Avengers assemble! Oh, and bring along the X-Men, Fantastic Four and other friends while you’re at it.
Disney’s Marvel Studios revealed on Wednesday the bumper cast of its next Avengers film, six years after Avengers: Endgame when Iron Man and co defeated Thanos and the film became the highest-grossing movie of all time.
The ensemble cast was unveiled in a five-hour long livestream, which has since been watched over four million times. While several returning superheroes — and the actors playing them — were previously announced, Marvel revealed the whole set in the video. The studio also revealed the film is in production.
Octogenarian thespians Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen, who previously appeared in early X-Men films but were thought to have been written out or recast are among those surprisingly returning to the superhero roster for Avengers: Doomsday, out May 2026.
This means the certain stars from the X-Men franchise are returning, Deadline reported, with Stewart as Charles Xavier, McKellen as Magento, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, James Marsden aka Cyclops, Channing Tatum as Gambit and Kelsey Grammer as Beast.
They will join a raft of widely expected fan favorites, including Chris Hemsworth and Robert Downey Jr, who will take on the role of Doctor Doom, after his iconic character Iron Man died in Endgame. Marvel previously announced that the Oscar winner would return to the franchise as the villain.
That’s not all, folks! Also making their Avengers debut are the cast of The Fantastic Four — Pedro Pascal as Mr Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Human Torch and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the Thing. The quartet will star in this summer’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
You thought that was all? You thought wrong. Other Marvel Cinematic Universe characters confirmed to be in the movie are Thunderbolts* stars Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Wyatt Russell as US Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Lewis Pullman as the mysterious Bob; Simu Liu as Shang-Chi; and Tenoch Huerta Mejía, who played the underwater antagonist Namor in *Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,“ Variety reported.
Take a deep breath because we’re still going. Other returning favourites include Hemsworth’s Thor, Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson and Captain America and Danny Ramirez as the Falcon.
There’s also Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier, Letitia Wright as Shuri/ Black Panther and Winston Duke as M’Baku.
Actors’ names were written on the backs of Hollywood-style directors’ chairs, with a camera slowly panning from one to the next every 10 to 15 minutes until ending with Downey Jr appearing in-person.
“It all leads to Doom. #AvengersDoomsday is now in production,” read an accompanying message.
The Marvel superhero films are comfortably the most lucrative franchise in Hollywood history, having collectively made more than $30 billion.
As its title (and massive cast) suggests, Avengers: Doomsday is intended to be an ensemble blockbuster event in the style of the franchise’s pinnacle, 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, which grossed $2.8 billion. Endgame was briefly the highest-grossing movie in history before the original Avatar reclaimed its crown with a theatrical re-release.
Like Endgame, Doomsday will again team up characters and wrap up storylines in a grand finale to more than a dozen preceding Marvel films. Post-Endgame, Marvel films have lost some lustre, with a dozen movies since receiving mostly weaker reviews.
Box office receipts have also fallen from their peak, though they are still enviable compared with almost any other Hollywood franchise.
Wednesday’s viral unveiling demonstrates how key to Marvel and Disney the success of Avengers: Doomsday — and the 2027 follow-up Avengers: Secret Wars — will be.
Doomsday will be directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, who are also returning to Marvel after directing Captain America: Winter Soldier, Civil War and the last two Avengers movies.
Those missing in action (if any Marvel fans are still following along) are Elizabeth Olsen as the Scarlett Witch, Paul Bettany’s Vision, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk, Charlie Cox as Daredevil and Benedict Cumberbatch’s Dr Strange, Forbes reported.
Also notably not listed are Tom Holland as Spider-Man, Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool and Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow.
However, you never know all the secrets Marvel is hiding — who knows, maybe several (additional) cameos lie ahead.
