As we write this, we're more than four hours into Marvel Studios' seemingly never-ending Avengers: Doomsday cast reveal. Sure, the studio could have just dropped a press release with a list of names, but the video is racking up huge numbers across YouTube and all social media platforms.
You can keep track of all the latest reveals here, but two names were just added to this massive ensemble that have left jaws on the floor.
The addition of X-Men: The Last Stand star Kelsey Grammer as Beast earlier today set the stage for mutants to factor into this story. However, we've long expected Hank McCoy to show up after he crossed paths with Monica Rambeau in The Marvels' post-credits scene.
Now, though, it's been confirmed that Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen will return as Professor X and Magneto in Avengers: Doomsday next year. While the former isn't overly shocking - he already played a Charles Xavier Variant in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness - the prospect of McKellen once again donning Magneto's iconic helmet has us all sorts of excited.
Throw in the fact that McKellen and Stewart will almost certainly share the screen as their respective mutant characters - not to mention their inevitable meetings with dozens of familiar faces from the wider MCU - and it's clear the Russo Brothers are cooking up something huge with this movie.
There have been theories for a while that Earth-616 and Earth-10005 might collide in an Incursion, allowing Marvel Studios to pit The Avengers against a classic lineup of X-Men before the latter team is rebooted for the MCU.
We'd say that's now looking pretty likely, especially as Alan Cumming's Nightcrawler, Rebecca Romijn's Mystique, James Marsden's Cyclops, and Channing Tatum's Gambit have also just been added to the movie. Avengers vs. X-Men? Bring it on.
In 2023, Stewart was asked what McKellen thought of his MCU debut in the Doctor Strange sequel and responded, "Actually, it went very well. He did say something like ['Hey, I would’ve done this!'], yes that’s true. But we’re not done, Sir Ian and myself. We’re... we got plans."
McKellen, who is also set to return as Gandalf in Andy Serkis' Lord of the Rings: The Hunt for Gollum movie, has made it clear he has no intention of slowing down despite being 85. "I'll carry on until the knees give way or the memory gives way or the mind goes," he said last September. "There’s nothing else I’d rather do with my life than that. Much better to wear out than rust out, as they say."
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released in May 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars scheduled to arrive in May 2027.