It is evident that the Marvel Cinematic Universe requires a financial and reputational boost following the conclusion of the Thanos era. The MCU has faced challenges in attracting audiences back to cinemas since then. Notable exceptions include “Spider-Man: No Way Home” and collaborations featuring Deadpool and Wolverine, which have each grossed over $1 billion at the box office. However, other Phase 4 and 5 films have not performed as well; for instance, “Captain America: Brave New World” has only managed to earn around $400 million worldwide. Considering its production budget of nearly $300 million (including reshoots), this revenue is inadequate. Consequently, there is a need to devise strategies to reignite interest and potentially reintroduce Robert Downey Jr. as Dr. Doom, an idea that could be both innovative and faithful to the comics. This revival plan would proceed in two phases: starting with “Avengers: Doomsday” and followed by “Avengers: Secret Wars.” Recent leaks suggest that Marvel Studios and its President, Kevin Feige, still have additional plans in store.
During a nearly five-and-a-half-hour livestream, Marvel Studios introduced the cast of “Avengers: Doomsday,” confirming the return of actors from the former X-Men universe, now under 20th Century Fox, an entity no longer in existence. This announcement generated significant excitement among fans, with over 10 million people tuning in online to watch the event. The livestream featured a scrolling shot of movie theater seats, progressively unveiling each actor’s name for the film. Approximately every twelve minutes, the film score associated with the upcoming actor would play, followed by a shift to a new seat and name on screen. The livestream concluded with a reimagined version of the Avengers theme composed by Alan Silvestri, featuring Robert Downey Jr., who will portray Doctor Doom, whispering “shh” to the camera.
The cast of the upcoming Marvel anti-hero film Thunderbolts, scheduled for release in May, was present at the event: Sebastian Stan (The Winter Soldier), Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova), Wyatt Russell (American Agent), David Harbour (Red Guardian), Hannah John-Kamen (Spectre), and Lewis Pullman (a character known as Bob at the time) were seen in the studio during the livestream.
The casting of Avengers: Doomsday includes actors from X-Men such as Patrick Stewart (Professor X), Ian McKellen (Magneto), James Marsden (Cyclops), and Rebecca Romijn (Mystique). These actors ushered in the modern era of superhero films with X-Men in 2000, during which Kevin Feige, head of Marvel Studios, honed his skills as an assistant. They will be joined by Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler) and Kelsey Grammer (Beast), who appeared in X2: X-Men United and made brief appearances in X-Men: The Last Stand for 20th Century Fox and The Marvels. Channing Tatum, previously considered for an unrealized Gambit film, will also appear in Avengers: Doomsday following his debut in Deadpool & Wolverine.
The Four Fantastics are part of the cast, including Pedro Pascal as Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as The Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing, and Joseph Quinn as Human Torch. Tenoch Huerta Mejía, who portrayed Namor in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” was a notable surprise addition to the cast. His return to Marvel has raised questions following sexual assault allegations made against him in June 2023, which he denied, calling them “false and entirely unfounded.” He left a Netflix film during the media coverage and later appeared as a guest at the premiere of Marvel’s Echo, suggesting he and the studio maintain positive relations.
Among the notable absentees were Tom Holland (Spider-Man) and Chris Evans (Captain America), with Chris Evans expected to appear in at least one of the two upcoming film installments. Sources indicate that despite announcing 26 actors, Marvel has not yet revealed the full cast, and the date and details for the next reveal remain unclear.
Marvel announced “Avengers: Doomsday” with fanfare at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2024, revealing the surprise return of Robert Downey Jr. to the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) after he left the role of Iron Man in “Endgame.” This project brought together Downey, who is Marvel’s most profitable star, and the Russo brothers, who are also among the MCU’s most successful directors, both returning after their departure following “Endgame.”—(Note: The original request was to rewrite only one specific paragraph and not the entire context provided for background. Only the first paragraph from the instructions has been rewritten as per your initial request.)
Kevin Feige, the head of Marvel, initially proposed the idea for Robert Downey Jr. to reprise his role as Doom. Following a five-year hiatus in the streaming world, Downey himself convinced the Russo brothers to return. The decision was made after Stephen McFeely, their usual screenwriter collaborator, shared his insights.
The Russo brothers recently disclosed to The Hollywood Reporter the challenges they faced in casting and maintaining character consistency, confirming that they use baseball cards representing all Marvel actors and characters. This method was also employed for Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame.
They are now equipped with magnets, allowing them to be displayed on a board. This is how we keep track of the number of characters we’re working with,” explains Joe Russo. Anthony Russo adds, “As for knowing who will appear in the films, it’s a creative process that involves exploring the direction we want to take the story. What’s the most surprising and exciting area to explore, and which characters can help us achieve this?”
The release of Doomsday is scheduled for May 1, 2026, while its sequel, Avengers: Secret Wars, is set for May 7, 2027.
Robert Downey Jr. / Doctor Doom Ian McKellen / Magneto James Marsden / Cyclops Patrick Stewart / Professor X Rebecca Romijn / Mystique Alan Cumming / Nightcrawler Kelsey Grammer / Beast Channing Tatum / Gambit Chris Hemsworth / Thor Pedro Pascal / Reed Richards Vanessa Kirby / Sue Storm Joseph Quinn / Johnny Storm Ebon Moss-Bachrach / The Thing Paul Rudd / Ant-Man Simu Liu / Shang-Chi Tom Hiddleston / Loki Tenoch Huerta Mejia / Namor Hannah John-Kamen / Ghost David Harbour / Red Guardian Anthony Mackie / Captain America Lewis Pullman / Sentry Florence Pugh / Yelena Danny Ramirez / Falcon Sebastian Stan / Bucky Winston Duke / M’Baku Wyatt Russell / U.S. Agent Letitia Wright / Black Panther
