It's been a long time since Earth's Mightiest Heroes last assembled on the big screen. Unfortunately, a lot was lost on their crusade against Thanos, including the lives of Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff. However, that doesn't mean new supervillains will suddenly stop trying to invade the world and give our heroes some time to mourn their losses. On the contrary: the Marvel Cinematic Universe is now facing dangerous threats from alternate realities, and Doctor Doom will be perhaps the biggest of them all.
On May 1, 2026, the Avengers will come together once more to prevent the multiverse as a whole from falling into Doom's hands. Naturally, fans are eager to know what this iteration of the super team will look like now that heavy hitters such as Steve Rogers are out of the picture. And while characters such as The Fantastic Four are confirmed to make an appearance, there's one big hero everyone assumed would show up but will end up skipping the movie altogether according to the actor behind it.
Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange won't be in Avengers Doomsday
During an interview with Variety, Benedict Cumberbatch revealed that Doctor Strange will sit out of Avengers: Doomsday. This comes as quite a shock, especially considering he was one of the first actors to be confirmed to return in the fifth Avengers movie, formerly known as Kang Dynasty. However, now that Kang the Conqueror won't be the main villain of the Multiverse Saga and that attention has shifted to Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom, plans have radically changed at Marvel. The overhaul of scripts resulted in “[Doctor Strange] not aligning with this part of the story", which explains his absence altogether.
But even if Kang isn't the villain to fear anymore, it feels quite strange (pun intended) for the soon-to-be Sorcerer Supreme not to be involved in a movie that will likely feature the multiverse. After all, he is on a mission with Clea to stop an incoming incursion — one he himself might have provoked during the events of Spider-Man: No Way Home. The MCU is about to clash with other parallel realities, and the destruction of all of them might be imminent. This storyline could have a huge role to play in Avengers: Doomsday, where it's been reported that Doom will form Battleworld in an attempt to stop all branching timelines from being erased.
If Doctor Strange is looking into incursions, their repercussions, and how to stop them, then his path could easily cross with that of Doctor Doom — a man who has the same mission but a different means to obtain it. So why would Strange not appear in Avengers: Doomsday, even when he could easily be incorporated into the narrative? Well, it might be the same reason Captain America barely had a role to play in Avengers: Infinity War, which was balancing things out.
While the MCU has suffered from a streak of losing projects in the past, there's no denying it's still growing strong. Characters such as She-Hulk, Moon Knight, Kate Bishop, and Ms. Marvel (among others) have made their live-action debuts over the past few years and they're waiting for the chance to join Earth's Mightiest Heroes in the next crossover. Coupled with how many characters from alternate realities, such as Deadpool and Wolverine, are also likely to make a surprise appearance, Avengers: Doomsday could risk being a really crowded movie. So while ironing out the movie's script, perhaps Marvel decided to shine the spotlight on a few heroes this time around, while allowing the rest to have a protagonistic role in Avengers: Secret Wars further down the line.
Benedict Cumberbatch himself mirrored this idea by stating that Doctor Strange is “quite central to where things might go” in Avengers: Secret Wars. So just because audiences won't see him once Doom arrives in the MCU, it doesn't mean he won't try to stop the supervillain at a later point. And while we wait for that day to arrive, we should expect the Fantastic Four to be at the center of the story, which sounds like a fantastic plan if you were to ask me.
Avengers: Doomsday will be released on May 1, 2026.