zuckerberg — a performance already generating the kind of buzz that tends to precede award season conversations.
A new scene from Spider-Man: Brand New Day was well-received, though the presentation lacked its leading man in the flesh. Tom Holland opted to appear via hologram — a decision that raised eyebrows, especially given that Zendaya skipped the Spider-Man event entirely but showed up in person for Dune. The optics were, to put it gently, awkward.
Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg, Jason Momoa, Johnny Depp, and David Ellison
Several personalities emerged as personal winners from the conference.
Tom Cruise generated genuine buzz with footage from Alejandro Iñárritu's dark comedy Digger, where the actor appears with gray hair, a rounded physique, and visible wrinkles — essentially looking his actual age for the first time in recent memory. Reaction was one of stunned fascination. Cruise also headlined a high-profile Paramount video alongside names like Timothée Chalamet, Will Smith, and James Cameron, signaling the studio's ambitions under new leadership.
Steven Spielberg made his first-ever CinemaCon stage appearance and received a standing ovation. He shared footage from Disclosure Day and revealed he persuaded Universal to keep the film's entire third act out of all marketing materials — a refreshingly bold approach to a culture drowning in over-revealed trailers.
Jason Momoa was everywhere at CinemaCon, appearing across Supergirl, Street Fighter, and Dune: Part Three. His enthusiasm remains genuinely infectious, and he continues to be one of Hollywood's most crowd-pleasing presences.
Johnny Depp received a notably warm welcome when he took the stage to promote Ti West's Ebenezer: A Christmas Carol. Given the controversies that have shadowed his career in recent years, the reception from industry exhibitors represented a meaningful moment. The footage itself was reportedly compelling.
David Ellison, the new force behind the Paramount-Warner Bros. merger, surprised a skeptical crowd. Expected to be greeted with folded arms, he instead came across as earnest and prepared. He reaffirmed his commitment to producing at least 30 films annually across the combined studios, each with a minimum 45-day theatrical window. "I wanted to look every single one of you in the eye and give you my word," he told the room. Whether that word holds remains to be seen, but the performance landed. Shortly after, AMC Theatres announced a "favorable view" of the merger — a notable shift in position.
That said, the Warner Bros. presentation significantly outshone Paramount's at the conference. While Warners highlighted a record-breaking 2025 and a strong upcoming slate, Paramount's biggest announcement amounted to the development of a Top Gun: Maverick sequel — a project most assumed had already been greenlit long ago. If anything, CinemaCon reinforced the sense that this merger, in terms of momentum, seems to be running in the wrong direction.
LOSERS
DC Studios Fell Short of Expectations
Coming off genuine goodwill generated by Superman and the acclaimed second season of Peacemaker, DC Studios had an opportunity to build on that momentum at CinemaCon. Instead, the presentation felt flat.
There was no update on The Batman Part Two. No exciting footage from a Superman follow-up. David Corenswet and Nicholas Hoult appeared via video message to say, essentially, that they'd have more to share "someday." A teaser for Clayface generated mild curiosity, and clips from Supergirl — featuring Kara on an alien-filled space bus ambushed by pirates, with a Guardians of the Galaxy-esque energy — drew some positive reactions from influencers. Nothing was outright bad, but nothing was exciting either.
The conference's biggest DC headline actually broke outside the convention hall entirely, with news that Adria Arjona had been cast in a mystery role in Man of Tomorrow. Speculation is swirling that she could be playing Wonder Woman — a casting choice that would be significant given that DC's three most iconic characters are Batman, Wonder Woman, and Superman. The messaging around that Holy Trinity at CinemaCon could be summarized as: "Bat-who?", "No comment," and "We're working on it."
Star Wars: Present but Overshadowed
Disney presented the opening 20 minutes of The Mandalorian and Grogu — the first theatrical Star Wars release in seven years. The final trailer was widely considered the best marketing the film has produced, leaning heavily on John Williams' iconic themes to stir nostalgia (the actual score is composed by Ludwig Göransson).
Director Jon Favreau has emphasized that the production relied more on practical sets than the Disney+ series, though at least one critic noted that certain shots still appeared to use the controversial Volume technology — including a sequence described as resembling a Zoom call due to characters speaking against blurred virtual backgrounds.
Perhaps most tellingly, the detail generating the most discussion from the preview was the fact that the film features opening credits — a distinction that, as a marker of praise, sits just barely above "the movie exists." The general consensus: fans of the TV show will likely enjoy the film. Whether that's a broad enough audience to justify its theatrical ambitions remains an open question.
Lionsgate: Absent When It Mattered
The trailer for The Hunger Games: Sunrise on the Reaping looked genuinely promising, with an increased budget visibly reflected on screen. Unfortunately, Lionsgate chose not to deliver a formal presentation at CinemaCon, limiting their impact considerably. A party at Nobu featuring Michael Jackson music to promote their upcoming MJ biopic was at least a talking point — though not the kind of talking point a studio hoping to make a statement typically aims for.
Final Thoughts
CinemaCon 2026 made one thing abundantly clear: Marvel's grip on the cultural conversation remains iron-tight, prestige filmmakers like Villeneuve and Nolan continue to command reverence, and the industry's new power brokers are still finding their footing. As summer approaches, Avengers: Doomsday looms over everything — a reminder of both Hollywood's extraordinary creative ambition and its equally extraordinary contradictions.
