Avengers: Doomsday Set Photos Suggest Unexpected Return of a Defenders Character, as Marvel Pays King Charles Millions for Windsor Location Shoot

Marvel is reportedly paying King Charles “millions” to shoot Avengers: Doomsday on the grounds of UK royal residence Windsor Castle — where the latest set photos suggest the return of another surprise Marvel character.

Construction work has begun within Windsor’s parkland on several Avengers: Doomsday sets, including one named as “Annie Reynolds’ House” in planning permission documents submitted to a local council. Annie is the mother of Thunderbolts*/New Avengers’ Bob Reynolds, suggesting we’ll see more childhood flashbacks to this location, revealing more of Sentry/The Void’s childhood.

Now, The Irish Sun reports that a second set is named “Luke Cage’s House” — a name Marvel fans haven’t heard in a good few years. The bulletproof Harlem hero was last seen in 2018, during the second (and final) season of his Netflix TV series that shared a universe with Daredevil, Jessica Jones, and Iron Fist. Cage crossed over with those other shows for team-up series The Defenders, a small-screen version of The Avengers, before Netflix cancelled all of its Marvel line-up when rival streaming service Disney+ was announced.

Marvel is known for its secrecy, with productions typically listed under codenames and key scenes (such as Avengers Endgame’s funeral) shot with even the actors involved sometimes unaware of what is going on. And yet while this could still be some kind of elaborate decoy, fans are trying to work out what’s going on, and why Luke Cage might be returning.

Photos of the “Luke Cage’s House” location show a classic rural-style U.S. house painted mustard yellow. While the setting does not appear to be Harlem, fans have pointed to the colour as being the same shade associated with the character during his Netflix run.

In the past few years, Marvel has begun reintegrating The Defenders back into the MCU, via guest appearances from Charlie Cox as Daredevil in various projects before the launch of Disney+ reboot Daredevil: Born Again, and the reappearance of Jessica Jones (Krysten Ritter) in the show’s next season. Daredevil spin-off character The Punisher is also getting a TV special, after which he will then reportedly appear opposite Tom Holland in Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

The exact amount paid to King Charles in order to use Windsor’s grounds is unclear, though it is estimated to be in the millions. Windsor’s official land owner — Crown Estates — frequently uses money from film productions to help pay for pay for the upkeep of its land, though also pays the King a quarter of its profits each year.

Could Charles himself make a cameo? Sadly, it seems unlikely. The King is understood to be holidaying in Scotland at Balmoral in early August, when the sets are due to be used.

Photo by Max Mumby/Indigo/Getty Images.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social