There will be multiple Avengers teams in Avengers: Doomsday, and the rosters for each have now been revealed. After spending four movies focusing on the original Avengers — Iron Man, Steve Rogers' Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, Hulk, and Hawkeye — the Marvel Cinematic Universe is ushering in a new age. A whole new mixture of characters will assemble as the Avengers are faced with Doctor Doom and a collapsing multiverse.
The use of multiple Avengers teams in Doomsday has been known for some time. Sam Wilson has been forming a new Avengers roster as Captain America since the end of Captain America: Brave New World. The conclusion of Thunderbolts* rebranded the unlikely superteam as the New Avengers, with the post-credits scene teasing friction with Sam's version. But those bits of setup hardly accounted for every Doomsday character.
Thor, Steve, Ant-Man, Black Panther, the Fantastic Four, and the X-Men are all set to appear, with Avengers: Doomsday's official trailer offering the best look at the various corners of the Marvel multiverse coming together. It appears the basic premise will revolve around heroes from Earth-616 and the Fantastic Four's Earth-828 joining forces, with a nostalgia-fueled X-Men lineup standing in opposition.
Rather than Captain America's Avengers, the New Avengers, and the Fantastic Four operating individually, they will unite and divide their power into different teams. The result is brand-new Avengers team rosters, although they could evolve further over the course of Doomsday.
Doomsday's Earth-Based Avengers Team
Shuri, M'Baku, The Thing, Sue Storm, and Bucky Barnes in Avengers: Doomsday
Based on the official trailer and character groupings, it looks like there is a team that forms after the initial crossover meet-and-greet at New Avengers Tower. Some are sent to another universe (the one the X-Men call home), and others stay on Earth-616, seemingly to protect their world from destruction.
The Earth-based Avengers team, as we'll call it, is primarily made up of the New Avengers. Bucky Barnes, John Walker/U.S. Agent, and Ava Starr/Ghost are all members of this collection. They are seen together repeatedly in the trailer across different locations, with Joaquin Torres/Falcon joining them.
This team also notably includes half (or more) of the Fantastic Four. Sue Storm/Invisible Woman and Ben Grimm/The Thing are shown with Bucky, U.S. Agent, Ghost, and Falcon at different points. This includes when it comes time to meet up with the Wakandans and Talokanil.
From “I Am Iron Man” to “I Am Inevitable” · Eight Questions How Well Do You Know the MCU? “Whatever it takes.”
🤖Phase OneRDJ & the founders, 2008
🛡The AvengersWhedon’s team, 2012
💎Infinity SagaThanos & the stones
⚡EndgameWhatever it takes, 2019
🌏MultiversePhase 4–6, 2021–
01
Iron Man (2008) is, in retrospect, the most consequential casting decision in modern blockbuster history — but at the time Marvel Studios and parent company Paramount were openly hostile to director Jon Favreau’s push for the lead actor he eventually got. Favreau later said he had to fight “tooth and nail” and the actor had to do a paid screen test, a screen-test deal almost unheard of for an A-lister. What was the executive objection to him?
✓ Correct! Robert Downey Jr. had been arrested multiple times between 1996 and 2001 on drug and weapons charges, served roughly a year in California state prison (1999–2000), and was fired from Ally McBeal in 2001 after relapsing. By 2007 he’d been clean for several years, but Marvel/Paramount considered him essentially uninsurable for a $140 million tent-pole. Favreau pushed for him over studio favourites Tom Cruise (who’d had Iron Man development at Fox years earlier) and Sam Rockwell (who’d later play Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2 as a consolation). RDJ took a reported $500,000 base salary — less than Terrence Howard, whose role he then permanently overshadowed.
✗ Wrong. The answer is his arrest history. RDJ had drug-related arrests from 1996–2001, served prison time in 1999–2000, and was fired from Ally McBeal in 2001 — which made him uninsurable in studio terms even though he’d been sober for several years by 2007. Favreau fought for him over Tom Cruise and Sam Rockwell, and RDJ took a reported $500,000 base salary — less than co-star Terrence Howard.
02
The Avengers (2012) — the film that proved the shared-universe model could work, grossed $1.52 billion, and ended Phase One with Loki, Thanos’s mid-credits reveal, and the “swarm shot” of the team rotating in Manhattan — was written and directed by a TV showrunner best known at the time for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Firefly. Name him.
