The Russo Brothers have explained why Avengers: Doomsday is missing some of the most beloved female X-Men heroes ever put on screen. The December blockbuster reunites much of the cast from Fox’s original X-Men films, with Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, James Marsden, Kelsey Grammer, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, and Channing Tatum all reprising their roles. Unfortunately, three fan favorites never made that list. The movie’s casting announcements skipped Halle Berry’s Storm, Famke Janssen’s Jean Grey, and Anna Paquin’s Rogue altogether.
Speaking with Entertainment Tonight at San Diego Comic-Con, directors Joe and Anthony Russo confirmed the absent mutants still have an influence on the story. Anthony Russo refused to spell out what happened to the trio, but he teased that all three feed into the film in a meaningful way. That makes this the studio’s clearest signal yet that the missing women factor into the plot instead of vanishing without explanation.
The moment came when ET’s Denny Directo asked whether Doomsday would finally settle the fates of Storm, Jean Grey, and Rogue. Anthony Russo dodged the specifics while stressing that the missing mutants "feed into this movie in a very meaningful way:"
"We won’t answer specifically. But I will say this. The history of the X-Men is really special to us. All of those characters are loved, and we thought a lot about their history. So, they feed into this movie in a very meaningful way."
His answer follows months of blunter comments from the actresses themselves. Berry repeatedly shut down talk of an appearance, telling AP Entertainment in April 2025 that fans hoping to spot her name in a casting reveal should "keep waiting, because it’s not going to be there."
Janssen offered a similar account, revealing that Marvel never approached her about playing Jean Grey again, though she remains open to a comeback down the line. Paquin’s name never surfaced in any of the film’s official cast reveals either.
Avengers: Doomsday pits Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom against the Avengers, the Fantastic Four, and the returning X-Men, and its first full trailer debuted during the Comic-Con festivities. The movie opens in theaters on December 18, while its second chapter, Avengers: Secret Wars, closes out the Multiverse Saga on December 17, 2027.
How Will Storm, Jean Grey, and Rogue Factor Into Avengers: Doomsday?
Anthony Russo’s comments suggest the trio will influence the story without actually appearing on screen. This raises intriguing questions about the scope of their influence and how it will manifest on screen. There's a big possibility that the film may treat Storm, Jean Grey, and Rogue as casualties whose loss hangs over every mutant who survived long enough to meet the Avengers.
Without making an appearance, this would likely be revealed through dialogue and imagery that the audience must piece together.
The reveals from Marvel’s marketing make this grim scenario very plausible. A teaser from January showed the X-Mansion in ruins while a handful of mutants mourned among the rubble, and a giant robotic foot stomped behind Cyclops as he fired an optic blast in the air in anguish.
The new Comic-Con trailer pushed the idea further when Doom raised an army of Sentinels straight out of the ground. Those mutant-hunting machines terrorized the heroes of X-Men: Days of Future Past, and a Sentinel slaughter at the mansion would explain why so few members of the original team remain.
It's also possible that an incursion might be responsible for why they're not in the movie. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness defined the event as two or more universes colliding until they collapse, and the full trailer featured Professor X watching the sky turn red above the mansion, the most obvious sign of an Incursion unfolding in real time.
It could be that the Fox mutants’ universe suffered repeated collisions of this kind, leaving behind only a small band of survivors. If Storm, Jean Grey, and Rogue died holding back an Incursion, their sacrifice would give the remaining X-Men every reason to stand against Doom.
None of this closes the door on the three women, though. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige previously noted that some Doomsday characters remain unannounced, and it could be that Marvel is keeping these iconic female mutants under wraps to surprise fans in theaters.
Geraldo Amartey is a writer at The Direct. He joined the team in 2025, bringing with him four years of experience covering entertainment news, pop culture, and fan-favorite franchises for sites like YEN, Briefly and Tuko.
