Marvel Studios recently announced the cast of Avengers: Doomsday by unveiling their on-set chairs with their names printed on the back. None of the actors listed will be making their debut in Avengers: Doomsday. In fact, the only character that is not scheduled to attend any project prior to Doomsday is Doctor Doom himself, played by the original Marvel Cinematic Universe star, Robert Downey Jr.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is still ahead of us, so it is possible Downey Jr. may emerge before Doomsday comes out. All of the other named actors are playing heroes, anti-heroes, or at the very least, a redeemed adversary. If they haven’t yet appeared in Marvel media, they all will by the time Avengers: Doomsday releases on May 1, 2026.
Here are all those actors in the same order that their chair was presented, as well as which character they play in the MCU, and the last time they performed for Marvel.
Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Hemsworth will have been embodying Thor for 15 years once Avengers: Doomsday hits big screens. He starred as the God of Thunder in four solo Thor ventures and four Avenger epics. He is the only original Avenger actor that was announced to return for Doomsday, in their native MCU role.
Hemsworth’s most recent outing was in Thor: Love and Thunder, if we don’t count archival footage inserted into Deadpool & Wolverine. After formerly losing his mother, father, brother, and Asgardian friends, he lost the love of his life in Love and Thunder. But he did gain a daughter, Gorr’s child, the titular Love. Will Thor’s new sidekick be joining forces with the entire lineup in Doomsday?
Vanessa Kirby as Invisible Woman
One of the fantastic foursome who has, to date, not appeared in the MCU; Kirby will become visible in The Fantastic Four: First Steps this summer. She is the third actress to play Invisible Woman this century. Not to knock Jessica Alba or Kate Mara, but Kirby is a tremendous talent, best illustrated in feature films Pieces of a Woman, The World to Come, and Napoleon. Kirby will be the first actress to play Sue Storm in the MCU.
Anthony Mackie as Captain America
Mackie flew onto the scene as Sam Wilson in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. That was his first of seven MCU movies, yet he also co-headlined the Disney Plus limited series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. That show charted his path from re-shaping his Falcon persona into becoming the new Captain America.
He fully took over the mantle as the Sentinel of Liberty in Captain America: Brave New World, this past February. The re-formation of the Avengers was hinted at in that movie, so can Mackie’s Cap lead Earth's Mightiest Heroes the same way Steve Rogers did in the earlier team-up events?
Sebastian Stan as Winter Soldier
Sebastian Stan’s Bucky is the one actor to appear in all four Captain America adventures. He organically grew from Steve’s friend to Sam’s odd couple partner of sorts. He is the other half of the eponymous duo in The Falcon and The Winter Soldier show. As of now, Stan can last be seen as Bucky in Captain America: Brave New World, but before Doomsday comes out next year, he is going to star in Thunderbolts*, this May.
Letitia Wright as Black Panther
Letitia Wright could have simply played Shuri as T'Challa's little sister without much fanfare. However, she brought so much spirit and spark to the part, that she left little doubt over who should take up the title of Black Panther after Chadwick Boseman’s tragic passing.
Her emotional weight and tenacity in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was at the center of a sequel that was both stimulating and melancholic. In Wakanda Forever, Wright’s Shuri learns that T’Challa has a son. It is possible her nephew can show up in Avengers: Doomsday with her.
Paul Rudd as Ant-Man
The tiniest Avenger ended up being irreplaceably important to the plot of Avengers: Endgame. That was Paul Rudd’s only participation in an Avengers epic so far, and now Ant-Man will again sneak into the next collaboration, Doomsday.
His latest solo feature, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, was conceived as a crucial gateway into the fifth Avengers – Kang was Ant-Man’s opponent in the movie and was also going to be the primary villain in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. Now that Marvel Studios have pivoted from Kang to Doom, it is unknown to fans whether the multiple Kangs forewarned at the end of Quantumania will factor into future storylines.
Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent
Russell is one of the few Doomsday cast members to be introduced into the franchise via a MCU show. Russell’s John Walker challenged Sam Wilson for the Captain America shield in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Unlike Falcon, Walker takes the super soldier serum and Contessa Valentina Allegra de Fontaine begins to mold him into U.S. Agent. Both Russell and Julia Louis-Dreyfuss will star in Thunderbolts, but only the former was recruited for Avengers: Doomsday.
Tenoch Huerta Mejia as Namor
Namor has been a quintessential Marvel anti-hero for decades and Tenoch Huerta brings him to life in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. In that narrative, he was more of an opposing leader to Shuri’s Black Panther than he was a singular villain, pitting Wakanda against Talokan. When Shuri overpowers him, Namor yields and forms an alliance with Wakanda, setting him up as an ally in Avengers: Doomsday.
Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Thing
Bachrach’s “first steps” as Ben Grimm will be in the MCU’s Fantastic Four feature this summer. The Bear and Andor actor also played the Marvel character Micro, in the Netflix series, The Punisher. Those Netflix shows were not produced by Marvel Studios, yet Daredevil: Born Again has proved that they can still find their way into the MCU. His prior participation aside, Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s name being called for the Doomsday cast is unmistakably associated with his upcoming role as The Thing.
