We’re still over a year away from the theatrical release of Avengers: Doomsday, but there’s already some big news about the upcoming Russo Brothers film. The movie’s cast was revealed Wednesday and includes some big surprises, including a whole slate of X-Men stars from the 20th Century Fox films.
These actors are joined by just a couple of the original Avengers, and one of those is in a brand new role. Robert Downey Jr. returns not as Iron Man, but as the villainous Doctor Doom, a casting choice that has left many fans perplexed. Admittedly, it will be . . . strange to adjust to Tony Stark not actually being Tony Stark. Even if he hadn’t played Iron Man, it’s an odd casting choice for the Big Bad.
The full cast includes:
The Avengers (and friends)
- Chris Hemsworth as Thor, the only original Avenger in the movie.
- Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Captain America.
- Danny Ramirez as the Falcon.
- Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / The Winter Soldier.
- Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man
- Tom Hiddleston as Loki, the antagonist of the first Avengers film.
- Letitia Wright as Shuri / Black Panther.
- Winston Duke as M’Baku.
The Fantastic Four
- Pedro Pascal as Mr. Fantastic
- Vanessa Kirby as Invisible Woman
- Joseph Quinn as Human Torch
- Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing
The Thunderbolts
- Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova
- David Harbour as Red Guardian
- Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent
- Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost
- Lewis Pullman as Bob
- Simu Liu as Shang-Chi
- Tenoch Huerta Mejia as Namor
The X-Men
- Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier
- Ian McKellen as Magneto
- Kelsey Grammer as Beast
- Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler
- James Marsden as Cyclops
- Channing Tatum as Gambit
- Rebecca Romjin as Mystique
The Villain
- Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom
The Missing
Notably absent from the film’s cast is Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch. Paul Bettany’s Vision is also MIA. While he died, his character lived on in a different form in WandaVision. And death hasn’t stopped Professor X from returning after his fate in Logan. I’m also a little surprised to not see Wiccan listed here, as the recent Disney+ series Agatha All Along certainly made him an important new character in the MCU.
Likewise, it’s a shame not to see either Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk or Charlie Cox’s Daredevil mentioned in the casting announcement. There are many others, some dead and gone (Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow) and others simply not listed (Benedict Cumberbatch’s Dr. Strange) who will be missed. It’s hard to really imagine an Avengers film without the original cast. Tom Holland’s Spider-Man is also AWOL, as is Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson/Deadpool.
Of course, I am 99.99% certain that this is not the entire cast and that Disney is keeping some surprises up its sleeve, including more villains and some end-credits cameos. Maybe Hugh Jackman will pop up as Wolverine one last time.
In any case, it’s a very big cast, but a very big cast does not necessarily a good movie make. The Russo Brothers’ latest film, The Electric State on Netflix, has been widely panned by critics, though their previous MCU efforts (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Civil War and both the last two Avengers films) were all hits.
Two other MCU films are set to hit theaters much sooner. Thunderbolts debuts on May 2nd and The Fantastic Four: First Steps on July 25th. The former looks quite good, but I have some misgivings about the latter. We shall see.
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