Welcome to the MCU’s Mutant Era.
On March 26, Marvel Studios confirmed the cast of Avengers: Doomsday in a live stream video on the company’s YouTube page. Every 10 to 12 minutes, an actor’s chair is revealed, signaling their inclusion in the fifth Avengers film.
One of the biggest takeaways from the live stream is the additions of the X-Men. Actors reprising their X-Men characters for Doomsday include Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier/Professor X, Ian McKellen as Erik Lensherr/Magneto, Kelsey Grammer as Dr. Hank McCoy/Beast, Alan Cumming as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler, Rebecca Romijn as Raven Darkhölme/Mystique, James Marsden as Scott Summers/Cyclops, and Channing Tatum as Remy LeBeau/Gambit.
Stewart, McKellen, Romijn, and Marsden appeared in the original X-Men trilogy (2000-2006) for 20th Century Fox. Cumming first appeared as Nightcrawler in X2, while Grammer showed up in X-Men: The Last Stand. After his solo outing was canceled, Tatum finally played the role of Gambit in Deadpool & Wolverine.
Since Disney acquired 20th Century Fox, the X-Men have slowly been integrated into the MCU. Stewart first appeared in the MCU as Professor X in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Grammer made a cameo as Beast in the post-credits scene of The Marvels.
While Marvel did not announce the entire Doomsday cast, more X-Men casting news could be announced at a later date. It’s also possible Marvel wants to keep more X-Men appearances, including Hugh Jackman as Wolverine or Halle Berry as Storm, under wraps.
The Russo Brothers return to Marvel to direct Avengers: Doomsday, which opens in theaters on May 1, 2026. View the entire Avengers: Doomsday cast here.
Some of the best shots in Grok Imagine’s AI-made Odyssey don’t contain actors. Ancient landscapes stretch into the distance. Close-ups of grimy hands suggest people who have touched something rougher than a keyboard. For a few seconds, the illusion holds.
https://twitter.com/imagine/status/2113712964419063911
YouTube videos could soon look better without eating quite so much data, right? Thankfully, the platform plans to introduce a new video format called AV2 on its web player in early 2027, promising more efficient streaming and potentially fewer playback hiccups on slower internet connections. The big headline is a roughly 30% improvement in compression efficiency over AV1, YouTube's existing video format. That doesn't guarantee every video will use 30% less data, but it could make streaming a little easier on both internet connections and data allowances.
What is AV2, and why should viewers care?
YouTube is changing how its Home page works, giving viewers more control over what shows up there and making some of the app’s most-used sections easier to reach. Custom Feeds are now replacing the existing topic chips for eligible users, while YouTube is also testing a redesigned top bar on mobile that moves Subscriptions closer to the Home feed.
YouTube first started experimenting with Custom Feeds earlier this year, letting you type out what you wanted to watch and turning that request into its own stream of recommendations. Now, the feature is starting to look less like a side experiment and more like something YouTube actually wants people to use as part of their everyday Home page.