Fans are divided after Marvel announced the Avenger: Doomsday cast in an exciting livestream this week.
On Wednesday, the studios unveiled the massive cast through a live YouTube video as they also confirmed production has officially kicked off for the upcoming movie.
As previously announced, Robert Downey Jr. will be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe not as Iron Man but as Doctor Doom, the villain of the forthcoming film.
There also appears to be more on the way after Marvel hinted at more to come in an Instagram comment exchange with Downey Jr., 59, on their announcement post on social media.
To the excitement of many fans, the all-star list included a number of beloved stars, who were originally thought to have already made their final appearances in prior installments and different universes.
However, other fans were left disappointed when some key characters were noticeably absent from the lengthy list of returning cast members.
Fans are divided after Marvel announced the Avenger: Doomsday cast in an exciting livestream this week. They also confirmed production has officially kicked off for the upcoming movie
As previously announced, Robert Downey Jr. will be returning to the Marvel Cinematic Universe not as Iron Man but as Doctor Doom, the villain of the forthcoming film; pictured July 2024 in San Diego
Among them, many social media users took to X, formerly Twitter, to start sharing memes, poking fun at the seemingly endless cast list, and naming other A-list actors and their most memorable roles from unrelated, non-superhero franchises.
They questioned if the announcement truly revealed the ‘full’ cast, also noting that there was a lack of diversity with only a significantly smaller number of female actors included in the list.
Many fans were excited at the thought of the original X-Men from the Foxverse returning for the movie but confused why fan-favorite characters like Spider-Man, the Hulk, Wolverine and Deadpool were left out of the mix.
Some wondered why big names such as Tom Holland, Mark Ruffalo, Benedict Cumberbatch and Brie Larson among many others were left off the cast list, speculating they would make a surprise appearance or be the leads in the follow-up movie, Avengers: Secret Wars.
A few were once again saddened by Elizabeth Olsen’s absence from the list — though just the day before, the actress confirmed she would not be making an appearance in the next two Avengers movies.
The livestream also confirmed the return of the original stars of the X-Men stars on Fox, including Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Kelsey Grammer, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden and Channing Tatum.
Already speculating about the plot of the upcoming installment, some fans are questioning logistics of the current Marvel Cinematic Universe colliding with the Fantastic Four universe and the original X-Men crew.
The returning cast members include Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson, who debuted as the new Captain America in last month’s Captain America: Brave New World, his co-star Danny Ramirez’s Joaquin Torres, the new Falcon.
There also appears to be more on the way after Marvel hinted at more to come in an Instagram comment exchange with Downey Jr., 59, on their announcement post on social media
To the excitement of many fans, the all-star list included a number of beloved stars, including Chris Hemsworth returning as Thor; pictured in 2013 The Dark World still
His on-screen brother Tom Hiddleston will also be coming back as Loki; pictured in Avengers: Endgame still
Anthony Mackie will be returning as Sam Wilson, who debuted as the new Captain America in last month’s Captain America: Brave New World, his co-star Danny Ramirez’s Joaquin Torres, the new Falcon; pictured in Captain America: Brave New World still
Many fans were excited at the thought of the original X-Men from the Foxverse. The livestream also confirmed the return of the original stars of the X-Men stars on Fox, including Ian McKellen among many others
Channing Tatum will also be returning as Gambit after reprising the role for the recent release of Deadpool & Wolverine. However, Deadpool and Wolverine were not included on the list of Doomsday cast members
Florence Pugh will be returning as Yelena Belova, the new Black Widow, while Scarlett Johansson was not included on the list; pictured in 2021 Black Widow movie still
Sebastian Stan will be returning as Bucky Barnes, the Winter Soldier while Paul Rudd will be reprising his role as Scott Lang a.k.a. Ant-Man and Tom Hiddleston will be portraying Loki again.
Letitia Wright will be returning as Shuri, who took over as the Black Panther in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever and her co-star Winston Duke will be coming back as M’Baku.
