‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Cast Snub Leaves Fans Wondering Where the Eternals Are

Marvel’s upcoming mega crossover is shaping up to be one of the largest ensemble films in franchise history, yet one notable absence has fans puzzled. With the cast list for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ now revealed, viewers are scouring the names for any sign of the ‘Eternals’ team, but so far, they have found nothing.

The film is uniting heroes from various corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the cosmic team introduced in 2021 seems to have been completely left off the guest list. This has led many fans to speculate whether Sersi, Ikaris, and the rest of the crew are being reserved for a future project or if the studio has quietly moved on from them.

Marvel Studios unveiled the extensive roster for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ during a livestream, featuring a mix of long-time Avengers and a full reunion of the original ‘X-Men’ cast. Returning actors include Robert Downey Jr., Chris Hemsworth, and Anthony Mackie, along with stars from ‘Thunderbolts’, ‘The Fantastic Four’, and ‘Shang-Chi’.

The announcement also brought back Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier, Ian McKellen as Magneto, Kelsey Grammer as Beast, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, James Marsden as Cyclops, Channing Tatum as Gambit, and Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, which turned out to be one of the biggest surprises of the reveal.

However, not a single member of the ‘Eternals’ team was mentioned. According to industry reports, Marvel introduced the first ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ cast members, including Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom, but the reveals never returned to include Sersi, Ikaris, or any of their fellow immortals.

The confusion is understandable, especially considering how ‘Eternals’ concluded. The film ended on a significant cliffhanger, with a Celestial poised to judge humanity’s fate, and post-credit scenes introducing Harry Styles as Eros while teasing Blade and Black Knight. That’s a substantial setup to leave unresolved.

One source noted that the movie left behind a group of Eternals who were looking to warn their counterparts on other worlds about the potential emergence of Celestials. The introduction of Eros and Dane Whitman’s discovery of the Ebony Blade, which would transform him into the Black Knight, are precisely the kinds of threads that ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ would typically aim to resolve.

Instead, the character list confirms that Thena, Sersi, Ikaris, Druig, Makkari, Phastos, Sprite, Kingo, Ajak, and Gilgamesh have not been seen since ‘Eternals’, aside from the post-credit scene teasing Eros, played by Harry Styles, who has also not made a return. For a film centered around a multiversal collision, this leaves a lot of unfinished business on the table.

The most direct response has come from one of the cast members. Makkari actress Lauren Ridloff was asked directly whether she or any of her co-stars would appear in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’.

In an interview with The Direct at South by Southwest, Ridloff stated that it was unlikely she would be appearing alongside the Eternals in the new film. This is about as clear a no as fans are likely to receive from someone involved in the franchise.

This aligns with other reports indicating that Marvel Studios confirmed twenty-seven actors for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’, with none coming from the ‘Eternals’ movie. Coupled with the fact that a sequel has not been greenlit, it begins to feel less like an oversight and more like a conscious choice.

It’s important to note that ‘Eternals’ has faced a challenging reception since its release, and this context is significant. The film has been categorized among some of the less favorably received recent MCU entries, alongside ‘The Marvels’, ‘Black Widow’, and ‘Captain America: Brave New World’, receiving mixed critical feedback.

Some analysts suggest that the sheer scale of ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ may be the real reason for the Eternals’ absence, rather than any creative bias. One theory posits that Marvel may have felt any Eternals character would be overshadowed given the multitude of heroes already included in the film. It’s also worth mentioning that the Eternals are not the only group missing entirely, as the same report indicated no representation from ‘The Marvels’ either.

Others see a glimmer of hope for the future. Since Richard Madden still has connections to the Russo brothers through unrelated projects, some fans are optimistic that a few Eternals could eventually appear in ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’, even if ‘Doomsday’ turns out to be a dead end for them.

For now, the situation seems quite clear. The ‘Eternals’ are sitting this one out, and whether that changes for ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ or never happens at all will depend on Marvel’s strategy for a team that introduced significant cosmic stakes without a clear plan to follow through.

With ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ set to unite heroes from across the multiverse this December, do you think leaving the Eternals out entirely was the right decision, or should Marvel have made room for at least one of them before their storylines are forgotten for good?