By the Update
We’ve Come to the End of the Line…But We Can’t Let Go: Avengers: Doomsday Is Here
How does that Boyz II Men classic go? “And we’ve come to the end of the road.” Chris Evans. Chris Hemsworth. Robert Downey Jr. Cue the next line: “But we can’t let go.” Because apparently, neither can Marvel.
It lands now less like an R&B classic and more like a wry remix of Avengers: Endgame the film that staged a clean, emotional farewell to Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., and Chris Hemsworth’s improbably perfect hair. We mourned. We snacked. We accepted it. Or at least we thought we had.
As noted with marvellous understatement on a website not too far from here, Marvel without Iron Man didn’t work. Iron Man is Marvel. Except Iron Man is dead, so guess whose metal cape fit job RDJ gave himself instead? Doctor Doom! Yes, you read that right: Robert Downey Jr. is back in the MCU, not as Tony Stark, but as Victor von Doom. which, when you think about it, is less like resurrection and more like canonically trolling the audience.
Who’s actually suiting up for Avengers: Doomsday, because this cast list reads like someone opened a time capsule of every Marvel era and said, “Yes, all of them.” The confirmed returning heroes include many faces Avengers fans will recognise, both old-school and new-school. We’ve got Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Anthony Mackie’s Sam Wilson), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), Shuri/Black Panther (Letitia Wright), Loki (Tom Hiddleston), Namor (Tenoch Huerta Mejía), The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach), and Shang-Chi (Simu Liu).
On the “new faces who look awesome” side, Marvel is bringing the Fantastic Four into the chaos too: Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), Sue Storm/Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), Johnny Storm/Human Torch (Joseph Quinn), and Ben Grimm/The Thing (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) join the fray alongside the established Avengers.
And because this is a true multiverse event, characters from the X-Men side are crawling out of alternate realities just to meet Doom: Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Magneto (Ian McKellen), Cyclops (James Marsden, yes, you read that right), Mystique (Rebecca Romijn), and Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming) are confirmed as part of the assembled powerhouse.
Look, it’s Thor.
Look, its Captain America. No, not that one.
Look, Professor X and Magneto, the OG frenemies, locked in the ultimate showdown…over a chessboard. No explosions, no mutant mayhem, just pure, cerebral smackdown. Honestly, we’d watch an entire movie of these two silently plotting over pawns.
And breathe.
It’s a bit like Marvel looked at every franchise they ever touched, Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Black Panther and the ever so slightly underwhelming Shang-Chi and said “Yes. All of it.” The result is a roster so crowded that it feels like a superhero block party where everyone showed up uninvited.
Iron Man might be gone, but Marvel clearly couldn’t let go of Robert Downey Jr., and honestly, we’re relieved. Seeing RDJ back onscreen (even as Doom) feels like the universe’s awkward way of saying “we need you here.” Who knows how it’ll play out, but if you thought Endgame was dramatic….well, buckle up.
So here we are, heroes, villains, and enough multiverse chaos to make your head spin. Easter eggs? More like an Easter omelette. Avengers: Doomsday crashes into theatres on December 18, 2026, followed by Avengers: Secret Wars on December 17, 2027. And don’t hold your breath for a “finale” because if the MCU has taught us anything, it’s that every ending is just another beginning.
