It was a very big day for fans of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and also potentially a bit of a boring one for those who decided to watch all five-plus hours of a livestream that boiled down to slowly revealing names of actors on chairs. Be that as it may, the livestream in question revealed the massive cast of next year’s “Avengers: Doomsday.” Directed by Joe Russo and Anthony Russo, of “Infinity War” and “Endgame” fame, this movie promises to be a big, multiversal affair.

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The cast includes actors from just about every era of Marvel on the big screen, even before the MCU was even a thing. That includes many of the “X-Men” stars of old. With a cast this huge, it makes it all the more intriguing to examine the actors who weren’t part of the announcement. Despite the fact that Marvel revealed a list of nearly 30 names, some of the missing names stuck out like a sore thumb.

While we’re not going to go into deep-cut characters here, nor are we going to talk much about the TV stuff for the purposes of this post, we are going to look at major actors from the MCU movies who apparently aren’t going to be in “Doomsday.” Or, at the very least, the actors who are being kept a secret for the time being. Let’s dig in.

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The MCU has been going on for 17 years now, dating back to the release of “Iron Man” in 2008, so there are plenty of major characters in this universe at this point. With the multiverse becoming a factor in recent years, almost nothing is off the table. (Case in point, Robert Downey Jr. is returning to the MCU in “Doomsday” as Doctor Doom, as opposed to Iron Man.) Here’s a list of major players from years past who were not included in today’s announcement:

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• Chris Evans – Captain America

• Benedict Cumberbatch – Doctor Strange

• Tom Holland – Spider-Man

• Tobey Maguire – Spider-Man

• Andrew Garfield – Spider-Man

• Hugh Jackman – Wolverine

• Ryan Reynolds – Deadpool

• Halle Berry – Storm

• Mark Ruffalo – Hulk

• Jeremy Renner – Hawkeye

• Evangeline Lilly – Wasp

• Gwyneth Paltrow – Pepper Potts

• Iman Vellani – Ms. Marvel

• Famke Janssen – Jean Grey

• Elisabeth Olsen – Scarlet Witch

• Brie Larson – Captain Marvel

• Don Cheadle – Rhodey

• Teyonah Parris – Monica Rambeau

• Samuel L. Jackson – Nick Fury

• Paul Bettany – Vision

• The Guardians of the Galaxy

Some might point out that Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow wasn’t named in the casting announcement either. However, Johansson recently made it crystal clear that Black Widow is staying dead after the events of “Endgame.” Barring a major surprise here, that seems to be the truth.

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Aside from that, lots of these names are big ones whom we might have expected to see in the next “Avengers” movie, but there is probably a good explanation as to why they aren’t going to be part of the proceedings. Renner’s Hawkeye was famously absent from “Infinity War,” only to have a pivotal part in “Endgame.” So some stuff like that could be happening here, as “Avengers: Secret Wars” is due to arrive in 2027, one year after “Doomsday.”

The Russo Brothers are directing both “Doomsday” and “Secret Wars,” which will bring the Multiverse Saga to a close. The assumption is that next year’s “Avengers” movie will tee up something even bigger, which probably means an even bigger cast. That’s where the likes of Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury or Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk could come into play.

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There are still lingering questions, though. Benedict Cumberbatch previously indicated he wasn’t going to be in “Doomsday,” only to then later say that he actually was going to be in the movie. So, is he being kept a secret? Or is Marvel holding him in reserve for “Secret Wars” in 2027? For now, we have far more questions than answers. There were also reports that Chris Evans was coming back for “Doomsday,” but the actor is reportedly “happily retired” from the MCU. We shall see about that.

Tom Holland’s Spider-Man feels like another big omission, but the fact that “Spider-Man 4” is coming out between these two big “Avengers” movies might explain his absence. Without digging into every single actor individually, what’s clear is that Marvel A) doesn’t want to make “Doomsday” too unwieldy by loading it down with too many stars, and B) wants to save some heroes for “Secret Wars.” 

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We’ll surely learn more as filming progresses in the coming months. If Marvel Studios has taught us anything, it’s that surprises are going to be in store with these big event films. So if they were willing to reveal nearly 30 cast members to the public, just imagine what they’re not telling us. 

“Avengers: Doomsday” is set to hit theaters on May 1, 2026.