Halle Berry first played Storm in 2000's X-Men and reprised the role on several occasions before bidding farewell to Ororo Munroe in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014). However, with the Multiverse in play heading into Avengers: Doomsday, the hope is that she might not be done yet.
Last March, Marvel Studios announced that Patrick Stewart (Professor X), Ian McKellen (Magneto), Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler), Rebecca Romijn (Mystique), James Marsden (Cyclops), Kelsey Grammer (Beast), and Deadpool & Wolverine's Channing Tatum (Gambit) will all star in Avengers: Doomsday.
In what proved to be a pretty male-heavy cast reveal, fans were quick to point out the absence of X-Men franchise mainstays, Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), Storm (Halle Berry), and Rogue (Anna Paquin).
Conflicting reports about Berry's Avengers: Doomsday status have followed, but the actress has seemingly brought an end to the speculation while promoting Crime 101 alongside Chris Hemsworth.
During a recent appearance on BBC Radio 1Xtra, the Oscar-winner was asked outright if she's in the Marvel Studios movie and responded, "Yeah, I would love to, but you know... No"
There's always a chance she's been told to keep her return secret. Berry may also be part of the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday reshoots, which are expected to add several characters who weren't present during principal photography.
We could have an explanation for Berry's absence, though, as scooper @MyTimeToShineH has pointed out that "unless they change it during reshoots her character is dead." This lines up with what we've heard about several X-Men fan-favourites being dead when we catch up with the team in Avengers: Doomsday.
Whether that's been done for storyline reasons, to cut costs, or because some actors didn't want to return (or asked for too much money) remains a mystery to us...
Avengers: Doomsday officially stars Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Winston Duke, Tom Hiddleston, Sebastian Stan, Letitia Wright, Paul Rudd, and Robert Downey Jr. Wyatt Russell, Simu Liu, Tenoch Huerta Mejia, Mabel Cadena, Florence Pugh, Danny Ramirez, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Lewis Pullman, and India Rose Hemsworth all make their Avengers franchise debuts.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps leads Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn join them, as do X-Men franchise stars Kelsey Grammer, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, with Deadpool & Wolverine star Channing Tatum. The trades have pointed to Ryan Reynolds and Hayley Atwell also appearing in Avengers: Doomsday.
The Russo Brothers direct Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars from a screenplay by Stephen McFeely, with whom they previously collaborated on the Avengers and Captain America franchises. Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness's Michael Waldron has also been enlisted to help.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released on December 18, with Avengers: Secret Wars scheduled to arrive on December 17, 2027.