As we know, the MCU needs to get healthy. Financial of course, but also esteem. Because since the end of the Thanos era, the Marvel Cinematic Universe has a hard time making the general public come back in dark rooms. There are of course a few bullying such as Spider-Man No Way Home and Deadpool & Wolverine, which have far exceeded one billion dollars at the box office, but the other phases 4 and 5 films have a hard time existing. Proof of this is with the disappointing figures of Captain America Brave New World which is struggling to exceed $ 400 million at the box office. For a film that cost nearly 300 million (including reshoots), it is obviously very insufficient. So you have to find levers to generate hype again and bring Robert Downey Jr back as Dr Doom is undoubtedly one of the most ingenious ideas, especially since it is also Comic-Accurate. A rescue plan that will be done in two stages: with Avengers Doomsday first, then Avengers Secret Wars. And recent leaks have proven that Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige, its president, still had it under the pedal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy7k3ajs0fw
During a Livestream of almost five and a half hours, Marvel Studios unveiled the cast of Avengers Doomsday, confirming the return of former actors in the X-Men universe, now disappeared, from the 20th Century Fox. Enough to raise the auctions to fans, who were more than 10 million to follow this online event, however very simple. The Livestream indeed showed a scrolling plan on cinema chairs, revealing one by one the name of the actors present in the film. Every twelve minutes about twelve, the music of the film of the next actor played, and the camera moved to a new chair and a new name. The event ended with a new interpretation of the theme of composer’s avengers Alan Silvestri, revealing Robert Downey Jr. (Doctor Doom), making a “hush” to the camera.
The casting of Thunderbolts*, the anti-hero film Marvel which will be released in May, was also represented: Sebastian Stan (the winter soldier), Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova), Wyatt Russell (American agent), David Harbour (Red Guardian), Hannah John-Kamen (ghost) and Lewis Pullman (a character known as Bob at the time) were also present in the studio, as shown by Livestream.
The cast also included the actors of the X-Men, Patrick Stewart (Professor X), Ian McKellen (Magneto), James Marsden (Cyclops) and Rebecca Romijn (mystique), who inaugurated the modern era of superhero films with X-Men in 2000, the film on which Kevin Feige, the boss of Marvel Studios, made his weapons as an assistant. They will be joined by Alan Cuming (Nightcrawler) and Kelsey Grammer (Beast) of X2: X-Men United, who played in X-Men: the final confrontation for the 20th Century Fox and have made a brief appearance in The Marvels. Channing Tatum, which was once expected for a Gambit film that has never seen the light of day, will also appear in Doomsday after having made its debut in Deadpool & Wolverine.
The fantastic four are also in the casting, including Pedro Pascal (Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (the invisible woman), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (the thing) and Joseph Quinn (the human torch). Tenoch Huerta Mejía, who played Namor in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, was the first real surprise in the cast. His return to Marvel aroused questions after his accusations of sexual assault in June 2023, accusations he denied, calling them “false and completely unfounded”. He abandoned a Netflix film against the media storm, then appeared as a guest at the preview of Marvel’s Echo, suggesting that he and the studio were on good terms.
Among the great absent were Tom Holland (Spider-Man) and Chris Evans (Captain America), the latter having to appear in at least one of the two parts of the film. Sources indicate that even with the announcement of 26 actors, Marvel had not yet revealed the entire casting, although the date and the terms of the next revelation remain vague.
Marvel announced Avengers Doomsday with fanfare at the Comic-Con de San Diego in July 2024, with the surprise revelation of the return of Downey to the MCU after abandoning the role of Iron Man in Endgame. This project made it possible to bring together Downey, the most profitable star in Marvel, and the Russo brothers, the most profitable directors of Marvel, who had also left the MCU after Endgamus.
It was Kevin Feige, the boss of Marvel, who first proposed to Downey the idea of resuming the role of Doom, while Downey himself convinced the Russo brothers to return after spending the last five years working in the world of streaming. The duo chose to come back after their usual scriptwriter collaborator, Stephen McFeely, presented his point of view to them.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AzxBfirj6B4
The Russo brothers recently entrusted Hollywood to postpone the difficulty and coherence difficulty of the characters, confirming that they use baseball cards representing all the actors and characters Marvel. This is also what they did for Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame.
“Now they have magnets, which allows us to display them on a table. This is the only way to follow the number of characters we work on ”explains Joe Russo. Anthony Russo adds: “And in terms of knowing who plays in films, it is a long creative process which consists in exploring the direction that we want to give to the story. What is the most surprising and exciting domain to explore, and what characters help us in this process? »»
The release of Doomsday is scheduled for May 1, 2026, while the suite, Avengers: Secret Wars, is scheduled for May 7, 2027.
• Robert Downey Jr / Doctor Doom
• Ian McKellen / Magneto
• James Marsden / Cyclops
• Patrick Stewart / Professor X
• Rebecca Romijn / Mystique
• Alan Cumming / Nightcrawler
• Kelsey Grammer / Beast
• Channing Tatum / Gambit
• Chris Hemsworth / Thor
• Pedro Pascal / Reed Richards
• Vanessa Kirby / Sue Storm
• Joseph Quinn / Johnny Storm
• Ebon Moss-Bachrach / The Thing
• Paul Rudd / Ant-Man
• Simu Liu / Shang-Chi
• Tom Hiddleston / Loki
• Tenoch Huerta Mejia / Namor
• Hannah John-Kamen / Ghost
• David Harbor / Red Guardian
• Anthony Mackie / Captain America
• Lewis Pullman / Sentry
• Florence Pugh / Yelena
• Danny Ramirez / Faucon
• Sebastian Stan / Bucky
• Winston Duke / M’Baku
• Wyatt Russell / US Agent
• Letitia Wright / Black Panther