Robert Downey Jr. unveiled as Doctor Doom at Comic-Con
Robert Downey Jr. is set to return to Marvel in the 2026 film “Avengers: Doomsday,” playing the iconic villain Doctor Doom.
Avengers, reassemble!
Marvel unveiled the star-studded cast of “Avengers: Doomsday” during a livestream event on Wednesday, with each actor being revealed one at a time with a glimpse at the back of their director’s chair.
The announcement lasted more than five hours and concluded with Robert Downey Jr., who will play the villainous Doctor Doom in the highly anticipated film, walking out to sit in his chair and make a shushing motion while looking at the camera.
The cast list indicates “Doomsday,” which is now in production and arrives next year, will be an ambitious crossover between Marvel’s “Avengers” franchise and the “X-Men” series, with numerous original “X-Men” stars returning to reprise their roles for the first time in years. But the stacked cast includes actors from virtually every corner of the Marvel world, from the Fantastic Four to the Thunderbolts and everyone in between.
Marvel films typically keep some surprise cameos under wraps, meaning the epic list of stars may not even be complete. Reports previously indicated Captain America actor Chris Evans would be returning for “Doomsday,” but he was absent from the announcement stream. Other Marvel stars notably missing from the list included Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman.
Channing Tatum’s Gambit to return in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’
He’s about to make a name for himself once again. Channing Tatum was included on Wednesday’s cast list, implying he’ll be back as his X-Men character Gambit.
Tatum’s Gambit was a scene-stealer in last summer’s “Deadpool & Wolverine,” which poked fun at the fact that the actor spent years working on a Gambit spinoff movie that never materialized. A deleted scene confirmed Gambit survived the events of the film, and Tatum had been open about wanting to continue in the role.
Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston are back together again in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’
It’s an Asgardian reunion! Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston will both appear in “Avengers: Doomsday” as Thor and Loki, respectively, marking the first time the longtime “Thor” co-stars will be in a Marvel movie together since “Avengers: Endgame.”
After the original version of Loki was killed off in 2018’s “Avengers: Infinity War,” Hiddleston returned as an alternate version of the character in the Disney+ show “Loki,” which debuted in 2021. But Loki has yet to reunite with Hemsworth’s Thor, who was last seen in 2022’s “Thor: Love and Thunder.”
‘Avengers: Doomsday’ will be an ‘X-Men’ reunion: Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, more returning
That won’t be the only Marvel reunion in “Avengers: Doomsday,” as the film is also getting the “X-Men” gang back together.
“X-Men” stars Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen have both been added to the cast, presumably playing Charles Xavier and Magneto, respectively.
Stewart last played the role of Professor X in 2022’s “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness,” in which a version of the character was murdered by Scarlet Witch. But this would be McKellen’s first time back as Magneto since 2014’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past.”
“Avengers: Doomsday” will also reunite original “X-Men” stars Alan Cumming, who played Nightcrawler; Rebecca Romijn, who played Mystique; James Marsden, who played Cyclops; and Kelsey Grammer, who played Beast and had a surprise cameo in the credits of “The Marvels” in 2023.
Simu Liu, Florence Pugh, more Marvel stars join ‘Doomsday’
Outside of the “X-Men” roles, all four members of the Fantastic Four have been confirmed for the film: Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Joseph Quinn and Pedro Pascal. They will debut as Sue Storm, Ben Grimm, Johnny Storm and Reed Richards, respectively, in this summer’s “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.”
“Avengers: Doomsday” will also star Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes, Letitia Wright as Shuri, Tenoch Huerta Mejía as Namor, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Paul Rudd as Scott Lang, Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres, Wyatt Russell as John Walker, Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost and Lewis Pullman as Bob from “Thunderbolts.”
It’s unclear which of these characters will be official members of the Avengers, as the team had not yet been reformed by the end of Marvel’s latest film “Captain America: Brave New World.”
‘Avengers: Doomsday’ will be a ‘new beginning’ for Marvel
Despite consisting of nothing but a row of chairs for many hours, Marvel’s stream maintained a consistent audience of millions of viewers throughout and an active YouTube chat where fans attempted to guess which name would be revealed next.
Downey was previously announced to return for “Avengers: Doomsday,” though in a surprise twist, he’s playing the villain Doctor Doom. It’s unclear whether Downey’s Doom will have any connection to his previous Marvel character of Tony Stark, who died in 2019’s “Avengers: Endgame.”
“Avengers: Infinity War” and “Avengers: Endgame” filmmakers Anthony and Joe Russo are returning to direct “Doomsday,” which will be followed one year later by “Avengers: Secret Wars,” also directed by the Russos. In an interview with Omelete, the duo teased that while “Endgame” represented an ending for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the next two “Avengers” films will accomplish the opposite.
“What’s compelling about these two new ‘Avengers’ movies is they’re a beginning,” Joe Russo said. “It’s a new beginning. So we told an ending story, now we’re going to tell a beginning story.”
‘Avengers: Doomsday’ full cast list
The following stars were revealed as part of the “Avengers: Doomsday” cast on Wednesday:
- Chris Hemsworth
- Vanessa Kirby
- Anthony Mackie
- Sebastian Stan
- Letitia Wright
- Paul Rudd
- Wyatt Russell
- Tenoch Huerta Mejía
- Ebon Moss-Bachrach
- Simu Liu
- Florence Pugh
- Kelsey Grammer
- Lewis Pullman
- Danny Ramirez
- Joseph Quinn
- David Harbour
- Winston Duke
- Hannah John-Kamen
- Tom Hiddleston
- Patrick Stewart
- Ian McKellen
- Alan Cumming
- Rebecca Romijn
- James Marsden
- Channing Tatum
- Pedro Pascal
- Robert Downey Jr.
Watch the ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ cast announcement stream
‘Avengers: Doomsday’ release date
“Avengers: Doomsday” will be released on May 1, 2026. It will be followed by “Avengers: Secret Wars” on May 7, 2027.
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