'Avengers: Doomsday' cast includes Hemsworth's Thor, Mackie's Cap,
Fantastic Four and original X-Men
[March 27, 2025]
By ANDREW DALTON
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Chris Hemsworth's Thor, Anthony Mackie's Captain
America, Sebastian Stan's Bucky Barnes, Paul Rudd's Ant-Man and Tom
Hiddleston's Loki are all back in the Avengers ensemble, where they'll
be joined by several of cinema's original X-Men.
The five veterans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are in the cast of
2026's “Avengers: Doomsday,” Marvel announced in a series of social
media videos that the company rolled out slowly on Wednesday.
Patrick Stewart, 84, who played Professor X in the Fox’s early 2000s
“X-Men” films, and 85-year-old Ian McKellen, who played his arch-nemesis
Magneto, are also in the “Doomsday” cast as Disney and Marvel seek to
take advantage of the acquisition of Fox’s movie library. Kelsey Grammer,
who played Hank “Beast” McCoy, was also announced, as was Rebecca
“Mystique” Romijn, James “Cyclops” Marsden and Alan “Nightcrawler”
Cumming.
Their characters were taken on by younger actors in the 2010s “X-Men”
series reboot, and their inclusion is sure to cause serious fan
speculation about the direction and timelines of “Avengers: Doomsday.”
The more senior superheroes will be joined by more recent additions,
including some who have yet to make their MCU debuts.
Vanessa Kirby, set to play the Invisible Woman Sue Storm in this July's
“Fantastic Four: First Steps," is also set for “Avengers: Doomsday.”
Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards will join the Avengers too. And they'll be
joined in both movies by Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who is playing Ben Grimm,
aka the Thing, and Joseph Quinn, who plays Johnny Storm, aka the Human
Torch.
Simu Liu, who played the title character in 2021's “Shang Chi and the
Legend of the Ten Rings," is also in the newly announced cast, as is
Tenoch Huerta Mejía, who played the aquatic antagonist Namor in “Black
Panther: Wakanda Forever." Letitia Wright, who plays Shuri in the “Black
Panther” films, will also be back among the Avengers, as will her “Black
Panther” castmate Winston Duke.
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This combination of photos shows Chris Hemsworth at the London
premiere of "Transformers One" on Sept. 19, 2024, from left, Vanessa
Kirby at the London premiere of "Napoleon," on Nov. 15, 2023,
Anthony Mackie at a screening of "Captain America: Brave New World"
in New York on Feb. 13, 2025, and Sebastian Stan at the Academy
Museum Gala in Los Angeles on Oct. 19, 2024. (AP Photo)
 Florence Pugh, who will reprise her
MCU role as Yelena Belova in the forthcoming “Thunderbolts” will
reprise her again in “Doomsday." David Harbour, Wyatt Russell,
Hannah John-Kamen and Lewis Pullman will also be in both films.
Danny Ramirez, who has assumed the Marvel mantle of Falcon, is also
in the cast.
Some of the biggest and most anticipated names were not among the 27
names announced, though Marvel and Disney could be sitting on them
for now.
There was no mention of Hugh Jackman's Wolverine or Ryan Reynolds'
Deadpool, though the announcement did include Channing Tatum, who
played the X-Men's Gambit in last year's “Deadpool & Wolverine."
Nor did the name Tom Holland appear. His Spider-Man became an
Avenger in previous films on loan from owner Sony, whose complicated
relationship with Marvel has made the character a sticking point.
Robert Downey Jr. revealed last summer that he'll be returning to
the MCU to play the villain Doctor Doom in the next set of
“Avengers” films.
“Avengers: Doomsday," set for release in May 2026, will be the fifth
“Avengers” movie, and the first since 2019's “Avengers Endgame”
became one of the highest grossing film of all time.
Marvel has been struggling to recover its cultural buzz and box
office mojo ever since, with hopes that the forthcoming ensemble
films will bring back the magic that dominated cinema for more than
a decade.
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