As the road to the return of the original Avengers in "Avengers Doomsday" continues, most of our recurriing heroes are set once again to face an overwhemling threat. The New Avengers (aka the Thunderbolts), the original Avengers team, the Fantastic Four and X-Men set to take on Doctor Doom for the fate of all that exists. However, when the initial cast reveal for Doomsday was shown, several prominent names were missing, including 3 key Avengers. This is in additon to certan characters who haven been followed up in a few years, so let's take a look at where we last saw them and speculate if and when they'll return.
For the record, this is only going to cover heroes and heroic supporting characters not seen in a while. Characters like Spider-Man who are set to get a sequel soon or Deadpool who's future post-Secret Wars, MCU-era X-Men are uncertain will not be mentioned here, same with morally dubious characters like Sharon Carter.
The Eternals:
Starting off easy, as this group's fate has been commented on recently by Kevin Feige at CinemaCon. When we last saw the surviving members of the quasi-immortal androids, Arishem the Celestial had taken Sersi, Phastos and Kingo captive to scan their memories to see if humanity is worth sparing, vowing to return for "judgement". Meanwhile, Thena, Makkari, and Druig would ecounter Eros and Pip the Troll, implying this group would chase after Arrishem to save their friends.
Well, nearly 4 years later, nothing has come of this, even with the shiftng Phase 5 and 6 schedules. And it looks like the few that enjoyed "Eternals" might have to keep waiting, as Feige has noted the characters' lack of popularity and thus the movie isn't going to be followed up anytime soon. The closest we'll get is the recent Kingo and Agatha episode in Season 3 of What If?, despite being not canon.
War Machine:
The first of 3 major Avengers suspiciously missing from the "Doomsday" cast, as you'd think Rhodey would step up in Tony Stark's absense to fill a void in the roster. The last we saw of him was at the end of "Secret Invasion", with the horrifying implication he had been held captive by renegade Skrulls since his injury "Captain America: Civil War" and that the version of him seen since until now was a Skrull imposer.....an implication that may be retconned given the massive backlash to "Secret Invasion" and the twist in general. While there's a solid chance Rhodey could still show up in the next 2 Avengers movies, the fact Marvel is dragging their feet on the planned Armor Wars movie (which should've long since happened by now in Phase 4) is not reassuring.
Everet Ross:
No relation to the imprisoned former President Thunderbolt Ross, CIA Agent Everet was last seen going into hiding after being rescued by Okoye after being wrongfully imprisoned by Val due his aiding them during the events of "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" (his Skrull imposter in "Secret Invasion doesn't count). While it's unlikely he'll appear in either Avengers movie soon, he'll most likely return in the next Black Panther movie whenever that comes out, giving his ties to Wakanda.
Wanda Maximoff:
Onto missing Avenger number 2, the Scarlet Witch's fate is up in the air after the events of "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness". When we last saw Wanda, she finally snapped out her Darkhold-induded insanity and seemingly sacrificed her life to destroy the cursed book, with "Agatha All Along" impllying she might indeed be dead. However, there's a solid chance Wanda could still be alive, as upon re-watching her last scene, you might notice a flash of red just before the rubble comes down on top of her. She could have easily faked her death and is in hiding somewhere in the Multiverse.....perhaps for a certain masked dictator to find her?
America Chavez:
Speaking of Multiverse of Madness, America Chavez seemed pretty important to the Muliverse Saga considering Wanda sought her for her multtivesrsal portal abilities. We last saw America training in the mystic arts at Kamer-Tage honing her abilies with other trainees. It seemed like she'd return to aid the Avengers.....but that was back when Kang was meant to be the main villain for the current saga. As we all know, plan changed (more on that in a bit). There's a chance America could appear in Doomsday or Secret Wars, but its more likely she'll be in the planned Champions series alongside Ms Marvel and Kate Bishop.
Kang/The Council of Kangs:
This might probably be the easiest to explain, as Kang and his Variants were intended to be the main villains for the next Avengers movie, previously called "The Kang Dynasty". However, due to Johnathan Major's legal troubles and audiences not being recepttive to the character, Marvel pivoted plans to making Victor Vom Doom the new big bad. We'll probably see the Council of Kangs again.....but no doubt getting done in at the hands of Doom!
The Hulk:
Last but not least, the biggest ommission from the Avengers Doomsday cast. We haven't had an Avengers movie without Bruce Banner, and Mark Ruffalo not being announced right away is concerning. Banner was last seen training his cousin Jennifer Walters in her new Gamma-induced powers as She-Hulk and his lack of inclusion from events like the recent Captain America, even if it was just a voice-on-the-phone cameo, is shocking considering that movie followed up on loose ends from 2008's "The Incredible Hulk". Mark Ruffalo isn't too busy, so perhaps we'll find out more at San Diego Comic Con in July.
Did I miss anybody? Sound off below with your thoughts!