Back in March, Marvel Studios broke the internet by announcing the main cast of Avengers: Doomsday by gradually revealing the names of the actors involved on the back of folding directors chairs... over a five-and-a-half hour period.
The 27 actors/characters announced were:
Paul Rudd as Ant-Man, Simu Liu as Shang-Chi, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, Lewis Pullman as Sentry, Florence Pugh as Yelena, Danny Ramirez as Falcon, Ian McKellen as Magneto, Sebastian Stan as Bucky, Winston Duke as M’Baku, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Kelsey Grammer as Beast, James Marsden as Cyclops, Channing Tatum as Gambit, and Wyatt Russell as U.S. Agent
Along with Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, Letitia Wright as Black Panther, Tenoch Huerta Mejia as Namor, Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, David Harbour as Red Guardian, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as The Thing, Anthony Mackie as Captain America, and, of course, Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom.
The list featured a mixture of expected and widely-rumoured/speculated names, as well as a few surprises (the OG X-Men), but there were also a number of heroes that were conspicuous by their absence.
When Downey Jr. posted about the announcement on social media, Marvel responded by noting that there's "always room for more" chairs, which understandably led to speculation that we'd be getting another big reveal in the buildup to Doomsday's release.
A number of social media "scoopers" have been posting about a possible second chair reveal today, but MTTSH is adamant that Marvel will not be making another cast announcement.
"There will never be a second chair reveal for Avengers: Doomsday. The people from the first chair reveal are the leads. The only one missing is Steve and that’s on purpose. The other roles in the film are small or cameo appearances so no need to 'reveal' them."
If accurate, this obviously suggests that a lot of the other characters that are expected/rumored to return (Doctor Strange, Captain Marvel, Wolverine etc) will not have much to do in the movie.
This really wouldn't be too surprising given the massive ensemble that's already been confirmed, and it only makes sense that certain members of Earth's Mightiest Heroes would take a back seat before returning for more significant roles in Secret Wars.
Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars were recently hit with significant delays, with Doomsday now set to arrive in theaters on December 18, 2026, and Secret Wars positioned for December 17, 2027.
Both movies will be directed by the Russo brothers, who also make their MCU return after helming Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame.
"Being able to create stories and explore characters within the Marvel Universe fulfilled a life-long dream of ours, and we discovered a powerful connection with audiences in each film that we made. We’re thrilled to collaborate once again with Kevin, Lou and the entire Marvel team to bring this epic adventure in storytelling to new and surprising places for both the fans and ourselves”, said The Russos in a statement after the SDCC panel.