James Whitehead
Despite Marvel announcing a staggering cast of 26 actors for their next Avengers film, the announcement still left a lot of questions regarding the presence of some of the characters that have been crucial to the Avengers storylines. There were some fantastic surprises that came out from the live-stream event, such as the return for Fox’s X men cast, but with such an important film for Marvel on the horizon, the lack of recent cohesion across the board has left room for fans to ponder about where some of their favourite heroes fit into all of this.
Let’s have a look at some of the more popular exclusions from the “Avengers: Doomsday Cast and speculate about what their fate is during this cataclysmic event in the MCU.
- Benedict Cumberbatch as Dr. Strange
Doctor Strange has been one of the strongest pillars in the MCU after Avengers Endgame shook up the status quo with the death of Downey Jr’s Iron Man, so naturally a lot of fans were surprised when Cumberbatch’s name wasn’t revealed in the announcement. It shouldn’t really have been a surprise, as the actor himself, did come out and say his next appearance won’t be until Avengers: Secret Wars, which comes out the following year, but frankly I, along with many other fans didn’t believe the British actor. Perhaps he really was telling the truth…
- Hugh Jackman as Wolverine
The reveal of Fox’s X Men cast returning certainly conjured the most joy and surprise from the event. But perhaps it made the non-appearance of Hugh Jackman’s name even more peculiar. He was seen for the first time within the MCU last year, to great effect, with “Deadpool & Wolverine”. Naturally it seemed obvious to most that he would feature in this grand, multiversal event. The notion that his team will appear without him is certainly strange, so whilst his omission is a surprise, I would still hold out some hope that Hugh Jackman does don the claws for this film, even if they won’t tell us just yet.
- Mark Ruffalo as Hulk
Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk was arguably the star of the show in the first couple of Avengers films, as of late he’s been mishandled and misused, so many fans were hoping this would be the prime opportunity to rectify this recent trend. Make hulk a threat again. Even in a practical sense, Marvel still does not have the rights to make a standalone Hulk film, limiting their use to appearances in other projects such as Avengers films; so to see them wasting this opportunity to bring back a beloved favourite, as well as an incredibly powerful character, seems somewhat strange.
- Tom Holland as Spider-Man
Speaking of fan favourites, including Tom Hollan’s Peter Parker seemed like the easiest win you could get. From his previous relationship with Tony Stark who is now the antagonist of the plot, a lot of fans were bewildered to find out there wasn’t going to be a reunion. Whilst I was also surprised, my theory is that, due to the multiverse element of this film, there certainly will be an appearance of Spider-Man, but they will use this opportunity to bring back a beloved actor from the past; similar to what they’re doing with the X Men cast. So, whilst part of me still believes Tom Holland should be in this film, don’t be too surprised to see a Tobey Maguire or even an Andrew Garfield reappear in his absence.
- Chris Evans as Captain America.
By far, for me the biggest shock was not seeing Chris Evans’ name on one of the casting chairs. The MCU has had a glaring void since his aging in Avengers Endgame, despite Antony Mackie’s stellar efforts, the iconic status of his Captain America sits alongside RDJ’s Iron Man as the main faces of the MCU. Bringing them back has always been on Kevin Feige’s mind, it was just a matter of how to do it. Whilst it was very fun to see him in Deadpool and Wolverine as Johnny Storm from Fox’s Fantastic Four series, the desire from fans is to see his Steve Rogers return and with them finding a clever way of bringing back Tony Stark, it really seemed like this would be the moment and the occasion to bring back the ‘first avenger’.
Whilst we wait to see how many new names are announced as we get closer to release, who were you surprised to see left out?
For the full list of 26 names that were confirmed already, you can read the article on the TV and Film section of the Hits Player.
