Perhaps attempting to prove that reports of imminent box office demise have been greatly exaggerated, Marvel on Wednesday announced major casting news for its upcoming “Avengers” sequel that both flex the power of its history and set it up for the future.

Is that you, Bob? Lewis Pullman, who will appear in Thunderbolts as, well, Bob is the latest addition to the growing list. Which at this point is assumed to be the official Avengers: Doomsday cast list, but might also just be Kevin Feige's Christmas card list.

Marvel formally revealed the Avengers: Doomsday cast through a surprise live event on March 26, 2025. The event had an unconventional format, where the cast was progressively revealed through a live stream with director's chairs bearing the names of the actors.

The livestream revealed 27 actors from across Marvel’s history starting with the first X-Men movie in 2000 to the most recent phase five Marvel movies and shows. Perhaps the most surprising of the names were cast of Bryan Singer’s X-Men and X2 including Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan James Marsden, and Alan Cumming.

Following hot on Pullman's heels, Danny Ramirez's Joaquin Torres/Falcon, Joseph Quinn's Johnny Storm/Human Torch, and David Harbour's Alexei Shoshtakov/Red Guardian have bagged roles in Avengers 5. So has Winston Duke, whose MCU character M'Baku was last spotted in Black Panther 2, and Hannah John-Kamen's Ava Starr/Ghost.

Avengers: Doomsday is expected to deal with characters across parallel universes, meaning actors can play various roles. Though Chris Evans exited the franchise as Steve Rogers, the original Captain America, in Avengers: Endgame, there have been reports he’ll return as another character in the 2026 movie.

But numerous major stars of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, who fans assumed would be in the movie, were conspicuously left off the cast list. For one, Spider-Man actor Tom Holland was not mentioned. Holland is set to lead his own "Spider-Man" film in July 2026,

Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, Anthony Mackie’s Captain America, Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes, Tom Hiddleston's Loki and Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man are all back in the “Avengers” ensemble