Marvel: Marvel announcing Avengers: Doomsday cast in a surprise live event

Marvel formally revealed the Avengers: Doomsday cast through a surprise live event on March 26, 2025. The event had an unconventional format, where the cast was progressively revealed through a live stream with director's chairs bearing the names of the actors.

This created anticipation among the fans as they waited for every new reveal. The movie is directed by Anthony and Joe Russo and will begin production shortly, with a release date set for May 1, 2026.

Chris Hemsworth stars as Thor, Anthony Mackie as Captain America, and Robert Downey Jr. reprising his role as Doctor Doom, his first appearance in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) since his character died in Avengers: Endgame.

The live announcement by Marvel

Marvel's live stream commenced at 3 PM UK time, showcasing a series of chairs led into an empty hangar. The initial chair showed Chris Hemsworth's name, then Vanessa Kirby and Anthony Mackie.

Every new chair was introduced around every 15 minutes, generating suspense for viewers. From what was reported, fans responded with humor and expectation, observing how the extended format kept them entertained throughout the event.

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Cast details of Avengers: Doomsday (Updating live)

The cast announced includes:

Chris Hemsworth as Thor
Anthony Mackie as Captain America/Sam Wilson
Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman
Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom/Victor von Doom
Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier
Letitia Wright as Shuri
Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man
Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent
Tenoch Huerta Mejia
Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing
Simu Liu as Shang-Chi
Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova
Kelsey Gramme as Beast
Danny Ramirez as The Falcon
Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm
David Harbour as Red Guardian
Winston Duke M’Baku
Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost

The cast has both old faces and new ones in the MCU. Kirby's Sue Storm will be her first appearance in the franchise, while Downey Jr.'s return as Doctor Doom brings a major twist to the plot.

Production insights

Avengers: Doomsday will start filming soon after this news. The Russo brothers have teased that this movie will bring a "difficult" story to the audience, hoping to break boundaries in narration in the superhero genre. Joe Russo stated that they have discovered an interesting entry point to the story that they feel fans will connect to.

The movie forms part of Marvel's wider effort to restore attention to its film universe after poor receptions to some of its new releases. Marvel seeks to revisit its beginnings in ensemble narratives popular with its fan base through Avengers: Doomsday.

Future releases

Next up after Avengers: Doomsday is what Marvel has coming up in the future:

Thunderbolts releases on May 1, 2025.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps will be released on July 25, 2025.
Avengers: Secret Wars comes out on May 7, 2027.

These movies will set up future MCU storytelling and character arcs heading into Doomsday.

Marvel's surprise reveal of the Avengers: Doomsday cast has created a lot of buzz among fans. The innovative live stream format kept fans glued to the screen while announcing familiar faces in addition to new characters joining the MCU.

With a solid cast featuring Chris Hemsworth and Robert Downey Jr. and the Russo brothers at the helm, anticipation is high for this next installment. As filming gets underway, Marvel continues to generate buzz for its upcoming films and the next installment in its cinematic universe.