Simu Liu as Shang-Chi
Simu Liu is one of the more unique names on this list; his one and only MCU appearance thus far has been in a movie where he played the main hero – Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. After Shang-Chi defeats his father and the Dweller-in-Darkness dragon, he retains the Ten Rings.
The powerful bracelets are then analyzed by three heroes who are not confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday - Wong, Hulk, and Captain Marvel. If not those characters, who could act as Shang-Chi’s entry point into the Avengers?
Florence Pugh as Black Widow
Florence Pugh is a phenomenal replacement for Scarlett Johannson’s Black Widow. Pugh emphatically, and sometimes hilariously, plays her sister, Yelena, in the standalone Black Widow movie. She then reprises the role in the Hawkeye Disney Plus series. Yelena crossed paths with Contessa Valentina in the Black Widow post-credits scene. Therefore, Pugh’s final MCU project before Avengers: Doomsday will be as a member of the Thunderbolts*.
Kelsey Grammer as Beast
Who would have bet that the single cast member from The Marvels confirmed to return for the fifth Avengers would be Kelsey Grammer? He only had one full performance as the X-Man Dr. Hank McCoy in Fox’s X-Universe (Nicholas Hoult plays a younger Beast in several films). That was in X-Men: The Last Stand, which came out 20 years before Doomsday.
Grammer did have a cameo in 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past and then made the big multiversal jump into the MCU in The Marvels. Monica Rambeau traveled through a rift in Spacetime at the end of that sequel, where she landed in a parallel universe. It is there that she encounters a variant of her mother who is still alive, working alongside Grammer’s Beast. It is probable that this would be the version of the mutant that will join up with the Avengers.
Lewis Pullman as Sentry
Lewis Pullman is the only non-Fantastic Four actor on this list who has not officially entered the MCU, with his arrival still to come. Pullman’s unfathomably formidable Sentry will formally be unveiled in the next MCU feature, Thunderbolts*. Considering viewers have not yet witnessed Sentry’s chronicles unfold leaves us with little information about his placement in Avengers: Doomsday.
Danny Ramirez as Falcon
After helping Sam Wilson in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Danny Ramirez’s Joaquin Torres graduated to superhero status in Captain America: Brave New World. With Sam stepping up as Captain America, that left the Falcon wings up for grabs.
If Sam is going to lead a new team of Avengers, it would make sense that he would add one of his closest allies to the roster. This was solidified at the end of Brave New World, when Sam visits Torres as he was still recovering from an injury he suffered during that movie's thrilling aerial dogfight. Perhaps the new Falcon's request to meet Ant-Man will be realized in Avengers: Doomsday.
Joseph Quinn as Human Torch
Joseph Quinn has some big shoes to fill, with Johnny Storm formerly tackled by MCU veterans Chris Evans and Michael B. Jordan. But even beyond his star making exhibition as Eddie Munson on Stranger Things, he has since proven he can carry entire sequences of exhilarating cinema, in A Quiet Place: Day One and Gladiator 2. Joseph Quinn will “flame on” this summer in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, before joining the much larger ensemble of Avengers: Doomsday.
David Harbour as Red Guardian
Another member of the Stranger Things troupe, David Harbour has been around a lot longer than Joseph Quinn. He played Black Widow’s Russian father in her solo spy story. Natasha is gone, yet Alexei can continue working on his relationship with his other daughter, Yelena. The two of them together are forceful, fierce, and downright funny. Harbour’s Red Guardian will appear alongside Pugh’s Black Widow in Thunderbolts, and apparently, they may survive long enough to make it to Doomsday.
Winston Duke as M’Baku
Winston Duke’s M’Baku factors into any story beat that comprises of Wakanda or its people, in the MCU movies. He is a vital supporting piece in the Black Panther franchise and also appeared in the previous two Avengers. Despite butting heads with the Wakandan royal family, he reliably fights side-by-side with the Black Panthers.
After Shuri strikes a truce with Namor in Wakanda Forever, she decides to step back from the throne, leaving M’Baku as her successor. Winston Duke may very well be referred to as King M’Baku in Avengers: Doomsday.
Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost
Hannah John-Kamen served as a sympathetic antagonist in Ant-Man and the Wasp. Ghost’s motive was to find relief for her Quantum condition, although she was willing to cross a few lines along the way. Eventually, the good guys also wanted to help her. This duality makes Ghost a great candidate for the Thunderbolts squad. Her second MCU stint will be in Thunderbolts* and then she will advance up to the Avengers roster in Doomsday.
Tom Hiddleston as Loki
Tom Hiddleston’s Loki was the first Avenger villain. He has since gone on to have one of the most satisfying transformative arcs throughout the entire franchise. Loki was eventually humbled by the Avengers: Infinity War antagonist, Thanos. After death, his story has continued specifically due to time travel and alternate realities.
