‘Avengers: Doomsday’: A Guide to the 13 Major Characters
A familiar face may be hiding under that iconic Doctor Doom mask in Avengers: Doomsday, but this isn’t Tony Stark, the character Robert Downey Jr. played in the MCU for over a decade before meeting his end in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame.
A nemesis who first appeared in the comic books as a main villain for the Fantastic Four, Victor von Doom (known more commonly as Doctor Doom) is the king of Latveria. In the MCU, Doom made his first appearance during the end credits of 2025’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps, in a time jump four years after the film’s events. Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) is reading with her son Franklin (Ada Scott) and gets up to leave the room. When she returns, a green-hooded figure is sitting next to Franklin, who is interacting with him without fear—teasing an ominous connection between Franklin and Doom that may help or hurt the heroes in their upcoming fight.
While Thanos (Josh Brolin) might have had unlimited power and the ability to wipe out half the universe with the six Infinity Stones, Doom possesses something far deadlier: a varied skillset. He’s as smart as scientist Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal), as strong as supersoldier Captain America (Chris Evans) and Asgardian Thor (Chris Hemsworth), as good with magic as sorcerer Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and as innovative as Tony Stark. That makes him a formidable force for the heroes going up against him, even if they have their own powers and magic weapons.
Although Doom was never mentioned in the MCU during the Infinity Saga, his vengeance in Doomsday is a direct consequence of the Avengers’ time-traveling exploits in Endgame. He blames the heroes for the actions that helped them defeat Thanos, and while it’s not yet clear how and why Doom comes to wreak havoc, it’s likely that he wants to fix the timeline due to something that happened in his own world. Going up against him will involve bringing together heroes from three different universes: the Fantastic Four, the X-Men and the Avengers. But even they might not be able to quell Doom’s power levels.
The character itself, and whether he will follow his comic book origins, is still shrouded in mystery—after all, the MCU has shown time and time again that even the most notable heroes have come to screen differently than they were first envisioned. But one thing is clear: Doom is here to destroy, and to win—at any cost.
Scroll though the gallery below for a briefing on the rest of Avengers: Doomsday‘s major players.
Avengers: Doomsday, In Theaters December 18
TV Guide Magazine’s Avengers: Doomsday Special Issue is available for order online now at Avengers.TVBooks.com, and for purchase on newsstands nationwide.
Thor (Chris Hemsworth)
Exiled to Earth by his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins) after accidentally restarting a war between Asgard and the planet Jotunheim, Thor met Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgård), Darcy Lewis (Kat Dennings) and Jane Foster (Natalie Portman). Thor later joined the Avengers, helping stop his adopted brother Loki’s (Tom Hiddleston) alien army and then Ultron (James Spader). Leaving Earth after 2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron to find answers about the Infinity Stones, Thor learned of a prophecy threatening his world. He made amends with Loki in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok and they reunited with a dying Odin, joining forces after Odin’s death to thwart their half-sister Hela’s (Cate Blanchett) plan to destroy Asgard—causing Thor to lose an eye and his hammer, Mjolnir. Thor temporarily joined the Guardians of the Galaxy in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, forging the ax Stormbreaker. Despondent at the start of 2019’s Avengers: Endgame for failing to stop Thanos, Thor rejoined the Avengers for their Time Heist after an intervention from Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper). The god of thunder then teamed up with Jane in 2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder to defeat the god-butcher Gorr (Christian Bale), after which he adopted his daughter, Love (India Rose Hemsworth). —Maggie Kwan
Captain America (Chris Evans)
Once a scrawny teen unable to fight in World War II, Steve Rogers found his purpose when Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci) recruited him into the Strategic Scientific Reserve (SSR) as part of their supersoldier experiment. Given the title Captain America, he was used by the government as propaganda and fell for SSR agent Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). When Steve learned his best friend James Buchanan “Bucky” Barnes (Sebastian Stan) had been captured by Hydra, he led the rescue charge, receiving his Vibranium shield from Tony Stark’s father, Howard (Dominic Cooper). After losing Bucky during a fight, Steve defeated Hydra leader Red Skull (Hugo Weaving) and took control of his plane, which was loaded with bombs. Steve crashed it into the ice to save the world. Almost 70 years later, S.H.I.E.L.D. found him and recruited him into the Avengers. While working with Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Steve learned Bucky was alive (though brainwashed into an assassin) and that Hydra was still active and embedded in S.H.I.E.L.D. He destroyed Hydra, got Bucky back, and fought with the Avengers until the group splintered in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War. In 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, he led the final battle, then chose to return to the past at the film’s end to be with Peggy—until Doomsday. — Andrea Towers
Falcon (Anthony Mackie)
On your left! Sam Wilson, a former Air Force pararescue, first appeared in 2014’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Deeply empathetic, he counseled veterans affected by PTSD after losing his own wingman in battle. He and Steve bonded over their shared experiences in and after the military, and Sam volunteered to help Steve take down Hydra, donning the Falcon wingsuit. As Falcon, Sam uses his mechanical wings to assist in battles from above. He helped the Avengers fight against Thanos in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, then returned after being snapped away to join the team for their final battle in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. When Steve made the decision to return to the past and stay there with Peggy, he passed the shield and title of Captain America to Sam, who found his footing as a leader during the 2021 Disney+ series The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. His first real mission came in 2025’s Captain America: Brave New World, where, along with new Falcon Joaquin Torres (Danny Ramirez), he stopped an international adamantium crisis helmed by President Thaddeus Ross (Harrison Ford). Though he expressed doubts about being Captain America, his relationships with Bucky and former supersoldier Isaiah Bradley (Carl Lumbly) brought confidence, and he now leads his own group of Avengers. —MK
Yelena Bolova (Florence Pugh)
Fans met Yelena Belova in 2021’s Black Widow as a 6-year-old girl growing up in Ohio. Yelena believed she was part of a real family that included her adopted sister, Natasha Romanoff (Scarlett Johansson). But her life was really an undercover KGB operation led by scientist/spy Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz) and supersoldier Alexei Shostakov (David Harbour). After their mission, the family fled to Cuba, where Yelena and Natasha were given to General Dreykov (Ray Winstone) to train in the Red Room as Black Widows. Years later, having escaped the Red Room, Yelena tracked down Natasha, who was living off the grid after the Avengers divided in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War. In Black Widow, she and Natasha rescued the girls still trapped by Dreykov, reuniting their “family” in the process. As one of the heroes affected by Thanos’ snap, Yelena returned after five years unaware that Natasha had sacrificed herself in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame. Believing her former partner Clint Barton/Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) was behind her death thanks to intel from Valentina Allegra de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus), she attempted to kill him in 2021’s Disney+ series Hawkeye before she learned the truth. She continued to work for Valentina, then teamed with other rogue assassins—including Alexei—as the Thunderbolts, who became the New Avengers. —Andrea Towers
Magneto (Ian McKellen)
Erik magnus lehnsherr, also known as Magneto, is a powerful mutant with the ability to manipulate metal and control electromagnetic fields. He is a Holocaust survivor, and his powers first manifested at the Auschwitz concentration camp when he was separated from his family and watched his mother die. While Magneto is often an adversary of Professor X, he occasionally teams up with him and the X-Men. The character has yet to make his official MCU debut, but when Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) was captured by the Time Variance Authority and sent to the Void (a wasteland at the end of time) in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, he brought up Magneto’s name. We learned that in this alternate world, Magneto led an unsuccessful rebellion against Xavier’s sister Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin). —MK
Professor X (Patrick Stewart)
A mutant with powers of telepathy and mind control, Charles Xavier, better known as Professor X, frequently clashes with Magneto (Ian McKellen) over how mutants should be treated. While Xavier advocates for coexistence with humans, Magneto wants mutant dominance. Professor X is the founder of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, which trains young mutants how to hone their powers, and he’s the mastermind behind the X-Men. His most recent appearance in the MCU was in 2022’s Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, where a Professor X from an alternate version was a member of the Illuminati. He attempted to use his psychic powers to stop the Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) during her attack on the Illuminati and she killed him in his dream world, but don’t worry: The real version of Professor X is alive and well and prepared to make his Doomsday appearance. —MK
Shang-Chi (Simu Liu)