✓ Correct! Joss Whedon. Marvel hired him in mid-2010 partly on the basis of his uncredited script rewrites and his comfort writing ensemble team dynamics from Buffy/Angel/Firefly. He directed The Avengers (2012) and the follow-up Age of Ultron (2015), then exited the MCU and Marvel handed the next two Avengers films to the Russo brothers. The three other directors named all really did make Phase One films: Favreau directed Iron Man (2008) and Iron Man 2 (2010), Branagh directed Thor (2011), and Joe Johnston directed Captain America: The First Avenger (2011) — which is why this question separates Phase One trivia from Avengers-specific trivia.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Joss Whedon — hired largely on the strength of Buffy, Firefly, and uncredited Hollywood script work. The three wrong options are deliberately all real Phase One MCU directors: Favreau did Iron Man 1 & 2, Branagh did Thor (2011), and Joe Johnston did The First Avenger (2011). Whedon directed Avengers (2012) and Age of Ultron (2015) before exiting the MCU.
03
Marvel co-architect Stan Lee (1922–2018) appeared in every theatrical MCU film from Iron Man (2008) onward, even shooting cameos in advance to outlast him. He died on November 12, 2018. In which film does his final filmed MCU cameo appear — as the long-haired young driver of a 1970 car bearing the bumper sticker “NUFF SAID”?
✓ Correct! Avengers: Endgame (April 2019). Lee appears digitally de-aged behind the wheel of a 1970 Chevy at the New Jersey army base where Tony Stark and Steve Rogers travel back to retrieve the Tesseract; he shouts “hey man, make love, not war!” The cameo was filmed before Lee’s death and confirmed by the Russos as his final filmed MCU appearance, although the next-released film, Spider-Man: Far From Home (July 2019), became the first MCU film with no Stan Lee cameo at all. Captain Marvel (March 2019) has him reading the script for Mallrats on the L.A. train and was the first posthumously-released cameo, but Endgame was the last one he actually shot.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Avengers: Endgame — the de-aged hippie-era driver in the 1970 New Jersey time-heist scene. Captain Marvel (March 2019) was the first cameo to release posthumously, but Endgame (April 2019) was the last one Lee actually filmed. Spider-Man: Far From Home (July 2019) became the first MCU film with no Stan Lee cameo at all.
04
Across Phase One through Three, each Infinity Stone is hidden inside a distinctive container before being claimed for Thanos’s Gauntlet. The blue Space Stone is housed inside a glowing cube that originates with the Asgardians, is recovered by Howard Stark from the wreckage of the Red Skull’s plane, is taken to Asgard by Loki in 2012, and is finally retrieved by Hulk on Sakaar before falling to Thanos. What is that container called?
✓ Correct! The Tesseract — the blue cube that houses the Space Stone — first appears in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011), powers the portal Loki opens over Manhattan in The Avengers (2012), and is destroyed by Thanos in Infinity War (2018) when he crushes it to claim the stone inside. The wrong options are all real Infinity Stone containers from the MCU: the Aether (red liquid form) houses the Reality Stone in Thor: The Dark World, the Orb houses the Power Stone in Guardians of the Galaxy, and the Eye of Agamotto houses the Time Stone in Doctor Strange. So all four answers refer to genuine stone containers — only the Tesseract holds Space.
✗ Wrong. The answer is the Tesseract. The trap is that all four options are real Infinity Stone containers: the Aether holds Reality (Thor: The Dark World), the Orb holds Power (Guardians of the Galaxy), and the Eye of Agamotto holds Time (Doctor Strange). Space — the blue stone shown in Cap’s 1942 plane wreckage and Loki’s 2012 invasion — is the Tesseract.
05
In Avengers: Infinity War (2018), the Soul Stone is hidden on Vormir and guarded by a Stonekeeper — revealed to be a cursed Red Skull. To claim it, the seeker must sacrifice the person they love most by throwing them from a cliff. Thanos arrives on Vormir with one adopted daughter, weeps, and pushes her over the edge. Which character does Thanos sacrifice to obtain the Soul Stone?
