The Avengers are set to assemble once more. The legendary team of Marvel superheroes haven't been seen together on the silver screen since 2019's Avengers: Endgame changed the Marvel Cinematic Universe forever. Some of those heroes have appeared in their own projects, while others have formed new teams, but all of them will reunite in the Multiverse Saga's main event: Avengers: Doomsday, which is due in theaters next year.
Marvel announced the cast listing for the upcoming phenomenon last month in a spectacle that had MCU fans watching chairs for five hours (you really had to be there) and, as exciting as it was seeing the names of classic Avengers, new Marvel stars, the Thunderbolts, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, and more, there were some notable omissions.
Now, a new report claims that one MCU veteran will return despite not having been previously announced.
Captain Marvel will reportedly be one of the main Avengers in Doomsday
According to Marvel scooper account Marvel Updates, Brie Larson is expected to return in Avengers: Doomsday as Captain Marvel, with the character to be one of the primary Avengers. This would line-up with previous reports that the all-powerful Carol Danvers will be one of the Avengers' leaders in the upcoming movie that had fans expecting to see her name listed among the cast for the film.
But Larson's name was absent from the chair-themed casting announcement, which had some fans thinking that other reports were beginning to come true. The star's most recent MCU appearance came in 2023's The Marvels, which made history as the first Marvel Studios movie to outright flop at the box office. It was particularly shocking considering that the previous movie centering on Carol Danvers, 2019's Captain Marvel, grossed over $1 billion, and this led to reports that a third film in the subfranchise had been cancelled.
After that, it was unclear where Marvel might opt to feature Carol again. Audiences hoped she might return in either Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars, but with reports that the character may have a reduced role going forward, the absence of Larson's name in the casting announcement was not the update that they were hoping for. That said, there could be more than one reason for this.
For starters, Larson just completed a run on the West End, in which she starred in Sophocles' Elektra, so if she does join the cast of Doomsday (which just commenced filming) it likely wouldn't be until later in the production. Marvel and star Robert Downey Jr. have both alluded to more major casting announcements coming down the line, so we know that the 25+ actors confirmed in the initial reveal won't be the only familiar faces in the film.
Another thing to bear in mind is that Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars tell a two-part story, so even if Larson doesn't appear in the first one, she will likely be bringing Carol Danvers back in the second. Captain Marvel is too important of an MCU character to complete ignore for two Avengers movies. While the Avengers aren't active as a team right now, we know that they have stayed in touch, with Carol seemingly being one of the most active in doing do (remember that cameo in Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Ten Rings), so she likely will have some kind of role in the new films.
It simply wouldn't be right to have an MCU movie at this stage without Carol Danvers herself, so the fact that this report suggests we haven't seen the last of her is undoubtedly the best thing about it. The fact that it may even corroborate the previous reports about her leading the Avengers? That's just the icing on the cake.