We now know the cast of Avengers: Doomsday, but these are some of the people who noticeably lacked a chair in the announcement.
Leave it to Marvel to have everyone glued to their screens stewing in anticipation while watching an empty room get filled with chairs. Last night, the comic book movie studio unveiled the cast of Avengers: Doomsday, set to be released in May 2026, and also announced that the movie was in production. Some were to be expected like Pedro Pascal and the rest of the Fantastic Four, Chris Hemsworth, and Florence Pugh. There were also some surprises including the return of some of the OG X-Men cast including Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen.
It’s a star-studded cast for sure, and we shiver at the thought of who will fall at the hands of Robert Downey Jr.’s Victor von Doom. But we also can’t help but notice that there were some notable names missing. We break down those who are absent from the cast of Avengers: Doomsday.
[Hero image: Marvel]
These are the people not in the cast of Avengers: Doomsday
Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo
Chris Hemsworth and RDJ (albeit as Doom) are the only OG Avengers returning in Doomsday. Jeremy Renner and Mark Ruffalo are noticeably absent though Clint Barton and Bruce Banner are alive and well, at least last time we checked. Clint possibly could have given up the superhero life since we saw him return to his family at the end of Hawkeye while Bruce was up to some shenanigans with his cousin the last time we saw him in She-Hulk though that’s not really a reason why he wouldn’t help out his friends.
Tom Holland
Spider-Man: No Way Home ended with Peter Parker being forgotten, a sacrifice he made for the good of the universe. The ramifications seem to reverberate all the way through to Doomsday. Does that mean we’ll have to wait until Secret Wars for Peter to witness his “mentor’s” fall to the dark side? The next Spider-Man film is the very first post-Doomsday film so we’ll see how the events of Doomsday will affect our favourite webhead.
Benedict Cumberbatch
Despite his retraction, Benedict Cumberbatch seemed to be telling the truth when he said the MCU’s Sorcerer Supreme won’t be making an appearance in the next Avengers movie. We last saw Doctor Strange jumping through a portal with Clea, played by Charlize Theron, who charges Strange with helping repair the damages inflicted by his actions across the multiverse. We’re guessing Strange might be busy on this quest until the multiverse gets rattled and everything gets all mixed up, as evidenced by the presence of the original 20th Century Fox-era X-Men. This is probably the cause of Strange’s return but most likely in Secret Wars.
Elizabeth Olsen
Is Wanda really dead? A bunch of rubble did fall on her at the end of Multiverse of Madness but that hasn’t stopped fans from believing the Scarlet Witch can make a comeback. Despite playing a formidable foe, many believe that it would be a disservice if her story ended with her as the bad guy. Wanda might help the heroes in the nick of time á la Captain Marvel in Endgame when they need her the most, but either it’s at the tail end of Doomsday or in Secret Wars.
Brie Larson
Speaking of Captain Marvel, Brie Larson is another notable absence in the chair lineup. The Marvels ended with Monica Rambeau stuck in another universe (with Kelsey Grammer’s Beast who’ll appear in Doomsday), Kamala Khan looking to form a group of young heroes, and Carol Danvers restoring the planet Hala’s sun. Carol is most likely trying her best to bring Monica back to their universe, but surely that’s not a big enough reason for her not to help in the fight against Doom. We guess we’ll see why she’s preoccupied.
Chris Pratt
The end of Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 promised that Star-Lord would return but it clearly isn’t in this movie. We last saw Peter Quill finally come back home to Earth so he’s right there when things go awry. What might be the reason why he can’t help out? We’ll have to wait and find out.
The Young Avengers
Kamala is also a no-show alongside her The Marvels counterparts as well as her other budding young Avengers, Hailee Steinfeld’s Kate Bishop and Kathryn Newton’s Cassie Lang. The threat of Doom may be too big for these upcoming heroes anyway. Marvel is building up to their own film or show as The Marvels’ mid-credit scene teased, but it looks like that will happen either post-Doomsday or post-Secret Wars.
The Eternals
Another group that’s nowhere to be seen is the Eternals. Though Captain America: Brave New World tackled the Celestial in the ocean, it seems that these immortal beings won’t be part of the fight against Doom. Well, at least not in this movie.
Andrew Garfield
Sure, he didn’t have a chair in the announcement but you’re not gonna get us twice, Garfield.