Marvel star Simu Liu had an enthusiastic reaction to learning about who else is appearing in Avengers: Doomsday. While appearing on The Jennifer Hudson Show, the actor was asked about his role in the upcoming Marvel blockbuster. Liu obviously couldn’t get into too much detail, but he did share his relatable response to the revelation that Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen will reprise Charles Xavier and Magneto, respectively, in Doomsday. Liu expressed his admiration for the two acting legends and also shared that he’s “excited” to return to the MCU after so many years.
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“I saw when Sir Ian and Sir Patrick were announced, these are like two of the greatest actors to ever walk the face of the Earth, and that kind of blew my mind a little bit,” Liu said. “We are so excited to get back to work. It is obviously going to be such an amazing big movie that is going to be so secretive and that I can’t talk about at all. But what I will say is that I knew that I was going to be involved in it in some capacity, but I didn’t know who else they were announcing. I mean, they would not tell us anything because Tom Holland and Mark Ruffalo kind of ruined it for all of us. Now they don’t tell anyone.”
Liu was one of 27 actors Marvel confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday during a special livestream event that took place in late March. It marks Liu’s first MCU appearance since his debut in 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings. Marvel has since confirmed there are more Doomsday cast announcements to come at a future date.
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Stewart and McKellen are just two actors from Fox’s X-Men series who are coming back for Doomsday. They’re joined by James Marsden, Kelsey Grammer, Alan Cumming, and Rebecca Romijn. The amount of X-Men characters in Doomsday has led to some speculation that the film could actually be an Avengers vs. X-Men movie.
Similar to Liu, many Marvel fans’ minds were blown when they saw Stewart and McKellen confirmed for Doomsday. Both actors are beloved fan favorites thanks to their iconic portrayals of their characters across multiple X-Men films. With Marvel reportedly already exploring casting possibilities for the MCU X-Men reboot (which won’t be out until after Secret Wars), Doomsday will in all likelihood be the final chance viewers get to see the legends in the Marvel universe. While there are justifiable concerns about Marvel bringing back the old faces from the Fox franchise, the hope is Doomsday can serve as a rousing send off for the actors.
Whether Liu actually gets to share a scene with Stewart or McKellen remains to be seen. A film like Doomsday is a massive production with a plethora of moving pieces, and chances are some of the actors won’t meet each other until they’re attending the premiere. Still, even if Liu doesn’t get to interact with Stewart and McKellen on set, his excitement is palpable. Just knowing the X-Men veterans are back is enough to garner plenty of enthusiasm and speculation about how these characters will be worked into the story.