Additionally, many were left surprised at the list of newcomers being added to the gigantic Avengers ensemble, which include Pedro Pascal as Mr. Fantastic, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Vanessa Kirby as the Invisible Woman, Joseph Quinn as Human Torch and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as the Thing from The Fantastic Four: First Steps.
Simu Liu returns as Shang-Chi and Tenoch Huerta Mejía will return after playing the underwater antagonist Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Wyatt Russell stars as U.S. Agent, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Lewis Pullman as the mysterious Bob.
The last time the Avengers team assembled on screen was six years ago when they battled and defeated Josh Brolin’s Thanos in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
In that same installment, fans said goodbye to Downey Jr.’s Iron Man, Chris Evans’ Captain America and Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow.
On Marvel’s latest Instagram post announcing the exciting news, Downey Jr. left a comment and sarcastically asked: ‘That must be it…right?’
In response, Marvel hinted at more to come as they responded: ‘There’s always room for more…’
Since then, Marvel has introduced new superheroes in their own movies including Liu’s Shang-Chi, Wright’s Black Panther and the Eternals.
At the time, fans thought that was the last time we’d see Downey Jr. on screen in the MCU after the death of the beloved Iron Man character.
In July of last year, however, the actor unexpectedly revealed that he will be portraying the antagonist Victor von Doom, also known as Doctor Doom, in the upcoming movie during his surprise appearance at San Diego Comic-Con.
The Russo brothers, Joe and Anthony, will also be making their own return to Marvel to helm Avengers: Doomsday.
They previously directed Captain America: Winter Soldier, Civil War and the last two Avengers movies.
Additionally, Marvel also has Thunderbolts* release prepped for May 2 and The Fantastic Four: First Steps to premiere over the summer on July 25.
Many fans took to X, formerly Twitter, to comment on the length of the lineup, making jokes that they would age many decades by the time the long announcement video finished.
Other Marvel fanatics seemed unimpressed by the lineup and were saddened that some key characters were noticeably absent from the cast.
Many fans expressed excitement over the X-Men lineup but noted that included Ian McKellen but not Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Evan Peters, Nicholas Hoult nor Jennifer Lawrence’s version of Mystique; pictured in 2014 X-Man: Days of Future Past movie poster
The X-Men stars from the original Foxverse would be reprising their roles. Unfortunately, that list includes some not all, fans noticed; pictured in X-Men poster
With the amount of stars in this story, some fans speculated that the storyline could easily be ‘scattered’ and ‘all over the place.’
Others theorized that the huge cast list meant that many would be defeated in the big battle against Doctor Doom and the absent stars would return in the next movie.
Some social media users pointed out the lack of diversity, noting that only five women were included on the list and a majority of the stars were white men.
Others grieved fan-favorite stars including Elizabeth Olsen, devastated she would not be returning as Scarlet Witch for the upcoming movie.
Many fans noted the major stars not included, such as Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye.
However, more surprises may be on the horizon as Marvel and Downey Jr. teased additional surprise appearances.
On Marvel’s latest Instagram post announcing the exciting news, Downey Jr. left a comment and sarcastically asked: ‘That must be it…right?’
In response, Marvel hinted at more to come as they responded: ‘There’s always room for more…’
The highly-anticipated Avengers: Doomsday will receive a theatrical release on May 1, 2026.
Many fans took to X, formerly Twitter, to comment on the length of the lineup, making jokes that they would age many decades by the time the long announcement video finished
Other Marvel fanatics seemed unimpressed by the lineup and were saddened that some key characters were noticeably absent from the cast
With the amount of stars in this story, some fans speculated that the storyline could easily be ‘scattered’ and ‘all over the place’
Others theorized that the huge cast list meant that many would be defeated in the big battle against Doctor Doom and the absent stars would return in the next movie
Some social media users pointed out the lack of diversity, noting that only five women were included on the list and a majority of the stars were white men
Others grieved fan-favorite stars including Elizabeth Olsen
They were devastated and felt it was a ‘crime’ to not bring back Olsen’s Scarlet Witch for the movie
Many fans noted the major stars not included, such as Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye
