Summary

Marvel Studios is keeping future Avengers movie details tightly under wraps due to previous leaks by Tom Holland and Mark Ruffalo.
Avengers: Doomsday features a star-studded cast, including Robert Downey Jr. As the villainous Doctor Doom, and Marvel veterans like McKellen and Stewart.
Simu Liu expressed surprise at being cast alongside acting legends, McKellen and Stewart, in the upcoming Avengers movie.

Avengers: Doomsday recently had its main cast lineup revealed in an "In Production" announcement trailer. However, according to one of the MCU's rising stars, Marvel is not as liberal in its willingness to share information as it used to be, and two notable actors share the blame for it.

The MCU has had a rough few years post-Avengers: Endgame, as its Multiverse Saga has failed to gain traction with audiences. The studio needs a smash hit after successive flops in Phases 4 and 5 have demonstrated that fans are not guaranteed to make a return just to see the latest development in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. So, for the upcoming crossover epic, Avengers: Doomsday, Marvel has spared no expense. Kevin Feige has brought back Robert Downey Jr., the MCU's frontman for many years as Iron Man, to play a villainous parallel-universe version of Doctor Doom. Downey Jr., along with Feige, convinced the directors of Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, the Russo brothers, to return to their lead roles on the project. More recently, audiences learned that a significant number of the former Fox X-Men cast would also be returning to join the Avengers in 2026.

Russo Brothers promoting Avengers Doomsday

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By Matthew Wilkinson

Simu Liu, star of Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, one of Marvel's only hits in Phases 4-5, was announced to also be returning for Avengers: Doomsday. On The Jennifer Hudson Show, Liu shared his thoughts with the audience about the recent reveal that older Marvel veterans would be joining him in the upcoming blockbuster:

"I saw when Sir Ian and Sir Patrick were announced. These are two of the greatest actors to have ever walked the face of the Earth. That blew my mind a little bit."

Liu is, of course, referring to the two legendary actors, Sir Ian McKellen and Sir Patrick Stewart. Both actors played the older versions of Magneto and Professor Charles Xavier, respectively, in the long-running and expansive X-Men Fox franchise. These two were featured in one of the very first scenes in X-Men (2000), setting up the long, bitter onscreen feud between the two famous rivals. This film and their establishing presence in it are historic, as the movie arguably began Hollywood's obsession with the superhero genre that audiences know and love today. However, it was a surprise to many to learn that the two would be returning in Avengers: Doomsday, as both actors are in their mid-eighties.

But more interestingly, Liu was just as surprised as the rest of Marvel's fandom. Liu continued to explain that he had no idea that he would be starring alongside these two acting powerhouses: “These are two of the greatest actors to have ever walked the face of the Earth. That blew my mind a little bit.” At first glance, it seems quite odd that a cast member as important as Liu would be made completely unaware of McKellen and Stewart's involvement. However, it's clear that Marvel is far more tight-lipped than it used to be. Liu makes it clear who bears the majority of the blame for this high level of secrecy:

"They don't tell us anything. Tom Holland and Mark Ruffalo ruined it for all of us. Now, they don't tell us.”

This isn't an unjustified accusation. Holland and Ruffalo have had an unfortunate habit of accidentally leaking spoilers for Avengers films on multiple occasions. On the opening night of Avengers: Infinity War, Holland appeared in front of the audience and believed that he was greeting them after the screening, but they were yet to see the movie. Holland told the crowd, "I'm alive!" rather embarrassingly spoiling his death at the movie's ending. Ruffalo, however, is by far the worst offender when it comes to spoilers and leaks. The actor accidentally streamed Thor: Ragnarök’s premiere, and viewers still watching were able to listen to the first ten minutes of audio from the film. But the infamous moment for Ruffalo came when he jokingly stated in an interview that “everybody dies” at the end of Infinity War. This was before the movie was even released in theaters. Regardless of Ruffalo's humorous attitude during the press release, he spoiled one of the biggest MCU twists of all time.

So Liu has good reason to cite these two actors as the explanation for why Marvel is so strict with its information. The studio is handling its largest cast ever for Avengers: Doomsday and clearly wants to ensure that everything goes off without a hitch. A lot is riding on this upcoming epic being a showstopper, and Marvel needs every card in its hand to be kept close to its chest so that any potential hype among fans isn't dulled by another surprise leak.

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