(Left) Captain America/Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) in Marvel Studios’ ‘Captain America: Brave New World’. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2024 Marvel. (Center) (L to R) John Walker (Wyatt Russell), Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour), and Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) in Marvel Studios’ ‘Thunderbolts*’. Photo by Chuck Zlotnick. © 2025 Marvel. (Right) Robert Downey Jr. to play Doctor Doom in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’. © 2024 20th Century Studios / © and ™ 2024 MARVEL.
Preview:
- The Thunderbolts are now the New Avengers
- Marvel says Sam Wilson will assemble his Avengers team off screen before ‘Avengers: Doomsday’
- Who will Sam Wilson recruit for his new team?
SPOILER ALERT: Some spoilers for ‘Thunderbolts*’ and possibly ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ below.
Back in April, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige announced at CinemaCon that the upcoming ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ “will focus on The Avengers, Wakandans, Fantastic Four, Thunderbolts and original X-Men all fighting Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.).”
That’s quite a promise! But now that ‘Thunderbolts*’ has been released in theaters, fans have learned that they are really the New Avengers, and the movie’s end-credit scene reveals that Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) has filed a copyright claim against the team for the rights to the name and is putting together his own group of Avengers.
(L to R) Joaquin Torres/The Falcon (Danny Ramirez), and Captain America/Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) in Marvel Studios’ Captain America: Brave New World’. Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2024 Marvel.
Marvel has recently announced that Wilson will assemble his Avengers off screen, so the real question is who will be on his team in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’? Luckily, Marvel has also released many of the names of ‘Doomsday’s cast in a recent video stunt, which could, by process of elimination, give us a basic idea of who will be on Wilson’s team.
With other new and returning cast members yet to be announced, Moviefone is breaking down the cast list to guess who could be on Sam Wilson’s Avengers team.
Related Article: ‘Thunderbolts*’ Real Title is ‘The New Avengers’
The ‘Thunderbolts’ are now the ‘New Avengers’
‘Thunderbolts*’ is now titled ‘The New Avengers’ and is currently playing in theaters. Photo: Marvel Studios.
The end of the ‘Thunderbolts*’ sees Julia Louis-Dreyfus‘ Valentina Allegra de Fontaine saving public face by holding a press conference and announcing that Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh), Bucky Barnes/Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), John Walker/U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), Ava Starr/Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian (David Harbour) and Bob Reynolds/Sentry (Lewis Pullman) are the New Avengers.
With Pugh, Stan, Russell, John-Kamen, Harbour, and Pullman all confirmed to return for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’, it is now clear that they will be referred to as the New Avengers and not the Thunderbolts, nor will they be members of the team Sam Wilson is recruiting. In fact, it was also recently revealed that the ‘Thunderbolts*’ end-credit scene setting up the Fantastic Four’s MCU arrival was shot on the set of the ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ by directors Anthony and Joe Russo.
Which ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ characters could be on Sam Wilson’s Avengers team?
Chris Hemsworth in ‘Thor: The Dark World’. Photo: Marvel Studios.
Now that we know the Thunderbolts are the New Avengers, and assuming none of them will crossover to Sam’s new team, it’s not hard to have an idea who might be recruited by the new Captain America for his Avengers team.
We can also eliminate the cast of ‘Fantastic Four: First Steps’ and the returning ‘X-Men’ actors, as one would assume that they will be on their own teams and not Sam’s. It is possible that Channing Tatum‘s Gambit could crossover, since he was not an “original” X-men from the previous films, but I think he will most likely be on the Mutants’ side, especially because the character has no ties to the Avengers in the comics.
As a founding member of the original Avengers, it makes sense that Chris Hemsworth’s Thor would be a member of Sam’s new team. Sam partied with him at Avengers Tower in ‘Avengers: Age of Ultron’, and even fought side by side against Thanos with Thor in Wakanda during ‘Infinity War’. We also know that Danny Ramirez’s Joaquin Torres/Falcon was asked to join the team by Sam during the events of ‘Captain America: Brave New World’, so it’s safe to say that you can expect to see him fighting as a member of Sam’s new team in ‘Doomsday’.
Besides Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) and Bucky Barnes, Paul Rudd‘s Scott Lang/Ant-Man is probably the Avenger that Sam is closest to in the MCU having appeared in 2015’s ‘Ant-Man’ and helping to recruit him for Captain America’s team in ‘Captain America: Civil War’. So, it would also make sense for Scott to join Sam’s team. Sam also has close ties to Wakanda, with Shuri (Letitia Wright) helping to create his Captain America suit and wings. Now that she is the new Black Panther, I also assume she will be on the new team as well.
