Marvel Studios may have just pulled off the strangest — and most successful — stunt in superhero marketing history. In a five-hour-plus livestream event that unfolded on Wednesday, the studio very slowly unveiled the cast of Avengers: Doomsday one painful chair at a time. The event, which began at 8AM PT and ran for a marathon 5 hours and 27 minutes, racked up a jaw-dropping 275 million digital views, making it Marvel’s most-watched livestream ever — even topping the debut trailer for Avengers: Infinity War and any of the studio’s red carpet premieres. We’re just encouraging them at this point folks, come on!
Now for the boring numbers part. The stunt generated 3.1 million social media mentions, with #AvengersDoomsday trending at #1 on Twitter/X for over 7 hours and yielding more than 55 distinct trending terms throughout the day. Deadline reported that audience engagement grew hour over hour.
What Exactly Was The ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ Chair Stunt All About?

The conceit was simple enough: unveil 27 cast member chairs, one by one, on a minimalist set. The execution? Eh, it was a bit much. The Fantastic Four: First Steps lineup was officially unveiled, with Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm, and Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing.
Then came the real multiversal chaos: the return of (some of) the OG X-Men. That’s right — Patrick Stewart (Charles Xavier), Ian McKellen (Magneto), Rebecca Romijn (Mystique), Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler), James Marsden (Cyclops), Kelsey Grammer (Beast), and Channing Tatum (finally as Gambit) all had chairs waiting for them.
The stream also confirmed the involvement of the Thunderbolts* ensemble, with Florence Pugh, Wyatt Russell, and David Harbour joining the Doomsday ranks, alongside MCU regulars like Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Letitia Wright, Paul Rudd, Simu Liu, Winston Duke, Hannah John-Kamen, Tenoch Huerta Mejía, Lewis Pullman, Danny Ramirez, Tom Hiddleston, and — yes — Robert Downey Jr.
Downey added more fuel to the fire when he posted on Instagram asking if that was the full cast, before the official Marvel Studios account replied with: “There’s always room for more…”. What next? Place cards at a dinner table announcing Mark Ruffalo and Chris Evans?
Directed once again by Joe and Anthony Russo, the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday is set to hit theaters May 1, 2026. Stay tuned to Collider for more chair updates.

Source: Deadline