The Marvel Cinematic Universe looks like it might just be back. Fans are being teased by leaks of cast inclusions for Avengers: Doomsday, and there’s so little not to like.
Ok, it’s no secret that Marvel’s Phase 5 has been a season of reinvention. Restructuring doesn’t always look good, and it certainly can humble even the best of us, but they had Thunderbolts, which is a movie that, when all is said and done, will be remembered as one of their best films. And it has started a significant trend that has been revealed to be consistent with how Avengers: Doomsday is being made, but more on that in a bit.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps is just a few weeks away at this point, and even the biggest fans of the franchise can agree that something unusual has happened this time around: there were no major leaks. Nobody knows if Robert Downey Jr. will even appear in the movie as the long-awaited Doctor Doom — we all just assume that he has to be in the movie. He’s sort of the fifth member of that ensemble, right? And how else will they set up Doomsday?
The only thing fans know for sure is that there will be no major set leaks for Avengers: Doomsday either. The Russo brothers confirmed as much in an interview for their Netflix movie The Electric State. Unlike the latest installments of Deadpool and Spider-Man, they assured they had a plan to ensure nothing gets out. No set pics, no rumors. Nothing. Just wait for the movie.
A way they ensured this is by opting to shoot on location in exotic places. Perhaps that meme of Flash Thompson standing on the most obviously computer-generated artificial New York City street embarrassed the executives at Marvel enough to push them to create something more scenic, like Dune. All that we know is set photos are now being posted from Bahrain, and no paparazzi is flying that far just to confirm whether or not Michael B. Jordan is in Avengers: Doomsday.
That being said, we have gotten a list of characters that will actually be in Avengers: Doomsday, and they are — Doctor Doom • Yelena Belova • Sam Wilson/Captain America • Shuri/Black Panther • Thor • Loki • U.S. Agent • Bucky Barnes • Sentry • Ghost • Red Guardian • Joaquin Torres/Falcon • Shang-Chi • Ant-Man • Peggy Carter/Captain Carter • Namor • Namora • Attuma • M’Baku • Sue Storm • Johnny Storm • Reed Richards • The Thing • Charles Xavier • Magneto • Beast • Gambit • Cyclops • Mystique • Nightcrawler.
Confirmed characters that will appear in ‘AVENGERS: DOOMSDAY’:
— Marvel Updates (@marvel_updat3s) July 1, 2025
• Doctor Doom
• Yelena Belova
• Sam Wilson/Captain America
• Shuri/Black Panther
• Thor
• Loki
• U.S. Agent
• Bucky Barnes
• Sentry
• Ghost
• Red Guardian
• Joaquin Torres/Falcon
• Shang-Chi
• Ant-Man… pic.twitter.com/6VgvuwcJPs
Some of the names there are certainly surprising. Characters like Cyclops haven’t been truly appreciated in live action, and a setting like this could be exactly what fans need to see to understand why comic book fans are so reverential of him. There’s a small note, however: this list is going to grow. Between the next Fantastic Four movie and the Avengers event film, there’s no other MCU movie for 18 months. That space is intentional. They are taking all the time they need and ensuring there are no scheduling conflicts. This is going to be their big comeback, and they won’t risk blowing it.
