The 5 Biggest Hits And 5 Biggest Misses In The Avengers: Doomsday Cast Ranked

Despite the disappointment over Marvel’s cancellation of the Gambit film starring Channing Tatum, fans were impressed by his short cameo in Deadpool & Wolverine. His inclusion in Doomsday now cements the character’s place in the MCU, which means one of the fan-favorite X-Men has a future after all. Unfortunately, Deadpool & Wolverine leaves the character’s fate in limbo as it is not clear whether he survived the void.

Since Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool) and Hugh Jackman (Wolverine) were not included in the cast list, it is difficult to predict how Gambit connects into the fight against Dr. Doom. It is possible that Doomsday could feature a whole new variant of Gambit from another Earth, which opens the character up to more possibilities. Tatum’s inclusion in the Avengers: Doomsday cast is still a great opportunity for the MCU to finally explore the character in a bigger fight, something fans have waited for since his soĺo film was rumored.

As one of the original Avengers, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk holds a special place among MCU fans. With the number of original Avengers dwindling with each new MCU film, the franchise seems to be moving further away from its original glory. Bruce Banner’s appearance in the mid-credits scene of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings alongside Wong and Carol Danvers left fans with the hope that the trio would play a major role in the future of the Avengers.

Interestingly, all three have been left out of the Avengers: Doomsday cast list. However, Shang Chi (Simu Liu), whom they seem to have recruited into the Avengers, is somehow included. Considering Smart Hulk’s central role in the fight against Dr. Doom as Maestro in the comics and his special place as an original Avenger, his absence from Avengers: Doomsday makes the film feel incomplete.

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Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings was a big hit because fans always hoped to see how the Legend of the Ten Rings would connect to the MCU. Shang-Chi’s storyline, coupled with Simu Lui’s electric performance, was a welcome breath of new life into the MCU, which has been struggling with recycled content for a while now.

Simu Liu’s inclusion in the Avengers: Doomsday cast is the perfect opportunity for the MCU to finally put the character on the big stage in an intergalactic battle. Shang-Chi’s role in the film will also shed some light on what happened to the character after the events in his titular film as fans brace for its upcoming sequel.

These two are among the most conspicuous names missing from the Doomsday cast list. The return of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine into the MCU and his natural chemistry with Ryan Reynolds was credited for the success of Deadpool & Wolverine. Consequently, fans hoped to see more of the pair, and Avengers: Doomsday would be a great start.

However, despite earlier rumors of the two appearing in some capacity in the film, neither appears in the released cast list. The Original X-Men do have a strong representation in the revealed list, but Deadpool and Wolverine missing out leaves the list feeling a little short.

Dr. Hank McCoy, famously known as Beast, is one of the most popular characters from the Original X-Men in the MCU. Kelsey Grammer’s return in the role was rumored in 2023 when the character appeared in the post-credits scene of The Marvels after Monica Rambeau showed up in the X-Men’s universe.

The character’s full appearance in the MCU has been long-anticipated since, which is why his inclusion in Avengers: Doomsday is exciting for many fans. However, the version of Grammer’s Beast that appeared in The Marvels seems totally different from what we had in Fox’s X-Men, which means he may just be another variant of the character. Seeing the full strength and wisdom of Beast in a battle against the colossal big bads of Avengers: Doomsday is still a dream come true.

Lupita Nyong’o’s character has been at the center of the success of the Black Panther franchise from the very start. After T’Challa’s death, Nakia, as Toussaint’s (Price T’Challa II) mother, holds a central place in the future of Wakanda. After missing out on both Infinity War and Endgame, Doomsday was the perfect opportunity to introduce the dreaded spy and warrior mother of Wakanda into the MCU as she is portrayed in the comics.

Danai Gurira’s Okoye and Angel Basset’s Queen Ramonda are also conspicuous misses from the cast list, which is alarmingly short of female representation. Avengers: Doomsday only has five female actors in the 27-man list that was released, which adds to the ongoing concern of the MCU becoming too male dominated.

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Mystique, with her shapeshifting abilities, was one of the best things about Fox’s X-Men movies. Although Jennifer Lawrence also impressed as a younger version of the character in the prequels, Rebecca Romijn remains the fan-favorite actor in the role.

Her return, therefore, feels nostalgic, especially with her former mentor (who later turns archnemesis), Magneto (Ian McKellen), also making an MCU debut in Avengers: Doomsday. Like Beast, Mystique is likely to return as a whole new variant version from a different planet, but the character is still a welcome addition to the film.

Despite their film being central to the introduction of the X-Men into the MCU, this trio seems to have been forgotten since their appearance in The Marvels. After Brie Larson’s important role in defeating Thanos in Avengers: Endgame and the eventual launch of The Marvels into the Multiverse, the three had more than earned a central role in the future of the MCU.

Larson even gave a hint at her connection to the Avengers after she worked with Kamala Khan to establish a team of young Avengers on Earth. Their absence from the Avengers: Doomsday cast is, therefore, baffling.

READ ALSO: 10 MCU Films We Should Have Gotten Before Captain America: Brave New World

Victor Von Doom’s archnemeses in the comics are the Fantastic Four, so it only makes sense that the entire FF team made it to the Avengers: Doomsday cast list. While the exact nature of their battle with Dr. Doom remains to be seen in Fantastic Four: First Steps, the Doomsday cast list suggests they have a central role in the film.

Previous live-action appearances of the team haven’t been exactly successful, mostly because the creators didn’t seem to understand the best way to use Kirby’s character. Avengers: Doomsday will give Sue Storm the chance to finally express the full potential of the Invisible Woman against Dr. Doom. While it is not surprising that she made it to the cast list, the fact that she will have a lead role in a battle against the MCU’s ultimate villain gives fans a lot to look forward to.

These two are the real architects of the multiverse, so their exclusion from the Avengers: Doomsday cast list is hard to understand. The absence of Wong is especially shocking since his character, as the current Sorcerer Supreme, is practically the coordinator of the Avengers within the multiverse. His rise from being Dr. Strange’s assistant to a pillar of the MCU was the signature rise of Phase 4, so it makes little sense to drop him from such an important film.

Doctor Strange, on the other hand, is a central character in both the creation of the Multiverse and the war against Dr. Doom. In the comics, Strange and Doom work together to restore reality from whatever is left of the multiverse, although they eventually fall out, and Strange helps defeat Doom. Every aspect of Strange as a character has, therefore, been leading to the battle in Avengers: Doomsday, which is why his exclusion from the cast list is worrying.