In a long… lonnnnnng… video today, Marvel has announced the cast of ‘Avengers: Doomsday’, as a VERY interesting mix of old and newer characters, including Thor, Loki, Shang-Chi, The Fantastic Four, The Thunderbolts, and a bunch of Fox’s old X-Men, (and LOTS more) who will be returning as production begins on the new MCU movie!
The video, which featured the actor’s names on the backs of a series of director’s chairs, torturously revealing a new one every twelve minutes or so, has announced the cast will include:
Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Captain America, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Letitia Wright as Shuri, Paul Rudd as Ant-Man (hilariously, with a small chair…), Wyatt Russell as John Walker, Tenoch Huerta Mejía as Namor, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing, Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, and Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova/Black Widow, Lewis Pullman as Robert Reynolds/Sentry, Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres/Falcon, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr/Ghost, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast, Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier, Ian McKellen as Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto, Alan Cumming as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, James Marsden as Scott Summers/Cyclops, Channing Tatum as Remy LeBeau/Gambit, Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, and, of course, Robert Downey Jr as Doctor Doom!
This will be the first time back in the MCU for Chris Hemsworth since 2022’s ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’. Anthony Mackie got his big screen debut as Captain America earlier this year, alongside Danny Ramirez as the new Falcon. Sebastian Stan, Hannah John-Kamen, Wyatt Russell, Lewis Pullman, David Harbour, and Florence Pugh are set to appear in ‘Thunderbolts*’, which releases in May, whilst Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Pedro Pascal star in ‘The Fantastic Four: First Steps’, which releases in July.
Letitia Wright last appeared in 2022’s ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, alongside Winston Duke, and Tenoch Huerta Mejía, who was introduced as Namor in that film. Paul Rudd’s last MCU appearance was in 2023’s ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’, whilst Simu Liu hasn’t been seen since 2021’s ‘Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings’. The inclusion of Tom Hiddleston’s Loki is also a nice addition, following the events of the 2021 ‘Loki’ Disney+ series.
However, the really interesting additions are the old X-Men team. Grammer’s Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast last had a cameo in ‘The Marvels’, and Professor Xavier (Stewart) we last saw in ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’. We haven’t seen Ian McKellen as Magneto since 2014’s ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’, Alan Cumming’s Nightcrawler was last in 2003’s ‘X2’, and Rebecca Romijn’s Mystique & James Marsden as Cyclops in 2006’s ‘X-Men: The Last Stand’! You also have in there Channing Tatum as Gambit, who wasn’t actually in the original X-Men films, but appeared in the more recent ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’.
This rather feels like it might be being set up as a final outing for the OG X-Men crew, and possibly clearing the way for some recasting, but that remains to be seen!
‘Avengers: Doomsday’ is scheduled to be released in May 2026, as part of Phase Six of the MCU.
