MCU Star Reveals Avengers: Doomsday Experience Exceeded Expectations, “It Was Better [Than Expected]”

Spider-Man: Brand New Day will be front of mind for most MCU fans this week, as the long-awaited fourth installment in Tom Holland’s Spider-Man movies is finally hitting theaters. However, even as that movie reaches (perhaps) the peak of its excitement, Avengers: Doomsday remains on the horizon. Arguably, it’s the latter movie that will also carry the most weight between the two. While Spider-Man is a beloved MCU character, the success of Brand New Day won’t feel as fundamental to the future direction of the franchise overall as Doomsday does—although, given its early reviews and box office projections, it would be good news for the MCU if it was.

With Doomsday, though, the stakes feel incredibly high. This will be the first Avengers movie since Avengers: Endgame seven years ago, and in addition to that largely being seen as one of the MCU’s best movies, making it a tough act to follow already, the franchise overall hasn’t exactly been the most stable. For that reason, along with myriad others, fans are worried about whether Doomsday will meet or, even better, exceed their expectations. Only time will tell, of course, but in the meantime, one MCU star is already weighing in on Doomsday, and thankfully, it’s high praise.

Kathryn Newton Felt “Empowered” By Doomsday

Although Scott Lang/Ant-Man’s daughter Cassie was originally played by Abby Ryder Fortson in the Ant-Man movies, she has since been recast—multiple times, in fact. The five-year time jump at the beginning of Endgame required someone older to step into the role, and Emma Fuhrmann did so for that movie. However, after that, Cassie was recast once again in Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania. She is now played by Kathryn Newton, as she reportedly had the personality, wit, and physicality that the director, Peyton Reed, was looking for.

Now, Newton is returning to the role in Doomsday, and she evidently found the experience on set to be even better than she was expecting. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Newton said of the movie, “It was better [than expected]. The Russo brothers love these movies. I felt it, and I felt empowered.” Although she was (understandably) tight-lipped about the details of the movie, this is a promising update. In particular, the fact that the Russos are, according to Newton, still bringing a genuine love of the movies to their directorial roles is a good sign and hopefully something that will translate on screen as well as it did on set for Newton.

The fact that Newton used the word “empowered” is also notable, as something that has been raised as a concern within the fanbase, especially following the SDCC Marvel panel, is the absence of many beloved women in the MCU. In fact, the Russo brothers recently directly addressed the absence of many female X-Men characters in Doomsday, making it clear that they, too, are aware of this discourse among fans. While that remains a consideration for many, it is promising that Newton had such a positive experience.

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