Marvel had a major announcement on Wednesday, revealing the cast of the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, which is now in production and scheduled to be released on May 1, 2026.
Throughout the day, Marvel began revealing names on the back of director’s chairs as part of a five-plus-hour live stream. Luckily for those who don’t have five hours to spare, Marvel cut it down to a sub-2 minute video with Robert Downey Jr., formerly Iron Man and now set to take up the mantle of the villainous Doctor Doom, capping it all off.
Among the notable returning names are MCU stalwarts like Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Anthony Mackie (Captain America) and Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes), but mixed in were some surprising names from Marvel’s Fox past as Patrick Stewart (Charles Xavier), Ian McKellan (Magneto), James Marsden (Cyclops), Kelsey Grammer (Beast) and Rebecca Romijn (Mystique) all tapped to return. Channing Tatum will return as Gambit from last summer’s Deadpool and Wolverine as will members of the teams from the upcoming Thunderbolts and Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Notable names not returning include Elizabeth Olsen, who recently said her Scarlet Witch would not be appearing in Doomsday, and Chris Evans, who has consistently denied the persistent rumors that he is returning to the MCU and said earlier this year in the leadup to Mackie’s first outing as Captain America that his Cap is “happily retired.” But as we’ve learned in the past, never say never and all the denials in the world could be a smokescreen (see Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield in Spider-Man: No Way Home). Speaking of Spider-Man, Tom Holland’s name is also not among the revealed cast, which might make sense in the MCU given the end of No Way Home but is curious given the reports that he’s set for a fourth installment of his Spidey series. Another notable omission is Holland’s No Way Home co-star Benedict Cumberbatch, whose Doctor Stephen Strange was last seen in 2022’s Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.
As noted above, Avengers: Doomsday is now in production and scheduled to be released in theaters on May 1, 2026. It will be followed by Avengers: Secret Wars, which is due in theaters in May 2027. Both Doomsday and Secret Wars are set to be helmed by the Russo brothers, who directed multiple Captain America movies as well as Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
