Marvel will recast MCU’s former main characters in future films

Kevin Feige is reluctant to call the move a ‘reboot’

Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige has confirmed that there are plans to recast major characters like the X-Men, Iron Man and Captain America.

Speaking to the press on Friday, Feige announced that after the 2027 release of franchise team-up movie Avengers: Secret Wars that the original X-Men actors, many of whom are returning to the roles they played in the 2000s and 2010s, will be played by others going forward.

Feige said that Marvel Studios is “utilising” Secret Wars “not just to round out the stories we’ve been telling post-Endgame”, but that “it very, very much sets us up for the future... Endgame, literally, was about endings. Secret Wars is about is about beginnings."

The concept of the 2015 Secret Wars comic revolves around multiple timelines collapsing into one, causing numerous characters to be plunged into the main Marvel continuity.

Kevin Feige (Getty Images)

Feige indicated that the forthcoming X-Men solo movie, set to be helmed by Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier, is where fans can expect that convergence to happen.

“Reboot can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. Reset, singular timeline – we’re thinking along those lines,” he explained. “X-Men is where that will happen next.”

At the moment, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden and Kelsey Grammer will be playing their respective X-Men characters in 2026’s Avengers: Doomsday.

However, Feige, while talking about other franchises, indicated that major MCU characters like Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, memorably played by Robert Downey Jr and Chris Evans, respectively, will also be recast moving forward.

“Amy Pascal and David Heyman are now searching for a new James Bond. David [Corenswet], the new Superman – he was awesome. That will always be the case.

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“I think it’s hard for anybody to do that when an actor has done such a great role,” he added. “How are they going to ever replace Sean Connery [as James Bond], right?”

Robert Downey Jr as Iron Man and Steve Rogers as Captain America in ‘The Avengers’ (AP Photo/Disney)

Elsewhere, Feige hinted that Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman will be returning to the MCU following 2024’s box office hit Deadpool & Wolverine. Although the characters haven’t been announced for any future MCU film at this stage, Feige said: “I think there is more fun to be had with both of those characters. But we’ll see where.”

In July 2024, it was confirmed that Downey Jr would be returning to Marvel to play the villain Doctor Doom in Avengers: Doomsday. The film, set for release in December 2026, features a huge cast including Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Mackie, Letitia Wright, Paul Rudd, Florence Pugh, Sebastian Stan and Pedro Pascal among others.