If the last time you ventured into the Marvel Cinematic Universe was their phase three coda Avengers: Endgame (2019), expect the next mega-instalment to the franchise to be even more stacked. Slated for release in May 2026, Avengers: Doomsday will be the franchise’s largest ensemble yet. The precedence this time, however, is that a number of the returning cast have earned Academy Awards and nominations in the interim. (The billion-dollar marketing arm of the Disney empire will surely be milking this fact when trailers start rolling out.)
We are of course talking about Robert Downey Jr, who won the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 2024 for his role in Oppenheimer. The 59-year-old will not be reprising his role as Tony Stark/Iron Man; at San Diego Comic Con last year, walking onto the stage in a green suit and metal mask, he revealed he will be playing Doctor Doom, the new mega-villain after Jonathan Majors was dropped. Another cast member in the Marvel Oscars club includes Sebastian Stan, who was nominated this year for Best Actor in a Leading Role for playing Donald Trump The Apprentice.
The cast of 2025’s Fantastic Four—Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Joseph Quinn—will be playing major roles in Doomsday. The motley crew of Thunderbolts*, led by Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova/Black Widow, will also be appearing. This marks the second major franchise for Pugh, who also stars in Denis Villeneuve’s Dune trilogy as Princess Irulan. Others returning, who were introduced after the events of Endgame, include Leititia Wright as the new Black Panther and Tenoch Huerta Mejía as Namor.
Marvel is also a franchise built on NDA-ing its actor ups to their eyeballs. The biggest revelation with the cast announcement comes with the return of a portion of the 2000’s X-Men cast joining Doomsday. We’re talking Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Ian McKellen as Magneto, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique and James Marsden as Cyclops. While nostalgia-bait at best, it is of course a treat to see the OGs return.
Here’s the full list of actors returning for Avengers: Doomsday:
Joseph Quinn as Human Torch/Johnny Storm
DISNEY
