Anthony Russo Hints ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Still Has Cast Surprises Left to Reveal

Marvel Studios has spent much of this year rolling out an ensemble so massive for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ that fans have already dubbed one of its reveal events “Aven-Chairs Assemble.” Between returning Avengers, resurrected X-Men actors and the Fantastic Four’s first family, the cast list already reads like a greatest-hits reel of the franchise’s twenty-plus year history.

That kind of scale would normally suggest a studio has exhausted its surprises well before release. Yet with the film now less than three months from theaters, one of its own directors is suggesting there’s still more waiting to be unveiled.

Speaking during a Q&A following a screening of ‘Avengers: Endgame Encore,’ co-director Anthony Russo confirmed that Marvel hasn’t finished announcing the full ‘Doomsday’ cast, even after a 27-strong roster reveal earlier this year that already spanned three separate franchises.

“The cast is so large, and we’ve announced some of the cast, and we haven’t announced some of the cast,” Russo said during the event, according to GamesRadar+. “I get confused myself over who we’ve announced and not announced, so I have to just slow down.”

Russo’s brother and co-director Joe Russo was absent from the event due to illness, leaving Anthony to field questions solo. He used the moment to offer a broader glimpse into where the production currently stands, revealing that the film is still very much a work in progress despite its looming release date.

“Joe and I are still very deep in the process of finishing Doomsday,” Russo said. “We always say we’re not done with a movie until they pry it out of our cold, dead hands. So, it’s a very iterative process for us… from the time of conception all the way to final delivery of the film. So it is alive, and we’re still working with it.”

That kind of hands-on, ongoing editing process isn’t unusual for a project of this scale, but it does suggest Marvel could still be sitting on casting information it hasn’t shared publicly, even this close to release. Russo didn’t offer any hints about which characters or actors might still be waiting in the wings.

The existing roster is already staggering by any measure. Robert Downey Jr. leads the ensemble as Victor von Doom, joined by returning Avengers like Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Anthony Mackie and Sebastian Stan, alongside Florence Pugh’s Yelena Belova and the Fantastic Four lineup of Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach.

That’s before factoring in the surprise return of Bryan Singer-era X-Men actors including Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, James Marsden and Alan Cumming, whose inclusion reshaped expectations for how deep into Marvel’s cinematic history the film would reach. With that much star power already locked in, any additional reveals would only add to what’s already one of the largest ensembles in blockbuster history.

He used to be different.

Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters everywhere December 18. Get your tickets now: https://t.co/J5PUbxvAkc pic.twitter.com/OUutSMZneq

— Marvel Studios (@MarvelStudios) August 15, 2026

Russo’s comments arrive as ‘Endgame Encore’ continues playing in theaters, featuring roughly four minutes of new footage designed to bridge directly into ‘Doomsday.’ The re-release has already helped push the original ‘Endgame’ past $2.8 billion at the global box office, keeping Marvel’s marketing machine firmly focused on building anticipation ahead of December.

With ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ set to arrive in theaters on December 18, Marvel still has a narrow window to deliver whatever casting surprises remain.

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