Avengers: Doomsday will be a history-making effort for longtime Marvel veteran Ian McKellen in his return as Magneto. Already boasting close to three dozen A-list names from the MCU and legacy Marvel films, Doomsday will break countless records from various angles upon its debut this year. Due to the inclusion of the X-Men, these records will continue to pile up on top of one another.
With his debut in the newest Avengers: Doomsday trailer, Sir Ian McKellen becomes the oldest actor to be in the principal cast of an MCU movie. At the time of Doomsday's debut in theaters, McKellen will have celebrated his 87th birthday, which comes on May 23.
Avengers: Doomsday will be the sixt time McKellen reprises his role as Magneto in a Marvel film. After the original X-Men movie in 2000, McKellen has starred in X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Wolverine, X-Men: Days of Future Past, and now Avengers: Doomsday.
This will also be McKellen's first time starring in an MCU movie. His iconic co-star, Patrick Stewart, who plays Professor Charles Xavier, made his MCU debut in 2022's Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. Stewart will now also be the second-oldest actor to be in the principal cast for an MCU film with his Doomsday debut.
As for the record for the oldest actor of any level in MCU history, that honor belongs to Leon Lamar, who played Cornelius P. Willows, the assistant to Rhys Coiro's Donny Blaze, in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law's fourth episode. By the time that episode premiered, Lamar had celebrated his 104th birthday, making him older than any other MCU actor in history.
The 5 Next Oldest Actors After Ian McKellen in MCU History
Patrick Stewart - Avengers: Doomsday
Coming into Avengers: Doomsday next to McKellen will be Sir Patrick Stewart, who will make his ninth appearance in the greater Marvel Universe as Professor Charles Xavier. Barely younger than McKellen, Stewart will be 85 years old in July, which is only a few months before he makes his second appearance in the MCU.
Bringing the Omega-level telepath to the big screen in seven movies from 20th Century Fox's X-Men saga, Stewart made his MCU debut in 2022's Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, albeit in a role just bigger than a cameo. In Doomsday, he is expected to be one of the film's core stars alongside McKellen, rolling into action in his classic wheelchair next to the Avengers for the first time.
Harrison Ford - Captain America: Brave New World
Following the late William Hurt's death in 2022, Star Wars and Indiana Jones legend Harrison Ford took over the role of Thaddeus Ross in the MCU. Boasting over 80 movie and TV credits on his resume, Ford was 81 years old when he made his eagerly-awaited Marvel debut in 2024's Captain America: Brave New World.
Continuing the same story that Hurt laid out earlier in the MCU, Ford's take on Ross was elected President of the United States in Captain America 4. He was also given gamma-radiated pills provided by Tim Blake Nelson's Samuel Sterns, which eventually led to his transformation into the villainous Red Hulk.
Michael Douglas - Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania
Starting in 2015 at age 70, Oscar-winner Michael Douglas embraced a key supporting role as Hank Pym in the MCU's Ant-Man movies. By the time he made the most recent of his four live-action appearances in 2023's Ant-Man and The Wasp: Quantumania, Douglas was 78 years old (which likely will not end his time as a movie and TV star).
In Quantumania, Douglas's role was as big as it had been in any of his MCU movies, as Hank Pym worked with Scott Lang's daughter, Cassie, on a way to explore the Quantum Realm further. He also showed off more of his expertise with ants after going into the Quantum Realm, leading giant versions of the animals into battle against Kang the Conqueror.
Robert Redford - Captain America: The Winter Soldier
The late Robert Redford made his name for the Marvel Universe in one of the MCU's best movies, 2014's Captain America: The Winter Soldier, through his role as World Security Council Secretary Alexander Pierce. He was 77 years old by the time the sequel was released, and he also came back to reprise the role for the final live-action credit of his career at age 83 for a cameo in 2019's Avengers: Endgame.
Originally shown to be a force for peace and protection, Pierce led the manhunt for Captain America upon dubbing the Avenger a fugitive from SHIELD. He was eventually revealed to be one of the heads of Hydra upon the evil organization's rise from within SHIELD, but Nick Fury killed him during the film's climactic final battle.
Samuel L. Jackson - The Marvels
Almost nobody has as many credits across the greater Marvel Universe as Samuel L. Jackson, who has portrayed Colonel Nick Fury for well over a decade. First starting his tenure in the role in the post-credits scene from 2008's Iron Man, Jackson now has 15 MCU movie and TV show appearances under his belt, the most recent coming in 2023's The Marvels at age 75.
In The Marvels, Fury had transitioned to a position in outer space, working on the SABER space station alongside Monica Rambeau. Quickly learning about the entanglement problem that Rambeau, Carol Danvers, and Kamala Khan found themselves in, Fury jumped into action to fix their issue and help them search for the film's main villain, Dar-Benn.
Avengers: Doomsday will be the MCU's third movie released in Phase 6 and the fifth Avengers movie overall. Starring almost 30 MCU regulars and Marvel actors from past films, this story will show the Avengers, X-Men, Fantastic Four, and more teaming up to stop Robert Downey Jr.'s Victor Von Doom in his quest to destroy the multiverse. Avengers: Doomsday will debut in theaters on December 18, 2026.
Richard Nebens joined The Direct in March 2020, now serving as the site's Senior Writer and also working as an assistant editor and content creator. He started his journalism career as a hobby in 2019 and is passionate about sharing news and stories from the entertainment industry, especially comic book movies, comedy, and sci-fi. Richard looks to expand his knowledge about movies and TV every day, and he is eager to stay locked into the latest releases and breaking news at every opportunity.
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