"Avengers 5" reveals the first 27 characters in the lineup, including "X-Men"

On March 26th local time, Marvel Studios unveiled the cast and character lineup of "Avengers: Doomsday" in a nearly five-and-a-half-hour live broadcast. Thor, Loki and others from the previous film will return, newcomers from the yet-to-be-released "Thunderbolts*" and "Fantastic Four" will join the alliance, and the older versions of Professor X and Magneto from "X-Men" will also appear; while former Captain America (Chris Evans), Spider-Man (Tom Holland), Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and other old alliance members are not among them.

During the live broadcast, Marvel announced the lineup one by one by focusing the camera on the director's chairs with the actors' names on them. Each chair (actor) lasted about 12 minutes. Together with Robert Downey Jr., who was the only one to appear in person at the end, there were 27 actors in total, which is why the live broadcast lasted so long.

Specifically, members of the old alliance Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Ant-Man (Paul Rudd), Loki (Tom Hiddleston), and M'Baku (Winston Duke) return; Falcon takes over as the new Captain America (Anthony Mackie), and the second generation Falcon (Danny Ramirez) appears; Princess Shuri takes over as the new Black Panther (Leticia Wright). In addition, Shang-Chi (Simu Liu), who has already appeared in the solo film, and Namor (Tennok Ulta Mejia) who appeared in "Black Panther 2" will also return.

Another familiar figure, Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan), will join several villains from Thunderbolt*, including the second-generation Black Widow Yelena (Florence Pugh), U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell), Red Guardian (David Harbour), Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen), and Sentinel Bob (Lewis Pullman). Thunderbolt* will be released in North America and other places on May 2, and the release date in mainland China is yet to be determined.

As for the fresh blood, they also include Mr. Fantastic (Pedro Pascal), the Invisible Woman (Vanessa Kirby), the Thing (Amber Moss-Bachrach), and the Human Torch (Joseph Quinn), who will appear in the new version of "Fantastic 4: First Look" on July 25.

The biggest surprise is probably the X-Men that Disney has acquired through its acquisition of 20th Century Fox, including Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Magneto (Ian McKellen), Cyclops (James Marsden), Mystique (Rebecca Romijn), Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming), and Beast (Kelsey Grammer). In addition, Gambit (Channing Tatum), who made a brief appearance in Deadpool vs. Wolverine, will also join the cast.

The above mentioned characters, plus the announcement last July that Robert Downey Jr. will return to play the villain Doctor Doom after removing his "Iron Man" armor, make a total of 27 characters revealed in "Avengers 5". However, according to insiders, these characters are not the complete lineup yet, and new characters will join the big family of the alliance later.

"Avengers 5" is scheduled to be released on May 1, 2026, and the directors are still the brothers Anthony Russo and Joe Russo. The subsequent "Avengers 6" is scheduled to be released on May 7, 2027.