The Biggest Questions We Have After That Massive ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Cast Announcement

Marvel announced a pretty deep bench of stars for “Avengers: Doomsday” on Wednesday, giving fans a first look at what the new era of the team will look like. Of course, it also left us with a bunch more questions, so let’s get into those.

The next team-up film is set to hit theaters in May of next year, and will be directed by the Russo brothers, returning to the franchise after directing four other major films in the franchise. We know that Robert Downey Jr. is also returning to Marvel for the film, this time as Doctor Doom.

But here’s what we’re still wondering at this point.

Where are the women?

In total, there were 26 new cast members announced on Wednesday. Of those 26, only five were women. That ratio really should look better. The good news is, there’s reason to hope it will be.

Who else is joining up?

One thing we do know is that, though Wednesday’s announcement of stars was extensive, it also was just the first. According to an insider with knowledge of the project, there are still more names to come.

We already noticed some glaring absences, so hopefully, some of those will be fixed. We’re particularly hoping some of the TV series characters will show up too, like Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn), Kate Bishop (Hailee Steinfeld) and more.

Who’s running the team?

In “Captain America: Brave New World,” we learn that Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) has been asked to reassemble the Avengers, and eventually agrees to do it. So, it makes sense that both he and Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez) are in the film.

But one longstanding Avengers tradition is having a “guy in the chair” — usually, it’s Nick Fury. But, Samuel L. Jackson was among the notable absences on that lineup. As was, interestingly enough, Julia Louis Dreyfus, who plays Valentina Allegra de Fontaine, and has been positioned as a Fury-esque character in more recent projects.

So, will either of them be in charge? Will they both be in charge?

Do the Thunderbolts all survive their movie?

“Thunderbolts*” is Marvel’s next film on the docket, introducing a new team to the MCU. In it, the ominous warning is “the Avengers aren’t coming,” so Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) suggests maybe this team could help people.

Many fans have theorized that the movie would lead to the death of a few characters, but save for Taskmaster — who is still expected to die — each of the core cast members are slated for “Doomsday,” including their villain, Sentry (Lewis Pullman).

So now the question is, what role does “Thunderbolts*” serve in the big picture?

How many of them are variants?

The thing with the multiverse is, there are infinite versions of any person — this is presumably how Robert Downey Jr. will be explained as Doctor Doom. So, though we’ve met everyone on the cast list so far, have we actually met the version of them that will be appearing in “Doomsday?” That part’s unclear.

This is especially pressing in regards to the X-Men, as “Doomsday” is bringing back several of the actors who played the mutants for 20th Century Fox, pre-merger with Disney.

We already know Kelsey Grammer’s Beast exists in a different universe than the main timeline, thanks to “The Marvels.” Additionally, a version of Patrick Stewart’s Professor Xavier was killed by Wanda Maximoff in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.”

So, which universe are all these folks from?

How on earth are they going to tie this all together in time?

One major promise Disney President Bob Iger made in 2024 was that Marvel would return to focusing on quality over quantity, only putting out 2-3 films per year.

“Deadpool & Wolverine” was the only movie release of 2024, and 2025 will see “Captain America: Brave New World,” “Thunderbolts*” and “The Fantastic Four: First Steps.” With “Avengers: Doomsday” releasing in May 2026, that leaves the possibility for likely one more film to precede it.

And while those films certainly can do some heavy lifting, there are a handful of outsiders in the cast too, like Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), Namor (Tenoch Huerta Mejia) and more. These are characters we haven’t heard from or even about in years at this point.

It’s impossible not to wonder how specifically Marvel is going to reestablish its interconnectivity in the coming months to make this team-up make sense.

Does Doomsday just introduce Doctor Doom?

Yes, with a name like “Avengers: Doomsday,” it feels like a given that Doctor Doom is going to be the “big bad” (for lack of a better term) of the movie. But we couldn’t help but notice that the final casting reveal was captioned with “It all leads to Doom.”

So, will “Avengers: Doomsday” simply culminate with a cliffhanger entrance for RDJ, and rely on “Avengers: Secret Wars” as the big battle? We kind of doubt it, since Doctor Doom is a Fantastic Four villain and, well, we have a Fantastic Four film coming out in a matter of months.

Still, that little seed of doubt is there.

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