Doomsday's Missing Avengers Hint at Secret Wars and X-Men Connections

It's happening, Marvel fans: Avengers: Doomsday is officially in production. Marvel Studios surprised everyone with a live stream cast announcement for the new film, featuring a slew of X-Men actors, several shocking character absences, and a marathon event that lasted five and a half hours. As fans digest all these revelations, one question looms large: Where are all the Avengers in this new "Avengers" movie?

The announcement confirmed 27 characters, yet the list includes only a few official Avengers members. Much of the roster is dominated by actors from the Fox X-Men franchise, the Thunderbolts, and the Fantastic Four, leaving fans to wonder about the plot implications for Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars. Let's dive deeper into what this means.

The Most Surprising Avengers and Marvel Characters Not Announced for Doomsday

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Why the Thunderbolts Are More Important to Doomsday Than We Thought

The only characters announced who are traditionally associated with the Avengers are Anthony Mackie's Captain America, Chris Hemsworth's Thor, and Paul Rudd's Ant-Man. Danny Ramirez's Falcon and Letitia Wright's Black Panther are likely to be Avengers, despite their characters not typically being part of the team. Other characters like Namor and the Fantastic Four have occasionally joined the Avengers in the comics, but they're not major figures in the team's history.

So, where are key Avengers like Tom Holland's Spider-Man, Mark Ruffalo's Hulk, Elizabeth Olsen's Scarlet Witch, Brie Larson's Captain Marvel, Don Cheadle's War Machine, and Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange? The answer might lie with the Thunderbolts and the mysterious asterisk in their title, which has sparked fan theories. Some international posters suggest the asterisk means "Avengers are not available," but this could be just a marketing gimmick.

Bucky Barnes, Yelena Belova, Red Guardian, Ghost, U.S. Agent, and the Sentry are all confirmed for *Avengers: Doomsday*. Why focus on these characters, who aren't traditionally powerful or considered Avengers? The MCU seems to be setting up a significant shift. With the Thunderbolts set to play a major role in *Doomsday*, it's hinted that the asterisk means they will become the New Avengers by the film's end. In the trailers, Red Guardian seems to be the only one who likes the "Thunderbolts" name, while Bucky insists they "can't call ourselves that." This might be a running gag throughout the film. Moreover, Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine's purchase of Avengers Tower and her comments on the lack of Avengers in the trailer suggest that the Thunderbolts will take over as the MCU's primary superhero team.

The Thunderbolts becoming the New Avengers aligns well with the Sentry's prominence and his evil counterpart, the Void, likely being the film's main antagonist. The Sentry was introduced in a 2000 miniseries and later reincorporated into the Marvel universe in 2005 as part of Brian Michael Bendis' New Avengers comic.

The Thunderbolts: The Tumultuous History of Marvel's Twisted Super-Team

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Once established in the MCU, the Thunderbolts could be recruited to form a new Avengers roster, likely led by Sam Wilson's Captain America. This ties into a plot point in Captain America: Brave New World, where President Ross asks Sam to help rebuild the team. Without access to traditional Avengers, Sam might have to rely on the less powerful Thunderbolts, setting the stage for a challenging initial confrontation with Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom.

Are the X-Men Doomed in Avengers: Doomsday?

One of the major challenges for Doomsday is establishing Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom as a credible threat. Since Doom seems to be absent from the upcoming Fantastic Four reboot, with Galactus taking the villain role, Doomsday will need to set the stage for Doom as the ultimate antagonist of the Multiverse Saga. And what better way to do that than by having Doom eliminate several major characters thought to be safe? Similar to Thanos's snap in Infinity War, Doom might wipe out a significant portion of the Doomsday cast, particularly the Fox X-Men.

Doctor Doom wiping out the Fox X-Men would not only create a dramatic "you bastard!" moment but also free up space and budget for the more traditional MCU cast to return in Secret Wars. We know that Secret Wars is on the horizon, and Incursions—a plot point from the 2015 comic storyline—have already been mentioned in Multiverse of Madness. Seeing an Incursion firsthand would establish the stakes for Secret Wars, requiring the destruction of an entire universe at Doom's hands. The Fox X-Men universe seems the most logical choice for this fate.

Having characters like Spider-Man, Hulk, Scarlet Witch, Captain Marvel, and others return to fight Doom and avenge the destroyed universe would make for a triumphant finale to the Multiverse Saga. This approach could potentially match the excitement of Endgame's epic conclusion, which Marvel Studios has struggled to replicate in Phases 4 and 5. We won't know for sure until Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters on May 1, 2026, but this seems to be the most plausible explanation for the absence of many Avengers in the film's cast.

Do you think the X-Men are goners in Avengers: Doomsday? --------------------------------------------------------

They're doomed!They'll survive at least until Secret Wars!Let's discuss in the Danger Room... uh, in the comments!

AnswerSee ResultsWhat do you think will happen in Avengers: Doomsday? Let us know in the comments!