It's happening, Marvel fans: Avengers: Doomsday is officially in production. Marvel Studios surprised everyone with a live stream cast announcement for the new film, revealing a mix of X-Men actors and some shockingly missing characters. The announcement, which lasted a whopping five and a half hours, left fans buzzing and processing the reveals. The big question on everyone's mind? Where are all the Avengers in this new "Avengers" movie?
The video confirmed 27 characters, but only a few are official Avengers members. The roster includes many actors from the Fox X-Men franchise, the Thunderbolts, and the Fantastic Four, leaving us with a small number of traditional Avengers. This shift in focus could provide significant clues about the plots of both Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars. Let's dive deeper into what this might mean.
The Most Surprising Avengers and Marvel Characters Not Announced for Doomsday
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Why the Thunderbolts Are More Important to Doomsday Than We Thought
The only characters revealed in the announcement traditionally associated with the Avengers are Anthony Mackie's Captain America, Chris Hemsworth's Thor, and Paul Rudd's Ant-Man. Danny Ramirez's Falcon and Letitia Wright's Black Panther are likely to be Avengers, despite their characters not typically being part of the team. Some characters like Namor and the Fantastic Four have occasionally been Avengers in the comics but aren't major players in the team's history.
So, where are Tom Holland's Spider-Man, Mark Ruffalo's Hulk, Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch, Brie Larson's Captain Marvel, Don Cheadle's War Machine, and Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange? The answer might be tied to the Thunderbolts* and the mysterious asterisk that fans have been discussing. Some international posters suggest the asterisk indicates an "Avengers are not available" message, but this might just be a marketing gimmick.
Bucky Barnes, Yelena Belova, Red Guardian, Ghost, U.S. Agent, and the Sentry are all confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday. Why focus on a team of less powerful characters (except for the Sentry) who aren't typically Avengers? It seems the MCU is setting up a significant shift. With the Thunderbolts becoming key players in Doomsday, the asterisk might hint at them being called the New Avengers by the film's end. In the trailers, Red Guardian appears to be the only one fond of the "Thunderbolts" name, with Bucky insisting they "can't call ourselves that." This lack of a team name could be a running gag, but with Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine buying Avengers Tower and mentioning the absence of Avengers, it's clear the Thunderbolts are stepping into the Avengers' shoes as the MCU's primary superhero team.
The Thunderbolts becoming the New Avengers also fits with the Sentry's major role and his evil counterpart, the Void, likely being the film's main antagonist. The Sentry was introduced in a miniseries in 2000 and reincorporated into the Marvel universe in 2005 as part of Brian Michael Bendis' New Avengers comic.
The Thunderbolts: The Tumultuous History of Marvel's Twisted Super-Team
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Once established in the MCU, the Thunderbolts could be recruited to fill out a new Avengers roster, likely led by Sam Wilson's Captain America. Remember, a plot point in Captain America: Brave New World involves President Ross asking Sam to help rebuild the team. Without access to many traditional Avengers, Sam might have to rely on the Thunderbolts, putting the team at a disadvantage against Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom.
Are the X-Men Doomed in Avengers: Doomsday?
Speaking of Doom, one of Doomsday's main goals is to establish Robert Downey Jr.'s portrayal of the character as a credible threat. Since Doom is missing from the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot, where Galactus takes the villain role (though a cameo might occur in a post-credits scene), Doomsday needs to set the stage for Doom as the ultimate antagonist of the Multiverse Saga. What better way than for Doom to eliminate several major characters fans thought were safe? Just as Thanos snapped away half of all life in Infinity War, Doctor Doom might wipe out a significant portion of Doomsday's cast, with the Fox X-Men being the most likely targets.
Eliminating the Fox X-Men would not only make for a dramatic "you bastard!" moment for Doom but also free up space and budget for the more traditional MCU cast to return in Secret Wars. Incursions, where multiple universes collide, have already been mentioned in Multiverse of Madness. Seeing an Incursion firsthand would establish the stakes for Secret Wars, likely requiring an entire universe to be destroyed by Doom. The Fox X-Men universe makes the most sense for this, similar to how Infinity War temporarily killed off newer characters to focus on the original six Avengers in Endgame.
Bringing back characters like Spider-Man, Hulk, Scarlet Witch, Captain Marvel, and others to confront Doom and avenge the destroyed universe could create a triumphant finale for the Multiverse Saga. This approach might be Marvel Studios' best chance to match the excitement of Endgame's epic conclusion, which they've been trying and failing to replicate in Phases 4 and 5. We won't know for sure until Avengers: Doomsday releases on May 1, 2026, but this theory explains the absence of many Avengers in the film's cast.
AnswerSee ResultsWhat do you think will happen in Avengers: Doomsday? Let us know in the comments!
