Marvel bosses surprised fans on Wednesday by opting to unveil the sprawling, star-studded cast of Avengers: Doomsday, headed by Robert Downey Jr, in a rolling livestream – but not everyone was satisfied.
Lasting over five hours, with a new actor announced every 10-15 minutes, the studio kicked off by revealing Chris Hemsworth’s return to the MCU, before the likes of Vanessa Kirby, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Letitia Wright and Paul Rudd were confirmed.
Many fans were thrilled to also have the nostalgic additions of Sir Patrick Stewart, Sir Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn and James Marsden onboard as their mutant characters who first appeared in the X-Men films back in 2000, with Cumming along for the sequel as Nightcrawler in 2003.
Wyatt Russell, Tenoch Huerta Mejia, Simu Liu and Florence Pugh were also revealed as names on the back of chairs, alongside Kelsey Grammer, Lewis Pullman and Danny Ramirez.
Kirby’s Fantastic Four co-stars Joseph Quinn, Ebon Moss-Bachrach and Pedro Pascal, as well as David Harbour, Winston Duke, Hannah John-Kamen, Tom Hiddleston and Channing Tatum all had their seats added to the line-up too.
However, despite 26 actors being announced, some fans were unhappy to see that Elizabeth Olsen hadn’t been named among the cast.
‘Not now honey, mommy is waiting for a chair to reveal Elizabeth Olsen’s return as Wanda,’ quipped @itsjustanx on X as the livestream was underway, while Chris Del Ray wrote: ‘Elizabeth Olsen please I am begging on my knees.’
When no Olsen return as Wanda Maximoff, aka the Scarlet Witch, was forthcoming, a lot of upset was shared online, with fans saying they’d been ‘robbed’ and vowing to boycott the film.
‘No elizabeth olsen? no one’s watching,’ claimed Kyla, while @Prince_Akpolo added: ‘All that cast and no Elizabeth Olsen. We’ve been robbed.’
‘If elizabeth olsen is not returning I don’t want to watch it,’ said Riri while another fan shared: ‘Like how do they have Channing Tatum but not Elizabeth Olsen I’m just NOT UNDERSTANDING!!!’
Tatum is returning as Gambit, a role he first played in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine after years of trying to get a solo movie off the ground ultimately failed.
Olsen’s Wanda was last seen in 2022 film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, where she supposedly died but no body was shown.
‘No Tom Holland, No Chris Evans, no Benedict Cumberbatch, no Charlize Theron, No Famke Janssen, No Halle Berry, No Hugh Jackman or Ryan Reynolds, No Elizabeth Olsen…’ @WandaxCoven also pointed out on social media.
However, sources claim that Marvel isn’t quite finished revealing the Avengers: Doomsday cast just yet, according to The Hollywood Reporter, so there could be hope yet.
Did Marvel's five-hour livestream gamble pay off at such a dangerous time for the studio?
Analysis from Metro’s film expert Tori Brazier
Much has been written about the shaky ground the MCU currently finds itself on after oversaturating fans with multiple movies and TV shows a year for the past several.
It got to the point of official ‘superhero fatigue’ back in 2023, when Marvel suffered five flops including The Marvels’ disastrous $206million (£159m) worldwide box office (when the production budget was reportedly $220m (£170m) alone).
It’s crucial that Avengers: Doomsday, helmed by Captain America and Infinity War/Endgame filmmakers the Russo Brothers – who have previously demonstrated a golden touch – be a big success.
Fans were already stunned when Robert Downey Jr’s return to the MCU was revealed after his Oscar success, and in a different role no less, but it’s clear that Marvel isn’t just resting on that.
Chris Hemsworth is back too after he completed his contract as Thor with the company, alongside over 20 of the biggest and post popular characters – including his co-star Tom Hiddleston.
While no one has the time to tune into the entirety of such a frustratingly long livestream, it was a ballsy move from Marvel because they did in fact keep a sustained captive audience of millions, even if they were grumbling about it.
But either way, that leads to crazy dominance on social media and Google for the brand, who suddenly managed to build excitement for the 2026 movie from nothing all over again by showing us… chairs. And a brief glimpse of Downey Jr.
For those who are less dyed-in-the-wool Marvel fans it’s probably most exciting that the new cast members include a group from the 2000 movie X-Men, back in the fold, as well as – for the committed fans – confirmed returns already for newer stars like the casts of upcoming flicks The Fantastic Four: First Steps and Thunderbolts*.
The pulling power of Marvel – and its cheque book – clearly remains unrivalled in Hollywood, even with the likes of the Leonardo Di Caprio-type superhero holdouts. So even those not hugely fussed by the comic book aspects of Avengers: Doomsday will likely be drawn in by their favourite actors (either of the moment or of historic standing), and curiosity.
The footage ended with Downey Jr – whose return to the MCU was confirmed last year – taking his place in his seat at the very end of the line-up.
In the final seconds of the video, which aired for much of the day, he could be seen sitting down before shushing the audience.
Despite claims that interest is waning in all things Marvel, more than 7.5million X users have tuned into the stream on the platform, with thousands more watching on YouTube, TikTok and Facebook.
That means millions of people were sat staring at a row of chairs, waiting for the next name to drop, leaving them somewhat baffled.
Twitter user Jack begged: ‘Marvel please hurry up I don’t have all day to stare at this chair I need to see the big announcement.’
James Viscardi observed: ‘Marvel making fans stare at a Chris Hemsworth chair for five minutes is a weird kind of psyop to make sure “they still got it.”’
Leyton agreed: ‘The fact that Marvel has 2 million people on here alone watching CHAIRS… this is literally just a flex to show they’ve still got it I kinda respect it [sic].’
Ale added: ‘Marvel is the only franchise that can get a million people in a livestream looking at chairs for 20 minutes this is so unserious.’
Avengers: Doomsday is due to be released on May 1, 2026 – while little else is known about the flick, RDJ confirmed he would be returning to the MCU in the new role of villain Doctor Doom.
He famously played Iron Man and made his debut as the superhero in 2008, before going on to star in eight more films.
Appearing at San Diego Comic-Con last year, Joe Russo previously teased the huge name that was lined up to tackle the evil character.
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‘As proof of the unimaginable possibilities in the Marvel multi-universe, we give you the one person who could play Victor von Doom,’ he announced.
Ever the showman, Robert then unmasked himself to gasps from the huge crowd, quipping: ‘New mask, same task.
‘What did I tell you? I like playing complicated characters.’
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