The Biggest Surprises in the ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Cast

The X-Men are apparently showing up all at once The post The Biggest Surprises in the ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Cast appeared first on TheWrap.

Mar 27, 2025 - 16:10

In a five-and-a-half-hour live stream on Wednesday, Marvel revealed its initial lineup for “Avengers: Doomsday,” set to hit theaters in 2026. And, beyond the length of the announcement itself, there were a few other surprises in the group.

The reveal came in the form of a camera slowly panning outward, roughly every 15 minute, in a massive hangar, revealing cast chairs with the names of the stars one at a time. In total, there were 26 names revealed — though insiders say there are more surprises to come — and for the most part, it was who fans expected.

Still, as Marvel is prone to do, there were a few big surprises in there (though none as big as the reveal at San Diego Comic-Con last year that Robert Downey Jr. would be returning to the franchise as Doctor Doom).

Here were some of the biggest surprises.

Tom Hiddleston (Loki)

loki-season-2-tom-hiddleston-image — Marvel Studios

In the season 2 finale of “Loki,” the God of Mischief became the God of Stories, as Loki (Tom Hiddleston) sacrificed himself in a way to save both the TVA and the multiverse. He effectively became the new He Who Remains, sitting at the center of everything, watching over and caring for every timeline — presumably, there forevermore.

At the time, Hiddleston referred to the finale as his “conclusion” in the MCU, saying this felt more final for the character than previous endings. So, when his name popped up on the chairs, fans were certainly thrown for a loop.

Kelsey Grammer (Beast)

Kelsey Grammer as Beast in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (Credit: Getty Images/20th Century Studios) — Kelsey Grammer as Beast in “X-Men: Days of Future Past” (Credit: Getty Images/20th Century Studios)

Fans were stunned and delighted when Kelsey Grammer’s Beast showed up in the post-credits scene of “The Marvels,” helping to look after Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) after she crashed landed in an alternate universe. But, because it was an alternate universe, it seemed likely that his return might be a one-off, like John Krasinski as Reed Richards in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.”

So, when his named popped up on a chair during the “Doomsday” announcement, fans were once again surprised and delighted. Will this Beast be the same one? Hard to say, given the multiverse of it all, but it should be fun.

20th Century Fox X-Men

Rebecca Romijn and Ian McKellen in "X-Men 2" — Rebecca Romijn and Ian McKellen in “X-Men 2” (Marvel)

Kelsey Grammer’s Beast isn’t the only X-Men member set to appear in “Avengers: Doomsday,” though. In addition to him, several of the original 20th Century Fox X-Men have been cast, including Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Ian McKellen as Magneto, James Marsden as Cyclops, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, and Rebecca Romijn as Mystique.

How exactly they’ll fit in remains a mystery — especially considering a version of Stewart’s Professor X was killed by Wanda Maximoff (Elizabeth Olsen) in “Multiverse of Madness” — but the fact that they’ll be there at all is huge.

Channing Tatum (Gambit)

Back in August, Ryan Reynolds revealed a deleted scene from “Deadpool & Wolverine” that left a clear door open for Channing Tatum’s Gambit to return and make a name for himself here in other universes. But, because it was a deleted scene, fans didn’t get their hopes up overly high.

But apparently, that door was left open for a pretty specific reason — to get Gambit into “Avengers: Doomsday.” Of all the surprise castings, Tatum’s was arguably the biggest, and most celebrated.

Simu Liu (Shang-Chi)

The post-credits scene of “Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings” brought Shang-Chi and Katy (Awkwafina) into the wider MCU pretty quickly, working with Wong (Benedict Wong), Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) to figure out exactly what the magical rings Shang-Chi received from his father are.

But, like many post-credits scenes of recent phases, it just… never got mentioned again, and we haven’t heard from or even about Shang-Chi since. It’s been four years. So, when Simu Liu’s name popped up on a chair, it was one of the more confusing surprises.

Tenoch Huerta Mejia (Namor)

black-panther-wakanda-forever-namor — Disney/Marvel Studios

Tenoch Huerta Mejia’s Namor was first introduced in “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” which ended with him and Shuri (Letitia Wright) forming an alliance. But Namor only did so because he’s certain that a clash with humans is inevitable now, which is what he ultimately wants.

Like Shang-Chi, we have not heard about or from Namor again since. But his appearance in “Doomsday” makes a bit more sense, since Shuri will be there too. Presumably, they’ll be fighting together.

The post The Biggest Surprises in the ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Cast appeared first on TheWrap.