One could claim he is the MCU character that kicked off the multiverse, after the past Loki from The Avengers time period escaped and went down a rabbit hole with the Time Variance Authority. Loki experienced an assortment of timelines and Loki variants. His final showing was in Loki Season 2, where he sacrificed a regular life to protect the timelines. Hiddleston is destined to function in a contrary capacity from his prior MCU excursions, now that Loki is the overseer of time itself.
Patrick Stewart as Professor-X
Patrick Stewart was the first X-Men actor to make the jump over to the MCU by means of the multiverse. After many appearances in the Fox franchise, his Professor-X was the head of the Illuminati in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, in an alternate reality where Thanos was defeated on Titan. In that timeline, Stewart’s Xavier did meet his demise, courtesy of an anguished Scarlet Witch in the midst of a killing spree.
He also died in the X-Men Universe, at the hands (claws) of Wolverine clone, X-24. Logan came out five years before his participation in Multiverse of Madness. Beast does mention Charles during Kelsey Grammer’s scene in The Marvels. With that Professor-X variant evidently active, that could be the mutant leader who leaps into the prime MCU timeline.
Ian McKellen as Magneto
The last time Ian McKellen suited up as the Master of Magnetism, Magneto had realigned his political agenda to work with the mutant heroes in X-Men: Days of Future Past. That movie, 12 years before Doomsday’s release, also called for performers from different sub-franchises to crossover into a giant-sized narrative.
McKellen portrayed the older Magneto in the “future” setting. Days of Future Past was his fifth manifestation as the ruler of the mutant Brotherhood in Fox’s X-Men films, including a cameo at the end of The Wolverine. Like other mutant characters to intersect into the MCU, McKellen could end up playing a variant of his original Magneto in Doomsday.
Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler
Alan Cumming will have a whopping 23-year gap between teleporting as Nightcrawler from 2003’s X2: X-Men United to 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday. That wasn’t the last time audiences have watched the blue-skinned mutant however; Kodi Smit-McPhee took on the role for the prequel arc.
Even though Cumming only had a single spin as Nightcrawler, it is quite an accomplishment that the striking mutant was one of the best parts of one of the best X-Men movies ever made. And although Nightcrawler conspicuously vanished following the X2 plot, he will likely be among Xavier’s alternate universe team in Avengers: Doomsday.
Rebecca Romijn as Mystique
Rebecca Romijn was a reliable mainstay of the original X-Men trilogy. Mystique acted as Magneto’s first lieutenant in his Brotherhood and her shapeshifting display live on as some of the most memorable moments in those mutant movies. In the trilogy clincher, Mystique takes a bullet (mutant cure dart) for Magneto, who then turns his back on her when she devolves into a human.
Continuity-wise, Mystique is not seen again after X-Men: The Last Stand. But Rebecca Romijn’s final appearance came in the 2011 prequel, X-Men: First Class. When Jennifer Lawrence’s younger Mystique is attempting to seduce Magneto, she wonders if he fancies someone a little older, and Romijn’s cameo in the scene is absolutely perfect.
James Marsden as Cyclops
Cyclops is one of the central heroes in the X-Men saga. And James Marsden was the first actor to depict the field leader in live-action. Similar to Rebecca Romijn, Marsden was on board for the entire original trilogy and then capped off the role with a later cameo. In X-Men: The Last Stand, Jean Grey loses control of herself and, as the Phoenix, kills Scott Summers.
Many years later, Wolverine travels to the 1970's to prevent a Sentinel takeover. His triumph not only saved all mutants, but it also altered various events in history. Along with other deceased heroes, Cyclops is alive in the future timeline, marking X-Men: Days of Future Past as James Marsden’s most recent Marvel movie prior to his return in Avengers: Doomsday.
Channing Tatum as Gambit
After years of failing to push his standalone Gambit film into production, Tatum surprised the world when the Cajun mutant stole the show in Deadpool & Wolverine. He worked alongside several Marvel veterans and absolutely lit up the screen with his accent and dialogue delivery, not to mention Gambit’s explosive action shots.
Diegetically, Tatum’s Gambit strictly remained in the Void, which falls outside of regular space and time. But the fact that Remy exists in the Void means that he also had a place on one or many timelines. Even if the same exact Gambit from Deadpool & Wolverine does not show up for Doomsday, Tatum will be personifying a variant of the fan favorite X-Man in the fifth Avengers feature.
Pedro Pascal as Mister Fantastic
Unlike the other three members of his foursome, Mister Fantastic is the only one who has made a preceding appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was not Pedro Pascal, yet John Krasinski who brought Reed Richards to the franchise in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Along with the rest of that timeline’s Illuminati, Richards was slain by Scarlet Witch.
Krasinski’s Mister Fantastic was a variation of the same character that Pascal will be playing, in an alternate reality. In fact, it is expected that Pascal’s Richards, as well as his fantastic family, will also hail from a different universe than the prime MCU Earth-616. Perhaps fans will learn how they will connect with the rest of the Avengers lineup when The Fantastic Four: First Steps launches on July 25, 2025.