Despite the excitement, I cannot believe that the cast reveal for cast list for Avengers: Doomsday.

After all, Marvel movies of 2025 are expected before then, as are several more Marvel Television projects. Nonetheless, Marvel utilized the live stream to reveal every actor - at least, so far - that has been cast in Avengers: Doomsday, raising anticipation for the first half of a major two-part story that will culminate in 2027's Avengers: Secret Wars​​​​​​. As I have said, this was all very exciting, but I could not believe it when Marvel's announcement stretched past the five-hour mark.

The MCU Just Gave Us 27 Cast Who Will Be In Avengers: Doomsday

A Massive Marvel Movie Is Imminent

Sam Wilson's Captain America in Brave New World with the Avengers from Infinity War
Custom Image by Kai Young

By the time the live stream by Marvel had ended, 27 cast had been confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday. The first was Chris Hemsworth and the last was the already-announced Robert Downey Jr., with 25 other names synonymous with Marvel characters from across the decades nestled in between. Be it current MCU heroes like Anthony Mackie's Captain America, Tom Hiddleston's Loki, or Simu Liu's Shang-Chi - to name a tiny handful - or heroes from Marvel movies like The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Thunderbolts*, Avengers: Doomsday's cast is absolutely huge.

Actor

Character

Franchise

Last Seen

Chris Hemsworth

Thor

Thor

Thor: Love & Thunder (2022)

Vanessa Kirby

Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman

The Fantastic Four

The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)

Anthony Mackie

Sam Wilson/Captain America

Captain America

Captain America: Brave New World (2025)

Sebastian Stan

Bucky Barnes/The Winter Soldier

Captain America, Thunderbolts*

Captain America: Brave New World (2025)

Letitia Wright

Shuri/Black Panther

Black Panther

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

Paul Rudd

Scott Lang/Ant-Man

Ant-Man

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023)

Wyatt Russell

John Walker/US Agent

Captain America, Thunderbolts*

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (2021)

Tenoch Huerta Mejia

Namor

Black Panther

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

Ebon Moss-Bachrach

Ben Grimm/The Thing

The Fantastic Four

The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)

Simu Liu

Shang-Chi

Shang-Chi

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings (2021)

Florence Pugh

Yelena Belova/Black Widow

Black Widow, Thunderbolts*

Thunderbolts* (2025)

Kelsey Grammer

Hank McCoy/Beast

X-Men

The Marvels (2023)

Lewis Pullman

Bob (rumored to be Sentry)

Thunderbolts*

Thunderbolts* (2025)

Danny Ramirez

Joaquin Torres/Falcon

Captain America

Captain America: Brave New World (2025)

Joseph Quinn

Johnny Storm/The Human Torch

The Fantastic Four

The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)

David Harbour

Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian

Thunderbolts*

Thunderbolts* (2025)

Winston Duke

M'Baku

Black Panther

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

Hannah John-Kamen

Ava Starr/Ghost

Ant-Man, Thunderbolts*

Thunderbolts* (2025)

Tom Hiddleston

Loki

Thor

Loki season 2 (2023)

Patrick Stewart

Charles Xavier/Professor X

X-Men

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

Ian McKellen

Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto

X-Men

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Alan Cumming

Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler

X-Men

X2 (2003)

Rebecca Romijn

Raven Darkhölme/Mystique

X-Men

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

James Marsden

Scott Summers/Cyclops

X-Men

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

Channing Tatum

Remy LeBeau/Gambit

X-Men

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

Pedro Pascal

Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic

The Fantastic Four

The Fantastic Four: First Steps (2025)

Robert Downey Jr.

Victor Von Doom/Doctor Doom

Avengers

Avengers: Doomsday (2026)

Also included in Avengers: Doomsday's cast are several of the classic Marvel actors were missing from Avengers: Doomsday's cast list.

I Can't Believe The Avengers: Doomsday Only Revealed 1 Name Every Roughly 15 Minutes

The Announcement Stretched On Beyond Belief

Now that I have adequately summarized the sheer size of Avengers: Doomsday's cast, I can mention how unbelievable it was that Marvel only revealed one name every 15 minutes or so during the live stream. After a certain amount of time, the white noise over the live stream would change to a specific character theme and reveal another name in the line-up. Initially, the anticipation was massive for this event. However, as people realized just how long Marvel waited to reveal a new chair and cast member, excitement turned to disbelief.

Eventually, though, the frustration circled back around to enjoyment, with the hours that ed allowing meme creators to get creative...

Frustration even crept in, with fans waiting hours to see yet another chair with an actor's name plastered to it. I must it, the marketing strategy - however nonsensical it initially seemed - kept people invested, with Marvel's live streams across various platforms reaching millions of viewers. Regardless, the frustration of one name every 15 minutes was felt. Eventually, though, the frustration circled back around to enjoyment, with the hours that ed allowing meme creators to get creative.

Related
Avengers: Doomsday Casting News Sends Meme Creators Into Overdrive

The MCU’s bizarre drip-feed announcement of its Avengers: Doomsday cast has led, unsurprisingly, to some hilarious memes on the internet.

The endless memes of who could be on the back of the next chair forced the anticipation of each reveal to return. By the end of the five-and-a-half hours, audiences were still checking in to see who would be announced for Avengers: Doomsday. While I am still in disbelief that the event took as long as it did, I do not think anyone would label it a flop from Marvel, given how much it got people talking in all kinds of ways.

The Avengers: Doomsday Cast Reveal Deserved To Be An Event, But It Didn't Need To Take Up 5 And A Half Hours

Loki from season 2’s final shot at the throne, Thanos from Avengers: Infinity War, and Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom from SDCC
Custom image by Simone Ashmoore

All of this is to say that Marvel Studios perhaps pushed things slightly too far with Avengers: Doomsday's cast reveal. While I it that the event was exciting, then frustrating, and then, a lot of fun, it still did not need to take up the time that it did. As it was, the cast announcement for Avengers: Doomsday was certainly a huge event, as the movie deserved to have. The film is clearly going to be an immense undertaking for Marvel to conclude the Multiverse Saga in style, meaning a big event to announce the cast was logical.

All that said, there is no denying it could have been much shorter than it was. Even an hour-long live stream would have been an improvement, with a name revealed every two minutes. That way, the anticipation of who is coming next would still be intact, yet the frustration and seemingly endless waiting-around would be removed. All I can say is that I hope whenever Marvel plans to announce the remaining rumored cast of Avengers: Doomsday, the studio will opt for a less time-consuming strategy!

Avengeres Doomsday logo placeholder poster
Avengers: Doomsday
Release Date
December 18, 2026
Director
Joe Russo
Writers
Stephen McFeely, Stan Lee
  • Chris Hemsworth Profile Picture
  • Headshot Of Vanessa Kirby
    Vanessa Kirby
    Sue Storm / Invisible Woman
  • Headshot Of Joseph Quinn In The Premiere Of A Quiet Place: Day One
    Johnny Storm / Human Torch
  • Headshot of Ebon Moss-Bachrach
    Ebon Moss-Bachrach
    Ben Grimm / The Thing