Robert Downey Jr. stars Chris Hems worth and Tom Hiddl eston, along with other confirmed actors including ‘X-Men’ stars Patrick Stewart and Ian McKe llen and a good chunk of the studio’s ‘Thunderbolts’.
During the nearly five-and-a-half-hour live stream, Marvel Studios unveiled its cast for Avengers: Doomsday, revealing a mix of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s core cast as well as upcoming stars from 20th Century Fox’s now-defunct X-Men universe and Fantastic Four. Notable names missing from the roll call included Tom Holland (Spider-Man) and Chris Evans (Captain America), the latter of whom is expected to appear in at least one of the two-part movies.
The announced cast includes Chris Hems worth (Thor), Tom Hiddl eston (Loki), Anthony Mackie (Captain America), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Letitia Wright (Black Panther), Simu Liu (Shang-Chi), Danny Ramirez (The Falcon), and Winston Duke (M’Baku).
The cast of Marvel’s upcoming May-released anti-hero team-up movie Thunderbolts* was represented by Sebastian Stan (The Winter Soldier), Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova), Wyatt Russell (U.S. Agent), David Harbour (Red Guardian), Hannah John-Kamen (Ghost), and Lewis Pullman, known as Borman at this time. Soundstage, as the live-stream shows.
The cast includes X-Men actors Patrick Stewart (Pro. X), Ian McKellen (Magneto), James Marsden (Cyclops) and Rebecca Romijn (Mystique), who ushered in the modern era of superhero movies with 2000’s X-Men, the film that Marvel Studios co-wrote with him.
They will be joined by X2: X-Men United’s Alan Cuming (Nightcrawler) and Kelsey Grammer (Beast), who starred in X-Men: The Last Stand for 20th Century Fox and had a cameo in The Marvels. Channing Tatum, who was once attached to a Gambit movie that never happened, will also appear in Doomsday after making his debut in Deadpool & Wolverine.
The cast also includes members of the Fantastic Four, including Pedro Pascal (Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (The Invisible Woman), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Thing), and Joseph Quinn (The Human Torch).
Tenoch Huerta Mejia, who played Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, was the first real surprise at the casting event. There were questions about his return to Marvel after he was accused of sexual misconduct in June 2023, claims he denied as “false and completely unsubstantiated.” He was dropped from a Netflix movie amid the media storm, and later made a guest appearance at Marvel’s Echo Premiere event, suggesting that he and the studio were on good terms.
“Now they have magnets so we can put ‘them’ on a board and look at ‘them.’ It’s the only way to keep track of the amount of characters we’re working with,” Joe Russo said. Anthony Russo added: “And how we see who’s in the movie, it’s just a long creative process of where we want to take the story. What’s the most surprising and exciting area for us, and which characters help us in that effort?”
While Benedict Cumberbatch has said that his Doctor Strange will be in Secret Wars but not Doomsday, it’s odd that such a cosmic event wouldn’t feature the MCU’s reigning Sorcerer Supreme, Ong. (We can assume Doc Strange and Charlize Theron’s Clea are taking off on another plane as the events of Doomsday begin.) There’s also no Scarlet Witch or Agatha Harkness. While Benedict Cumberbatch has said his Doctor Strange will be in Secret Wars but not Doomsday, it’s a strange occurrence that the MCU will see again. Sorcerer Supreme, Wong, shows up. (We can assume Doc Strange and Charlize Theron’s Clea have taken off on another plane as the events of Doomsday unfold.) There’s no Scarlet Witch or Agatha Harkness either. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is getting a heavy dose of the original “X-Men” on the big screen. During Marvel’s lengthy casting for its upcoming tentpole “Avengers: Doomsday,” it was revealed that many of the actors from Fox’s original run of “X-Men” movies will be returning to the comic book universe. That includes Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier, Ian McKellen as Magneto, James Marsden as Cyclops, and Rebecca Romijn as Mystique. All four actors made their comic book debuts in 2000’s “X-Men.” However, under the rules of the Marvel Multiverse, it’s possible that these actors could play different versions of their characters — even completely different characters.
See a rundown below of every “X-Men” actor returning for “Avengers: Doomsday,” in theaters May 1, 2026.
