Despite the massive five-hour livestream ensembling the cast of next year’s Avengers: Doomsday, many notable names are still missing from its all-star roster, omissions even more head-scratching considering the cross-over nature of the film, encompassing heroes from across the Avengers, The Fantastic Four: First Steps and the X-Men.
Here are 10 absences from the cast of Avengers: Doomsday that fans were surely expecting, as well as a few surprising additions that made the cut:
10 NOTABLE ABSENCES
1) Doctor Strange
With the next two Avengers films leaning into the concept of the multiverse, it’s strange that the one character who has actual experience dealing with the subject matter, Benedict Cumberbatch’s Sorcerer Supreme Doctor Strange, is notably missing from the line-up. Granted, this was already alluded to beforehand, with the star previously stating via an interview with Variety that the character would be skipping Doomsday due to him “not aligning with this part of the story”, instead playing a pivotal role in its sequel, 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars. Who knows? Maybe he’s off exploring the multiverse on his own after meeting Charlize Theron’s Clea in the post-credits scene of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. One thing’s for sure, though: he’ll definitely be back for the next one, hopefully bringing some friends along with him.
2) The Hulk
As the linchpin of the Avengers, it’s surprising that Mark Ruffalo’s The Hulk won’t be returning to face the next Avengers-level threat. Perhaps Bruce Banner has chosen to spend some quality family time with his long-lost son, Skaar, and his cousin Jennifer Walters (She-Hulk), and trusts in the rest of the team to deal with Dr. Doom without him. He’s not the only notable Hulk missing, too, with Harrison Ford’s Thaddeus Ross, who gets turned into the Red Hulk in Captain America: Brave New World, being a no-show as well, which makes sense since Ross was eventually restored to human form, but it still would have been interesting to see Samuel Sterns (the Leader), who is self-proclaimed to be “always six moves ahead”, breaking out of prison to transform Ross once again and throw a spanner in the works.
3) Guardians of the Galaxy
Despite a tease that Chris Pratt’s Star-Lord would return after the events of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, the absence of not only him but his entire team of misfits like Drax, Rocket, Groot, Kraglin, Cosmo, Adam Warlock or Phyla-Vell is still surprising. Maybe Peter Quill is actually content with hanging out with his grandpa (as seen in Vol. 3’s post-credits scene), even amidst all the multiverse shenanigans going on, and the newly revamped Guardians team probably needs some more time to get used to each other. Maybe Rocket simply forgot to refuel the ship and left the team stranded – it’s the Guardians, after all.
4) The Young Avengers And Other Marvel Disney+ Characters
Apart from Loki, who already played a major role in previous Marvel films, there was a decided lack of characters across the plethora of Marvel Disney+ shows like Vision, Moon Knight, Cloak and Dagger or Echo. In a similar vein, the next generation of heroes, the Young Avengers, are also nowhere to be seen, such as the likes of Ms Marvel, Cassie Lang, America Chavez or Kate Bishop, but maybe the kids are still busy preparing for a superpowered team-up of their own in Marvel Studios’ potential Young Avengers project.
5) Deadpool And Wolverine
With the return of the X-Men, this would have seemed like the perfect time to have Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool finally be a part of the team and grant the wish he’s had since the first Deadpool movie. The X-Men legacy casting also provided the opportunity to bring back its most famous star and mutant, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, but even though the pair has already been a big hit with fans after their appearance in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, both are bafflingly excluded from the upcoming Avengers flick.
6) Spider-Man
With 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home being a massive success for Marvel in its post-Endgame era, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man seemed like an obvious choice to include in the next big team-up film. Adding to the fact that Spider-Man has had a good relationship with the Fantastic Four in the comics, especially as a close friend to Johnny Storm, with the team welcoming him as a part of the family, and even accepting him as a member of the team on multiple occasions, his appearance in Avengers Doomsday certainly made a lot of sense. Still, nobody can remember who Peter Parker is after the events of No Way Home, which probably explains his absence.
7) The Defenders
Similar to the lack of characters from Disney+ shows, appearances from Marvel’s previous small screen run on Netflix are missing, notably the likes of the Defenders team of Daredevil, Jessica Jones, Iron Fist and Luke Cage, or other characters introduced in that era like the Punisher. Granted, some of these characters lean more towards vigilantes rather than having full-fledged Avengers-level threat-stopping powers, but including at least some of them would have been a huge win for the little guys.
8) The Eternals
The omission of the Eternals doesn’t really come as a surprise, considering how poorly the 2021 movie faired at the box office, but its cliffhanger ending with Arishem, alongside its mid-credit reveal of Harry Styles’ Eternal Eros and the fact that Captain America: Brave New World addressed the giant dead Celestial in the ocean seemed to allude to their appearance in some form. Perhaps the immortal protectors of Earth are saving their appearance for a far greater threat in Avengers: Secret Wars instead.
