Marvel Announces ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Cast Featuring MCU Icons and X-Men Stars

After a six-year wait since Avengers: Endgame, Earth’s Mightiest Heroes are set to come together once more for an exhilarating Marvel new adventure.

In a extended livestream event, Marvel Studios revealed the cast for Avengers: Doomsday, featuring beloved characters from the MCU alongside fresh talent from the X-Men series and the soon-to-be-released Fantastic Four: First Steps. While the cast boasts several big names, the absence of Tom Holland’s Spider-Man and Chris Evans’ Captain America has raised eyebrows. Nevertheless, sources indicate that Evans might still appear in at least one of the two forthcoming films.

The announced cast features Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Anthony Mackie as Captain America, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Letitia Wright as Black Panther, Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Danny Ramirez as The Falcon, and Winston Duke as M’Baku.

Additionally, the lineup for Marvel’s upcoming anti-hero team film, Thunderbolts, set to release in May, was highlighted. This includes Sebastian Stan as The Winter Soldier, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, and Lewis Pullman, whose character is currently referred to simply as Bob, all of whom were seen taking their places in the soundstage during the live-stream.

The cast announcement also featured X-Men stars Patrick Stewart (Professor X), Ian McKellen (Magneto), James Marsden (Cyclops), and Rebecca Romijn (Mystique), who played pivotal roles in launching the contemporary superhero film genre with the release of 2000’s X-Men, a project that Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige worked on as an assistant.

Joining them are Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler) and Kelsey Grammer (Beast), both of whom appeared in X2: X-Men United and Grammer also had a role in X-Men: The Last Stand for 20th Century Fox, along with a cameo in The Marvels. Channing Tatum, who was previously linked to a Gambit film that never materialized, will also feature in Doomsday after his introduction in Deadpool & Wolverine.

The cast will also include members from the Fantastic Four, such as Pedro Pascal (Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (The Invisible Woman), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Thing), and Joseph Quinn (The Human Torch).

Tenoch Huerta Mejía, known for his role as Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, was the standout surprise at the casting event. His return to Marvel was met with scrutiny following allegations of sexual misconduct in June 2023, which he firmly denied as “false and completely unsubstantiated.” Amid the controversy, he stepped back from a Netflix project but later made an appearance at the premiere of Marvel’s Echo, indicating a positive relationship with the studio.

Despite announcing 26 actors, sources suggest that Marvel still has more cast members to reveal, though the timing and method of these announcements remain uncertain.

The event itself was straightforward, featuring a director’s chair with a star’s name displayed on the back. Approximately every twelve minutes, music from the next actor’s film would play, prompting a camera shift to a new chair and name. It concluded with a fresh rendition of composer Alan Silvestri’s Avengers theme, showcasing Robert Downey Jr. (as Doctor Doom) in a suit and tie, playfully signaling “shhh” to the camera.

Marvel initially unveiled Avengers: Doomsday to great excitement at San Diego Comic-Con in July, surprising fans with Downey’s return to the MCU after he had stepped away from the Iron Man role in Endgame. This development marks a reunion between Downey, Marvel’s most lucrative star, and the Russo Brothers, the studio’s most successful directors, who also exited the MCU following Endgame.

Marvel’s chief, Kevin Feige, initially approached Robert Downey Jr. with the concept of him reprising his role as Doom. Meanwhile, Downey played a pivotal role in persuading the Russo Brothers to return after they had spent the last five years immersed in the streaming film industry. The duo decided to come back after their frequent collaborator, screenwriter Stephen McFeely, shared his vision for the project.

“Doomsday” is set to hit theaters on May 1, 2026, followed by “Avengers: Secret Wars,” which is scheduled for release on May 7, 2027.

In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the Russo Brothers discussed the complexities of casting and managing the numerous characters in their films. They revealed that they utilize baseball cards featuring every Marvel actor and character, a method they also employed during the production of “Avengers: Infinity War” and “Endgame.”

Joe Russo explained, “Now they have magnets on them so we can put ‘em on a board and look at ‘em. It’s the only way to keep track of the amount of characters that we’re working with,” Added Anthony Russo: “And as far as how do we look at who’s in the movies, it’s just a long creative process of exploring where we want to take the story. What is the most surprising and exciting area for us to push into, and which characters help us in that effort?”