✓ Correct! Gamora (Zoe Saldaña). Thanos forces her to lead him to Vormir because Nebula has earlier revealed under torture that Gamora knew the Soul Stone’s location all along. The scene is the emotional pivot of Infinity War: it confirms that Thanos really does love Gamora, which means the sacrifice qualifies. In Endgame (2019), a 2014 version of Gamora returns through time travel with her father — meaning Gamora-of-Infinity-War remains dead at the end of the saga, while a different Gamora wanders the cosmos in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. Nebula is alive throughout Infinity War; Mantis survives Vormir entirely; Proxima Midnight is one of Thanos’s Black Order children, killed in the Battle of Wakanda.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Gamora. Nebula is alive throughout Infinity War (she’s the one whose torture reveals Gamora knew where the stone was hidden). Mantis isn’t on Vormir. Proxima Midnight is Thanos’s adopted daughter via the Black Order, not via Zen-Whoberi, and is killed during the Battle of Wakanda by Scarlet Witch. Thanos sacrifices Gamora — the only adopted daughter he genuinely loves.
06
In Avengers: Endgame (2019), Steve Rogers travels back in time to return the Infinity Stones, then chooses to remain in the past and live out a life with Peggy Carter. He returns to the present as an old man, sits on a bench by the lake at the Avengers compound, and hands his vibranium shield to a younger Avenger as the symbolic transfer of the Captain America identity. To whom does Steve give the shield?
✓ Correct! Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) — the Falcon. The choice deliberately bypasses Bucky, the original comics successor, because the Russos and screenwriters Markus & McFeely wanted the moment to read as a deliberate, racially-charged passing of an American icon rather than the obvious comics-canon handoff. The thread is then picked up directly in The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (Disney+, 2021), in which Sam initially gives the shield to the Smithsonian, sees the government install John Walker as a replacement Cap, and ultimately takes the mantle himself — setting up Captain America: Brave New World (2025) with Mackie as the franchise’s new lead.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Sam Wilson, the Falcon. In the comics Bucky is the classic Cap successor, but the Russos and screenwriters Markus and McFeely deliberately picked Sam instead — a choice the entire Falcon and the Winter Soldier series (Disney+, 2021) then unpacks before Mackie carries it into Captain America: Brave New World (2025).
07
After Endgame, Marvel Studios’ Phase Four launched the MCU on Disney+ with a sitcom-pastiche limited series in which Wanda Maximoff and a resurrected Vision live inside a reality-warping suburban hex. Each episode parodied a different era of US TV sitcom — The Dick Van Dyke Show, Bewitched, Family Ties, Modern Family. The show premiered January 15, 2021 and ran nine episodes. Which series was it — the first MCU project on Disney+?
✓ Correct! WandaVision (January 15 – March 5, 2021), created by Jac Schaeffer and directed by Matt Shakman. It launched Phase Four, earned 23 Emmy nominations, and effectively rebooted Wanda Maximoff as the Scarlet Witch ahead of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022). The Falcon and the Winter Soldier followed it in March 2021 — not first — and Loki landed in June 2021. Hawkeye is the 2021 Christmas series with Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld. The original launch order was WandaVision → FATWS → Loki → What If…? → Hawkeye, and WandaVision’s sitcom format remains the boldest swing of the Disney+ era.
✗ Wrong. The answer is WandaVision (January 15, 2021), the first MCU show on Disney+ and the launchpad for Phase Four. The Falcon and the Winter Soldier came in March 2021, Loki in June 2021, and Hawkeye in late 2021. The sitcom-pastiche structure — Dick Van Dyke through Modern Family — is unique to WandaVision.
08
At the closing panel of San Diego Comic-Con on July 27, 2024, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige brought the Russo brothers back on stage to announce a new title for the next Avengers film — previously labelled “The Kang Dynasty” before Jonathan Majors’s December 2023 conviction forced a pivot — and then unmasked a cast of actors wearing green hoods. The final hood came off Robert Downey Jr. RDJ is returning to the MCU, but not as Tony Stark. As whom?
✓ Correct! Doctor Doom — Victor von Doom, the Latverian dictator and Reed Richards’s lifelong nemesis, generally considered Marvel’s greatest comics villain. The next Avengers film, originally announced as Avengers: The Kang Dynasty, was retitled Avengers: Doomsday after Jonathan Majors was dropped as Kang following his December 2023 assault conviction. Doomsday is scheduled for May 2026, with Avengers: Secret Wars to follow in May 2027 — both directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, returning to the MCU after Endgame. The in-universe explanation for RDJ playing Doom rather than Stark hinges on the multiverse: Doom is being positioned as a variant of Stark from another timeline.
