Hugh Jackman’s absence in Avengers: Doomsday cast leaves at least three questions about the MCU movie’s plot and Wolverine’s role in the Avengers’ battle against Doctor Doom. Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday cast announcement confirmed the return of dozens of MCU heroes and a couple of former villains. Avengers: Doomsday‘s star-studded cast features at least four superhero teams: Sam Wilson’s new Avengers, the Thunderbolts, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men. These teams haven’t met each other yet, and the latter two might only cross paths with the former two when Doctor Doom begins his plans to modify the Marvel multiverse.
Notably, Marvel’s Avengers: Doomsday cast announcement didn’t include several key characters. Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange, Tom Holland’s Spider-Man, Mark Ruffalo’s Smart Hulk, and Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye are some of the biggest names missing from Avengers: Doomsday‘s cast. Recently introduced characters with great potential for a crossover appearance are also absent from Avengers: Doomsday — among them, Xochitl Gomez’s America Chavez, Tatiana Maslany’s She-Hulk, and Oscar Isaac’s Moon Knight. One particular character’s absence is even more surprising given that several multiversal mutants will likely play a big role in the Phase 6 movie.
Avengers: Doomsday’s Cast Includes Many OG X-Men Actors, But Not Hugh Jackman
Almost Every Major Actor From Fox’s Original X-Men Cast Returns In Avengers: Doomsday
Avengers: Doomsday‘s cast announcement confirmed the return of seven of Fox’s X-Men actors and their characters: Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier, Ian McKellen’s Magneto, James Marsden’s Cyclops, Kelsey Grammer’s Beast, Rebecca Romijn’s Mystique, and Alan Cumming’s Nightcrawler. Avengers: Doomsday is also bringing back Channing Tatum’s Gambit, introduced in ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine as a variant who was pruned from his timeline before he could “make a name for himself.” Other major X-Men actors such as Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, and Anna Paquin weren’t included in the announcement, but there’s a chance they could make a cameo in Avengers: Doomsday.
Avengers: Doomsday might be the first live-action movie featuring the original cast not to give Wolverine the spotlight
Wolverine’s absence in Avengers: Doomsday is difficult to ignore. Wolverine was the face of Fox’s X-Men movie franchise, and Hugh Jackman’s new Wolverine variant witnessed the death of all the X-Men in his timeline prior to the events of ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine. After the MCU introduced a new Wolverine in Phase 5, it would only make sense for him to meet new variants of his X-Men colleagues in Avengers: Doomsday. That doesn’t seem to be the case, however. Instead, Avengers: Doomsday might be the first live-action movie featuring the original cast not to give Wolverine the spotlight.
Hugh Jackman Could Still Appear In Avengers: Doomsday
Avengers: Doomsday’s Cast Isn’t Complete Yet
Multiple actors not included in Avengers: Doomsday‘s cast announcement might be signing their contracts, and several characters might be reserved for Avengers: Doomsday‘s possibly long list of cameos. Marvel movies and shows usually don’t reveal their whole cast at once, and many actors and characters are kept under wraps until the very last moment in order to raise anticipation for each project’s release. The most famous example might be Andrew Garfield and Tobey Maguire’s return in Spider-Man: No Way Home, which required both actors to lie about their involvement in interviews and social media.
Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and Ryan Reynolds’ ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool saved the Sacred Timeline and were commended by the TVA in ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine, and their teammate Gambit has been confirmed to return in Avengers: Doomsday. Considering Avengers: Doomsday‘s multiversal nature, it would be strange not to get Wolverine and ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool involved. However, it’s possible that Wolverine and ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool are currently busy and unaware of Doctor Doom on Earth-10005, and that they’ll join the Avengers’ battle against Doom as soon as they realize what’s at stake. Previously, Jeremy Renner’s Hawkeye and Paul Rudd’s Ant-Man missed the events of Avengers: Infinity War for similar reasons.
Which Wolverine Will Be In Avengers: Doomsday?
Hugh Jackman Could Play A New Wolverine Variant In Avengers: Doomsday
If Hugh Jackman returns in Avengers: Doomsday, it makes the most sense for him to be playing the Wolverine variant introduced in ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine. However, Patrick Stewart is confirmed to return following the death of three different Professor X variants — X-Men: The Last Stand’s, Logan‘s, and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness‘. Hence, Patrick Stewart must be playing a fourth (or fifth, taking James McAvoy’s portrayal) Charles Xavier variant. Likewise, Avengers: Doomsday‘s X-Men characters might be different versions of the characters featured in Fox’s original X-Meni trilogy, and Hugh Jackman could be playing a brand-new Wolverine as well.
The X-Men are ᴅᴇᴀᴅ in Wolverine’s original universe, as revealed by ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine. Meanwhile, Avengers: Doomsday‘s X-Men may still have their own Wolverine, whose backstory and appearance remains unknown. In fact, ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine may already have introduced these X-Men’s Wolverine variant. ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine‘s variant montage revealed several Logan variants of all kinds, including Patch, Old Man Logan, and a short Wolverine. Among these, the “brown-and-tan” Wolverine who fights Hulk would seem like the best candidate for an Avengers: Doomsday appearance.
Upcoming MCU Movies
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Thunderbolts*
- Release Date
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May 2, 2025
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The Fantastic Four: First Steps
- Release Date
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July 25, 2025
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Avengers: Doomsday (2026)
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Spider-Man: Brand New Day
- Release Date
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July 31, 2026
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Avengers: Secret Wars
- Release Date
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May 7, 2027
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