Letitia Wright as Shuri in Marvel Studios’ ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.’ Photo courtesy of Marvel Studios. © 2022 Marvel.
Actor Winston Duke has been confirmed to return for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ as M’Baku, and while it is possible for him to be recruited for Sam’s team along with Shuri, Feige’s CinemaCon comment mentions “Wakandans fighting against Doctor Doom”, which makes me think he will be leading the Wakandans and not joining Sam’s team.
Having been introduced in ‘Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’, and having a close connection to Shuri, I would also bet that Tenoch Huerta Mejia’s Namor will appear on Sam’s new team. Simu Liu’s Shang-Chi, who was introduced in his own 2021 movie will most likely join the team as well. The end-credit scene for that movie saw the character being recruited for the Avengers by Wong (Benedict Wong), Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), making his inclusion almost a forgone conclusion.
Of the announced cast, that just leaves Tom Hiddleston’s Loki, but given how his character’s arc ends in season 2 of Disney+’s ‘Loki’, I’m guessing he won’t be a member of Sam’s team and instead saved for a different role in the movie.
Who could be on Sam Wilson’s Avengers team that has not been announced yet for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’?
(L to R) Charlize Theron and Benedict Cumberbatch in ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.’ Photo: Marvel Studios.
There have been rumors that Wong, who is now the Sorcerer Supreme in Doctor Strange’s absence, could appear in the movie. Rumors have also swirled around the eventual return of Captain Marvel and Bruce Banner/Hulk, and with their inclusion in the ‘Shang-Chi’ end credit scene, if they are added to the cast, all three characters could align themselves with Sam Wilson and his new team of Avengers.
There have also been rumors of Benedict Cumberbatch and Charlize Theron returning as Doctor Strange and Clea, respectively, both last seen in 2022’s ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness’. But, with Wong being the new Sorcerer Supreme, I doubt Strange and Clea will join Sam’s team, and more likely, just like Loki, would have a different role in the plot of the film.
Finally, there have also been rumors about Jeremy Renner’s return as Hawkeye, and Tom Holland’s return as Spider-Man. But we’ve also heard that Holland’s character may sit out ‘Avengers: Doomsday’, next appearing in ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ before returning for ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’.
And with Renner’s recent admission that he declined returning for ‘Hawkeye’ season 2 due to having his salary cut in half by Marvel, his return to the franchise is completely up in the air. Even if he does return, Renner could be playing a multiverse version of his character and therefore not be joining Sam’s new team.
When will ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ be in theaters?
‘Avengers: Doomsday’. © 2024 20th Century Studios / © and ™ 2024 MARVEL.
Marvel is planning to have ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ on screens on May 1st, 2026, followed by ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ on May 7th, 2027.
The Avengers, Wakandans, Fantastic Four, Thunderbolts, and X-Men all fight against Doctor Doom. Plot TBA. Read the Plot
What is the plot of ‘Avengers: Doomsday’?
Fourteen months after the events of ‘Thunderbolts*’, the Avengers, Wakandans, Fantastic Four, New Avengers, and the “original” X-Men team up to face Doctor Doom.
Who is in the cast of ‘Avengers: Doomsday’?
- Chris Hemsworth as Thor
- Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm / Invisible Woman
- Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson / Captain America
- Sebastian Stan as Bucky Barnes / Winter Soldier
- Letitia Wright as Shuri / Black Panther
- Paul Rudd as Scott Lang / Ant-Man
- Wyatt Russell as John Walker / U.S. Agent
- Tenoch Huerta Mejía as Namor
- Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm / The Thing
- Simu Liu as Xu Shang-Chi
- Florence Pugh as Yelena Belova
- Kelsey Grammer as Hank McCoy / Beast
- Lewis Pullman as Bob Reynolds / Sentry
- Danny Ramirez as Joaquin Torres / Falcon
- Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm / Human Torch
- David Harbour as Alexei Shostakov / Red Guardian
- Winston Duke as M’Baku
- Hannah John-Kamen as Ava Starr / Ghost
- Tom Hiddleston as Loki
- Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier / Professor X
- Ian McKellen as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto
- Alan Cumming as Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler
- Rebecca Romijn as Raven Darkhölme / Mystique
- James Marsden as Scott Summers / Cyclops
- Channing Tatum as Remy LeBeau / Gambit
- Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards / Mister Fantastic
- Robert Downey Jr. as Victor von Doom / Doctor Doom
(L to R) Louis D’Esposito, Kevin Feige, Robert Downey Jr., Joe Russo and Anthony Russo present ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ at San Diego Comic-Con 2024. © 2024 20th Century Studios / © and ™ 2024 MARVEL.
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