Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart Making Surprise Return to X-Men Roles in Star-Packed Avengers: Doomsday (2025)

The Avengers are ready to assemble once again!

On Wednesday, March 26, Marvel Studios revealed the star-studded cast for Avengers: Doomsday via a livestream on YouTube and across its social media channels

The impressive lineup will see the return of former Avengers cast members like Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Anthony Mackie (Wilson/Captain America), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier) and Paul Rudd (Scott Lang/Ant-Man).

A surprising reunion was revealed amid the cast announcement with X-Men stars Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan joining the superhero project. Stewart famously played Charles Xavier/Professor X and McKellan took on Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto across the X-Men franchise, which launched with the 2000 original.

Fellow X-Men alumni joining the Doomsday cast include Alan Cumming as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique and James Marsden as Scott Summers/Cyclops.

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Tom Hiddleston, whose Loki fought against the Avengers before finding his Glorious Purpose in the Disney+ television series about the God of Mischief, Loki, will join the cast — whether in a good or villainous role is unknown.

Simu Liu is also among the assemble, following his breakout role in the 2021 Marvel film Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.

Avengers: Doomsday will also include cast from this summer'sThe Fantastic Four: First Steps — Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (Susan Storm/The Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm/Human Torch) and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm/The Thing).

Letitia Wright returns to the MCU after 2022's Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, in which her character Shuri becomes the Black Panther following the death of Chadwick Boseman's T'Challa (Boseman died on August 28, 2020 after a four-year cancer battle). Winston Duke, who played M'Baku in both Black Panther movies, is also among the cast.

Rounding out the Doomsday cast are: Channing Tatum (who was set to star as X-Men's Gambit in a now-cancelled MCU film but portrayed the character in Deadpool & Wolverine), Danny Ramirez (Joaquin Torres/the new Falcon in Captain America: Brave New World), Tenoch Huerta Mejía (Namor in Wakanda Forever), Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova in Black Widow andThunderbolts), David Harbour (the Red Guardian in Black Widow andThunderbolts), Kelsey Grammer (who reprised his X-Men role as Beast in a post-credits scene of The Marvels), Wyatt Russell (the U.S. Agent in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier), Lewis Pullman (Robert "Bob" Reynolds in Thunderbolts), and Hannah John-Kamen (Ava Starr/Ghost in Ant-Man and the Wasp and Thunderbolts).

The announcement comes ahead of the project going into production in London next month.

Originally titledAvengers: The Kang Dynasty, the upcoming fifth Avengers film has undergone many changes since it was first announced at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2022.

Following the introduction of He Who Remains on Disney+'sLoki, the Avengers movie was initially going to focus on an alternate-timeline variant of the character Kang the Conqueror,played by Jonathan Majors. AfterMajors was found guilty of assault and harassmentin his misdemeanor trial in December 2023, a new script was workshopped.

New details were revealed atSan Diego Comic-Conin July 2024, including the surprise that Robert Downey Jr., who famouslyplayed superhero Iron Man, wouldreturn to the MCU as Doctor Doom.

While the Infinity Saga revolved around Josh Brolin's Thanos as the main villain, the Multiverse Saga will debut Downey's Doom as the villain to beat, starting with whatever he has planned in Avengers: Doomsday.

Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters May 1, 2026.