'Avengers: Doomsday' cast includes familiar favorites and an 'X-Men' reunion

The longest Marvel movie has a runtime conscionable implicit 3 hours. On Wednesday, the workplace easy surpassed that magnitude to denote the formed of the newest “Avengers” title.

It took 5 hours and 26 minutes for the superhero workplace to unveil the stars of the hotly anticipated “Avengers: Doomsday,” which it besides announced has started production.

Through a livestream connected YouTube and its societal media channels, Marvel unveiled the formed by revealing a caller director’s seat with an actor’s sanction astir each 10 minutes, with 27 actors announced successful what appeared to beryllium nary peculiar order.

“Avengers: Doomsday” marks a instrumentality for galore acquainted Marvel faces, including directors Joe and Anthony Russo. The brothers guided the “Avengers” franchise done its sprawling storyline that culminated successful “Avengers: Endgame” successful 2019. When the duo deed San Diego Comic-Con past summertime to denote their upcoming plans, they brought on Marvel icon Robert Downey Jr., known for his portrayal of Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. Downey volition beryllium making his instrumentality to the MCU arsenic Doctor Doom successful “Doomsday,” which volition beryllium released May 1, 2026.

The announcement video culminated with Downey walking down the agelong enactment of chairs and sitting successful the last one, marked with his name. About 10 cardinal radical were watching the livestream connected X erstwhile it concluded.

Wednesday’s announcement proved the reunions volition continue, with overmuch of the archetypal “Avengers” unit revealed arsenic portion of the “Doomsday” cast. Those see Chris Hemsworth arsenic Thor, Anthony Mackie arsenic Sam Wilson/Captain America, Sebastian Stan arsenic Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier and Paul Rudd arsenic Scott Lang/Ant-Man, whose seat successful the announcement video was appropriately ant-sized.

Tom Hiddleston volition instrumentality arsenic the God of Mischief Loki, Thor’s brother, successful a twist that came astir 3 hours and 45 minutes into the livestream. The finale of the Disney+ bid “Loki” saw the titular quality taking connected a relation integral to the stableness of the full Marvel multiverse, and his inclusion successful “Doomsday” amazed galore fans.

The announcement besides proved however overmuch Disney’s acquisition of 21st Century Fox successful 2019 is impacting the Marvel world, with actors from Fox’s “X-Men” films reprising their roles. Patrick Stewart volition look successful “Doomsday” arsenic Professor Charles Xavier, aft making a little cameo arsenic the quality successful 2022’s “Doctor Strange successful the Multiverse of Madness.” Ian McKellen volition marque his Marvel debut, apt reprising his relation of Magneto.

Kelsey Grammer, who played Hank McCoy/Beast successful the “X-Men” movies, was besides announced among the cast. Grammer made a cameo arsenic Beast successful 1 of the studio’s celebrated mid-credits scenes successful “The Marvels” successful 2023.

Alan Cumming, James Marsden and Rebecca Romijn of the “X-Men” satellite — each Marvel newcomers — volition look and are expected to instrumentality to their “X-Men” roles. Cumming played Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler, Romijn played Raven Darkholme/Mystique earlier Jennifer Lawrence took implicit the role, and Marsden played Scott Summers/Cyclops.

The acquisition besides means Marvel has the movie rights to the “Fantastic Four” characters, who are Doctor Doom’s adversaries. Vanessa Kirby plays Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Pedro Pascal plays Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic, Ebon Moss-Bachrach plays Ben Grimm/Thing and Joseph Quinn plays Johnny Storm/Human Torch. The foursome volition archetypal look successful “The Fantastic Four: First Steps,” which volition deed theaters July 25 earlier they instrumentality successful “Doomsday.”

Another upcoming Marvel title, “Thunderbolts*,” coming to theaters May 2, volition besides lend overmuch of its formed to the crowded “Doomsday” telephone sheet. The “Thunderbolts*” unit who volition reprise their roles see Florence Pugh arsenic Yelena Belova, David Harbour arsenic Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian, Lewis Pullman arsenic Bob Reynolds/Sentry, Wyatt Russell arsenic John Walker and Hannah John-Kamen arsenic Ava Starr/Ghost.

Simu Liu who played the titular relation successful “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” volition reprise his role. “Black Panther” alums Letitia Wright (Shuri), Winston Duke (M’Baku) and Tenoch Huerta Mejia (Namor) are besides a portion of the cast. Danny Ramirez, who plays Joaquin Torres/Falcon and astir precocious appeared successful past month’s “Captain America: Brave New World,” volition return.

Channing Tatum, who was a stand-out successful “Deadpool & Wolverine” arsenic Gambit, volition reprise his role. Tatum had agelong been attached to an “X-Men” spinoff for the character, which ended up becoming a casualty of Disney’s acquisition of Fox.

It’s unclear however “Doomsday” volition cohesively wrapper each of these characters and analyzable storylines into 1 movie. The drawn-out benignant of the announcement proved to beryllium unpopular with immoderate fans online, with 1 penning connected X, “By the clip they decorativeness announcing the formed similar this, Doomsday volition beryllium retired connected Disney+.”

Marvel volition wrapper up Phase 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe with “Thunderbolts*” successful May, and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps” volition footwear disconnected the sixth signifier of movie and tv content. “Avengers: Doomsday,” the 5th “Avengers” movie, was primitively expected to beryllium “Avengers: Kang Dynasty.” The destiny of that movie was successful limbo erstwhile Marvel fired Jonathan Majors past twelvemonth pursuing his condemnation connected battle and harassment charges. Majors had antecedently played villain Kang the Conqueror successful the MCU.