Avengers: Doomsday may be a year away from release, but Marvel Studios has already pulled off its biggest promotional stunt since Avengers: Endgame. During a marathon 5-hour, 27-minute livestream event, the studio unveiled the primary cast of the film, drawing an unprecedented 275 million digital views (via Deadline) and generating over 3.1 million social media mentions in the process. That’s more than five times the online buzz generated by the record-breaking Deadpool & Wolverine Super Bowl trailer.
The livestream, which kicked off at 8AM PST, unfolded slowly and deliberately. Every twelve minutes, the camera would pan to a new director’s chair labeled with an actor’s name, often accompanied by a snippet of music from that actor’s previous MCU appearance. Over 55 related topics trended on X/Twitter, and the hashtag #AvengersDoomsday remained at the top spot for more than seven hours. A full day later, the stream was still trending on YouTube, holding the No. 2 slot globally.
Capping off the reveal was a chair labeled “Robert Downey Jr.”. This time, however, he’s trading Tony Stark’s armour for a darker cloak as the multiverse’s version of Victor Von Doom. Downey appeared briefly on camera, dressed in a crisp suit, holding a finger to his lips in a playful “shhh.”
In total, more than two dozen names were announced. Fantastic Four: First Steps leads Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach are all on board, as are several cast members from Thunderbolts*, including Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Wyatt Russell, and Lewis Pullman.
Legacy characters from Fox’s X-Men franchise are also entering the fray. Patrick Stewart (Professor X), Ian McKellen (Magneto), James Marsden (Cyclops), Rebecca Romijn (Mystique), Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler), and Kelsey Grammer (Beast) will all appear. Channing Tatum, once attached to a solo Gambit film that never materialised, will finally debut as the card-throwing mutant, after first appearing in Deadpool & Wolverine.
Several MCU stalwarts are back as well. Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Tom Hiddleston (Loki), Anthony Mackie (Captain America), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Letitia Wright (Black Panther), Simu Liu (Shang-Chi), Winston Duke (M’Baku), Tenoch Huerta (Namor), and Danny Ramirez (The Falcon) were all confirmed during the stream.
Even with all this firepower, Marvel hinted there’s more to come. Chris Evans has not been announced (yet) though speculation continues to swirl around a potential Steve Rogers return. Downey himself added fuel to the fire with a tongue-in-cheek post: “That’s what you call a deep bench of talent…actually it’s more like a row, but an extra long one…that must be it…right?”
Marvel’s official account responded with a wink: “There’s always room for more…”
With production for Avengers: Doomsday now underway in London and Marvel leaning into both nostalgia and multiversal expansion, the film appears set to blend its cinematic eras into one showdown.
Avengers: Doomsday will open in cinemas on 1 May 2026.
Natalie is a big fan of anything related to movies, TV shows, and anime — you name it. When she’s not reading or being a dedicated cinephile, she’s probably playing gacha and tabletop games, or daydreaming of Caleb from Love and Deepspace.
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