Avengers: Doomsday Puts Story First — Not Just Another Cameo Parade
Avengers: Doomsday assembles one of Marvel’s biggest casts yet—but it’s not a cameo parade. Expect meaningful roles and story-driven appearances, not blink-and-miss walk-ons.
Avengers: Doomsday is stacking the roster like it’s trying to win a Guinness record, but one of its stars swears it isn’t just a cameo carousel. Lewis Pullman, back as Bob/The Sentry after Thunderbolts*, says everyone actually gets to do something.
Not a Where’s Waldo of superheroes
Pullman kept things tight-lipped, but you could hear the confidence between the non-answers. He says the movie isn’t just checking boxes with familiar faces — the goal is character work that plays even in a wall-to-wall spectacle.
'It’s going back to the serum of the human archetypes that our art is built off of. Every character has their moment that builds the dimensions of them. The Russo brothers did that so well. They do not want anyone just sitting in the background. They really took to heart the responsibility of having some of the best actors in the world all together.'
He also teased the kind of crossovers fans spreadsheet in their heads and argue about in group chats.
'There’s a lot of really exciting pair-ups that happen. A lot of fans will be really excited. It’s so fun to dream about. What if A and B would work together? Would B and D would work together? You get to see a lot of those fantasies come into fruition.'
At one point he likened the whole thing to ancient epics, then caught himself before Marvel snipers could take the shot.
'Talking about Marvel is always such a funny dance of saying nothing while still words are coming out of your mouth.'
The lineup (deep breath)
Officially announced so far — and yes, it’s a lot:
- Chris Hemsworth as Thor
- Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm
- Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes
- Letitia Wright as Shuri
- Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson
- Paul Rudd as Scott Lang
- Wyatt Russell as John Walker
- Tenoch Huerta Mejia as Namor
- Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm
- Simu Liu as Shang-Chi
- Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova
- Kelsey Grammer as Hank McCoy
- Lewis Pullman as Bob
- Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres
- Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm
- David Harbour as Red Guardian
- Winston Duke as M'Baku
- Hannah John-Kamen as Ghost
- Tom Hiddleston as Loki
- Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier
- Ian McKellen as Erik Lehnsherr
- Alan Cumming as Kurt Wagner
- Rebecca Romijn as Raven Darkholme
- James Marsden as Scott Summers
- Channing Tatum as Remy LeBeau
- Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards
- Chris Evans as Steve Rogers
- Robert Downey Jr. as Victor von Doom
What to expect
On paper, this could be chaos. Pullman’s pitch is that it’s the good kind — an epic with room for actual arcs, not just crowd-pleasing entrances. And there are still more familiar faces expected to slide in, which could make this Marvel’s biggest cast to date.
Avengers: Doomsday opens in theaters on December 18.