When Marvel Studios rolled out the cast of Avengers: Doomsday, one Marvel star who curiously didn't have a film set chair was Samuel L. Jackson, who portrays Nick Fury in the MCU.
So does that mean the former S.H.I.E.L.D. director will be absent in Doomsday? The Disney+ series Secret Invasion was a monumental miss by Marvel standards so perhaps the studio is sidelining Nick Fury for the being, until the show fades from memory?
Speaking to Entertainment Tonight, actor Anthony Mackie joked, "If you know anything about Sam, you can't tell Sam where he's going to be and what he's going to be doing. Sam is going to tell you where he's going to be and what he's going to be doing. So, we'll see; you never know..."
In another interview (Mackie is currently promoting his upcoming animated movie, Sneaks), the Captain America: Brave New World star was asked to share what he thinks will be Sam's reaction to seeing a Doctor Doom with Iron Man's face.
"That's what I'm excited about," said Mackie. "The one thing about Sam Wilson that I love so much is that he's a regular guy. There's no serum, there's no add-ons so his reaction is literally the audience's reaction. So, I don't know if he's going to be excited, afraid, or confused but with The Russos- they're so smart and they usually play things many different ways, I'm sure they'll pick the one that works best."
The official cast for Avengers: Doomsday, as recently confirmed by Marvel Studios, includes a mix of familiar MCU heroes, returning Fox X-Men characters, and the MCU's new Fantastic Four.
The confirmed characters include Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm / Invisible Woman, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Captain America, Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier, Letitia Wright as Shuri / Black Panther, Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man, Wyatt Russell as John Walker / U.S. Agent, Tenoch Huerta Mejía as Namor, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm / The Thing, and Simu Liu as Shang-Chi.
Also confirmed to appear is Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova / Black Widow, Kelsey Grammer as Hank McCoy / Beast, Lewis Pullman as Bob Reynolds / Sentry, Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres / Falcon, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm / Human Torch, David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian, Winston Duke as M'Baku, Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr / Ghost, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier / Professor X, Ian McKellen as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto, Alan Cumming as Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler, Rebecca Romijn as Raven Darkhölme / Mystique, James Marsden as Scott Summers / Cyclops, Channing Tatum as Remy LeBeau / Gambit, and Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic.
Iron Man actor Robert Downey Jr. returns to the MCU but not as Tony Stark, he'll be portraying the film's primary villain, Victor von Doom aka Doctor Doom.
Some notable characters were absent from the initial casting announcement, but Marvel Studios has confirmed that the full cast list has not been released yet.
The creative team behind Avengers: Doomsday is comprised of a talented group of individuals and familiar faces from the Marvel Cinematic Universe, including the dynamic directing duo Anthony and Joe Russo.
The screenplay for Avengers: Doomsday is penned by Michael Waldron and Stephen McFeely. Waldron is known for his work on Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, while McFeely has a long and successful history with Marvel, having co-written Captain America: The First Avenger, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame.
Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled for release on May 1, 2026. The film is set to be followed by Avengers: Secret Wars on May 7, 2027.