9) Captain Marvel
As one of the most powerful Avengers and one who played a critical role in their fight against Thanos in Avengers: Endgame, Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel would have been a no-brainer choice when facing any world-ending threat. Add to that the fact that she now has an increased focus on the multiverse after losing Monica Rambeau to the X-Men universe at the end of 2023’s The Marvels (which also featured a cameo from Kelsey Grammer’s Beast, who is in the upcoming film), its strange then that both Rambeau and Captain Marvel are sitting on the sidelines during such a multiverse-threatening event.
10) Pre-Marvel Cinematic Universe Characters
With the return of the original X-Men from the early 2000s Bryan Singer films, it’s a stark reminder that massive Marvel movies existed long before the introduction of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). To this end, several notable heroes sadly didn’t make the cut, including Nicolas Cage’s Ghost Rider, Jennifer Garner’s Elektra, and Wesley Snipes’ Blade, despite the latter two appearing in Deadpool & Wolverine, alluding that the pair didn’t survive the film’s heroic last stand. Along the same vein, its surprising cameo featuring Chris Evans reprising his pre-MCU role as the Human Torch from 20th Century Fox’s Fantastic Four movie might have been a sign that his other costars Ioan Gruffudd, Jessica Alba and Michael Chiklis might reprise their roles in the upcoming film as the OG superhero team, but unfortunately, that’s not the case.
Bonus: Younger X-Men From First Class
With the themes of a multiverse, there are endless opportunities for Avengers: Doomsday and its sequel to pull in variants of the same team, specifically having its confirmed line-up of the original X-Men cast stand alongside the younger generation of the team introduced in 2011’s prequel and a soft reboot X-Men: First Class, having James McAvoy’s Professor X, Michael Fassbender’s Magneto and James Marsden’s Cyclops team up with their original counterparts similar to what was seen in 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past. Alas, this might have been a bit too many multiverse shenanigans even for the Avengers to handle, leaving just the original mutant crew (minus Wolverine, unfortunately) to prove that experience is all that matters.
4 SURPRISE APPEARANCES
1) Loki
When Tom Hiddleston’s Loki destroyed the Temporal Loom at the end of Marvel’s Loki season 2, he finally got the throne he wanted since the start, just not the one he was expecting. Taking over as a new living Temporal Loom and protector of the timelines, Loki essentially gave up his life to hold the entire multiverse together for eternity, and at that point, it seemed like a fitting and glorious end to both the actor and character’s journey in the MCU. It seems the god of mischief still has one last trick up his sleeve, as his return in Avengers: Doomsday not only solidifies the multiverse-level threat but also alludes to him playing a pivotal role in keeping the timelines intact.
2) Professor X And Magneto
Talk about a grand return, as Patrick Stewart and Ian Murray McKellen are set to reprise their roles as Professor X and Magneto, respectively, after more than a decade since their last appearance in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Last seen as allies in the now-averted dystopian, Sentinel-ravaged timeline from the movie, it would be interesting to see if the pair can continue to put their long-running rivalry aside to stand side-by-side against Doctor Doom, or if history will continue to repeat itself, leaving them on opposite sides yet again.
3) Gambit
It seems that Channing Tatum’s Gambit truly has the luck of the cards on his side, as he somehow survived the doomed assault on Cassandra Nova’s base during the events of Deadpool & Wolverine. Details surrounding his survival would no doubt be revealed in the upcoming movie, but one can probably guess that it has something to do with the Time Variance Authority’s (TVA) involvement, similar to how Dafne Keen’s Laura (aka X-23) was rescued at the end of the 2024 movie. If that’s the case, that also leaves the fate of the two remaining resistance group members unclear, that being Jennifer Garner’s Elektra and Wesley Snipes’ Blade, opening the possibility of them making a cameo in either Avengers: Doomsday or its sequel.
4) Bob (A.K.A. Sentry)
The appearance of Lewis Pullman’s Bob (Sentry) in Avengers: Doomsday, ahead of the release of his MCU debut in this year’s Thunderbolts*, might be an unintentional spoiler for the latter, as it shows that both he and most of the Thunderbolts team survive the events of the movie, with the obvious omission here being Olga Kurylenko’s Taskmaster, which doesn’t bode well for her fate. Still, with Sentry’s unique position of either being one of the most powerful superheroes or the most dangerous supervillain due to his destructive alter ego, the Void, it remains to be seen if Bob will eventually use his powers for good, or fully embrace his darker side as another threat the Avengers have to face.
Avengers: Doomsday will release on 1 May 2026, with its sequel, Avengers: Secret Wars, following a year after on 7 May 2027.
Kevin is a reformed PC Master Race gamer with a penchant for franchise “duds” like Darksiders III and Dead Space 3. He has made it his life-long mission to play every single major game release – lest his wallet dies trying.
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