✗ Wrong. The answer is Doctor Doom. The film was retitled from Avengers: The Kang Dynasty to Avengers: Doomsday (May 2026) after Jonathan Majors was dropped, and the Russos returned to direct. RDJ’s casting as Doom — rather than as Tony Stark — is being explained in-universe via the multiverse: Doom as a Stark variant from another timeline.
The Stones Are Cast · Final Scorecard Your Avengers Standing
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A worthy Avenger — or dusted in the snap?
It's at this moment that Shuri/Black Panther and M'Baku seemingly join the Earth-based Avengers team. They guide the other characters to a meeting with Namor, potentially looking to get him on their side. The trailer even seems to show Sue and Shuri acknowledging each other as they go their separate ways, suggesting that they have a plan and are working together to save the universe.
Bucky, U.S. Agent, Ghost, Falcon, Sue, Ben, Shuri, and M'Baku may not be the only members of this Avengers team, though. Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian has not been seen; the same is true for Bob/Sentry. It'd make more sense for Alexei to stay on Earth than try to fight the X-Men, while Bob could stay back due to hesitations about using his powers.
The other wildcard for this roster is Johnny Storm/Human Torch. He's not seen as part of either Avengers team. There is a glimpse of him holding someone with blonde hair, which may initially seem to be Sue, but may instead be Franklin Richards. If Johnny is fulfilling his uncle-ly duties to protect Franklin, staying on Earth would make sense.
Doomsday's Multiversal Avengers Team
Yelena Belova with Reed Richards and Captain America behind her in Avengers:
With all those characters staying on Earth-616 (at least at the start), Avengers: Doomsday assembles the remaining heroes for multiversal battle. There is a big sequence in the movie where the Avengers travel to the X-Men universe and take part in a massive superhero fight. It's through glimpses of this battle that we see several characters in leadership positions and with massive power levels unite.
There are officially four characters we can count among this team, as each of them is shown fighting X-Men characters inside X-Mansion. Shang-Chi is there fighting Gambit, and Yelena Belova is there fighting Mystique. Captain America and Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic are also present, even though we don't see them battling anyone directly.
All four characters are seen grouped at one point in the trailer. Reed has an outstretched arm holding Sam back as Yelena ducks under it to approach something or someone. And while no other heroes are shown fighting with them specifically, these four wouldn't head to the X-Men universe alone.
Thor appears to be another prominent member of this team. This may even be the place where he and Doctor Doom battle after things take a turn. Thor is clearly positioned as one of the leaders of the whole movie, so if they've gone to the X-Men universe to destroy it or attempt to find peace, it would make sense for the god of thunder to go.
It's also likely that Ant-Man and Steve are part of this roster. The giant legs walking behind Cyclops as he shoots his optic beams into the sky could belong to Ant-Man, not a Sentinel. He also could be sneaking around in ant-sized form, making him impossible to spot. Meanwhile, Steve could stay with Thor after their reunion.
These Likely Aren't Doomsday's Final Avengers Team Rosters
Cyclops ready to fire his optic blast in Avengers Doomsday
While Avengers: Doomsday's cast has been divided into two teams, the movie's final version may look a bit different. The trailer suggests that these are the teams for specific sections of the movie, but it doesn't guarantee that the characters will remain split in this way for the entire nearly 3-hour runtime. It's more likely that some characters move around, surprise additions are made, and/or they all unite for the last stand.
The biggest change that could come would be several X-Men members joining. They might be opposed to the Avengers at the start, but there is a good chance Cyclops, Mystique, Nightcrawler, Beast, Gambit, etc. come to work alongside the MCU's main heroes to stave off multiversal collapse. This would immediately shake up the teams to some degree.
It's also possible (if not likely) that Doomsday is hiding key characters who will appear and possibly be part of the final fight. Monica Rambeau, Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel, Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel, Kate Bishop, Peter Parker/Spider-Man, and Doctor Strange are just a few characters from the MCU who could join the Avengers. Deadpool, Wolverine, and other multiversal characters could do so, too.
But if Avengers: Doomsday mirrors Avengers: Infinity War's division of characters, all the heroes assembling as a formal Avengers team would seem unlikely.
