An Avenger Is Confirmed To Be Sitting Out ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

Avengers

Marvel

My least favorite genre of MCU rumor these days is the almost daily “insider” report of which Marvel character will show up in Avengers: Doomsday. Daredevil! She-Hulk! Ms. Marvel! Scarlet Witch! Chris Evans, somehow!

Sure, some of those are bound to be right, but now we have our first official confirmation of which big-name Avenger is not going to be in Avengers: Doomsday at all: Benedict Cumberbatch’s Doctor Strange.

From Variety, here’s what he said about his absence, which should not really inspire panic among Strange fans:

You see, he’s just told me that Doctor Strange is taking a hiatus in the next Marvel sequel, 2026’s “Avengers: Doomsday.” “Is that a spoiler?” he asks. “F*** it!”

But he’ll be back in short order, he clarifies:

Cumberbatch’s absence from “Doomsday” has to do with “the character not aligning with this part of the story.” And though he probably shouldn’t be saying this, he also reveals that Doctor Strange is “in a lot” of “Avengers: Secret Wars,” which will hit theaters in 2027.

Doctor Strange

Marvel

No, I bet that he’s probably not supposed to be saying any of this at all, but it’s sort of tradition for some Avenger actor or another to spoil something, be it Mark Ruffalo or Tom Holland, most famously.

The last we saw of Strange was his return in Multiverse of Madness where he does battle with a vengeful Scarlet Witch, but also an evil version of himself. After the events of that conflict, Strange gets a literal third eye, and is approached by Charlize Theron’s Clea, a big-name cameo for a character that may or may not ever be seen again. It would be somewhat surprising if she showed up in Secret Wars alongside Strange.

While Strange may have a bigger role in Secret Wars, in the comic he’s not exactly a main player, so we’ll have to see what he’s actually doing in that story, which is reportedly introducing the X-Men. It’s also expected that his recent foil, Scarlet Witch, will return to have a major role in that story, if not also Doomsday, though none of that has been confirmed.

SAN DIEGO, CALIFORNIA - JULY 27: Robert Downey Jr. speaks onstage at the Marvel Studios Panel during ... [+] 2024 Comic-Con International at San Diego Convention Center on July 27, 2024 in San Diego, California. (Photo by Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images)

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This is really the first confirmation about anything happening in Doomsday other than the reveal that Robert Downey Jr. is coming back to the MCU as Doctor Doom himself. Cumberbatch said that it made him text Kevin Feige “what the f***?” but clarified that it was a positive comment. It was just…a surprise, like I think it was for everyone.

Strange has been a key part of the MCU since he was introduced, with two of his own films and a big role in the Infinity War conflict. Now, he’s back for Secret Wars and we’ll see where things go from here with him.

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Pick up my sci-fi novels the Herokiller series and The Earthborn Trilogy.