Xu Shang-Chi is the son of Xu Wenwu (Tony Leung Chiu-wai), the powerful leader of the Ten Rings criminal group, and a wielder of the mystical Ten Rings. A proficient martial artist, Shang-Chi fled to America at 14 to escape his father’s past, where he befriended Katy Chen (Awkwafina). In 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, he reunited with his sister Xialing (Meng’er Zhang) to travel to the mythical dimension of Ta Lo. They tried to stop Wenwu from freeing the Dweller-in-Darkness, an ancient demon that Wenwu believed was holding Shang-Chi’s mother captive—but who, unleashed, would destroy Ta Lo. Before sacrificing himself to save Shang-Chi, Wenwu passed the Ten Rings to his son. Shang-Chi was last seen returning to San Francisco to learn more about the Ten Rings with the sorcerer Wong (Benedict Wong). —MK
Ant-Man (Paul Rudd)
A former thief and current protégé of original Ant-Man Hank Pym (Michael Douglas), Scott Lang/Ant-Man can shrink or grow to any size. After fighting on Captain America’s side in 2016’s Captain America: Civil War, he was placed on house arrest. He then became stuck in the Quantum Realm in 2018’s Ant-Man and the Wasp, allowing him to survive Thanos’ Snap. After Scott was freed in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, he used his knowledge to plan a Time Heist with the Avengers to reverse Thanos’ actions. In 2023’s Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Scott and his family were sucked into the Quantum Realm again. Inside, they encountered Kang the Conqueror (Jonathan Majors), who forced Ant-Man to retrieve a power source allowing Kang to move between universes. —MK
Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal)
Dr. Reed Richards is a world-famous scientist who organized a trip to space with his wife Sue Storm, his brother- in-law Johnny Storm (Joseph Quinn) and his best friend Ben Grimm (Ebon Moss-Bachrach). When the ship was hit with cosmic rays, the crew gained new powers. Reed is able to stretch his body to any shape, and under the code name Mister Fantastic, he created the Fantastic Four along with Sue, Johnny and Ben, acting as their leader. In public, he is confident, but in private, he is insecure, occasionally arrogant and often mentally prepared for the worst-case scenario, even when others don’t want him to be. In 2025’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Reed created a system to teleport the world-eater Galactus (Ralph Ineson) to a different galaxy in order to save his own planet. —MK
Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby)
Sue Storm is Reed Richards’ wife and the leader of the Future Foundation, a philanthropic organization promoting world peace. After a cosmic accident, she gained the power to turn invisible. She is fiercely protective of her family: In 2025’s The Fantastic Four: First Steps, she was forced to deliver her son Franklin in space after Galactus caused her to give birth prematurely, then following protests outside the Baxter Building over her refusal to sacrifice Franklin to Galactus, she stopped the unrest by reassuring the public she would not abandon them. During a final battle, she momentarily died after using all her power to defeat Galactus—but was revived when Franklin used his powers for the first time. In a mid-credits scene, she encountered Doctor Doom when he paid a visit to Franklin. —MK
Loki (Tom Hiddleston)
Originally a villain in 2011’s Thor and 2012’s The Avengers, the god of mischief teamed with his brother Thor in 2017’s Thor: Ragnarok to defeat Hela. Before Asgard’s destruction, Loki stole the Tesseract, causing Thanos to intercept an Asgardian ship en route to Earth and kill Loki when he attempted to deceive him. During the Time Heist in 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, Loki escaped into an alternate timeline with the Tesseract. In the 2021 Disney+ series Loki, he was rescued by the Time Variance Authority, who recruited him to find Loki variant Sylvie Laufeydottir (Sophia Di Martino). After Sylvie killed the founder of the TVA, He Who Remains (Jonathan Majors), Loki began to slip through time, which led him to destroy the device that maintained the Sacred Timeline—and become the new Keeper of Time for the multiverse. —MK
Shuri (Letitia Wright)
Shuri debuted in 2018’s Black Panther as a teenage prodigy who developed a nanotech suit for her brother T’Challa (Chadwick Boseman). After Bucky was brought to Wakanda and deemed an ally, Shuri helped mentally deprogram him and designed his Vibranium prosthetic arm. There are limits to Shuri’s genius: In 2022’s Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, she could not re-create a medication to cure T’Challa from his fatal illness. When Namor (Tenoch Huerta) attacked Wakanda and killed her mother Ramonda (Angela Bassett), Shuri temporarily became the Black Panther to seek revenge, eventually yielding the Wakandan throne to M’Baku (Winston Duke). She was last seen in Haiti, where she met her nephew, Prince T’Challa II: the son of T’Challa and his lover, Nakia (Lupita Nyong’o). —MK
Robert Downey
Chris Hemsworth
Chris Evans
Vanessa Kirby
Anthony Mackie
Sebastian Stan
Letitia Wright
Paul Rudd
Wyatt Russell
Tenoch Huerta Mejía
Ebon Moss-Bachrach
Simu Liu
Florence Pugh
Kelsey Grammer
Lewis Pullman
Danny Ramirez
Joseph Quinn
David Harbour
Winston Duke
Hannah John-Kamen
Tom Hiddleston
Patrick Stewart
Ian McKellen
Alan Cumming
Rebecca Romijn
James Marsden
Channing Tatum
Pedro Pascal
Mabel Cadena
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