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Halle Berry’s name was one of the very few OG Fox X-Men actor names absent from Marvel’s recent 5-hour long reveal of the cast of “Avengers: Doomsday.” Still, Marvel has hinted that even more names are coming, which was probably on the mind of an Associated Press interviewer when she told Berry that she hoped to see her name on one of the chairs in the next announcement. The “Crime 101” star’s answer was pretty definitive.

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Laughing, Halle Berry responded, “Well, keep waiting because it’s not going to be there. It’s not going to be there.”

There are a few reasons why it’s difficult to take Berry’s response at face value. Remembering the history of Marvel PR may be the top reason. Anyone following the seemingly endless media lead-up to 2021’s “Spider-Man: No Way Home” will remember both Andrew Garfield and Charlie Cox assuring interviewers they didn’t appear in the movie, only for the movie itself to prove otherwise.

Then there is the simple sense that Berry is essential to “Avengers: Doomsday.” The infamous chair announcement revealed Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, and James Marsden will all appear in the film. For Berry to be left out feels strange.

In fact Storm has already, in a sense, entered the MCU. A version of Storm who had the powers of Thor appears in “What If…?” Season 3, voiced by Alison Sealy-Smith of “X-Men: The Animated Series” and “X-Men ’97” fame.

Even if it does turn out that Berry isn’t in “Avengers: Doomsday,” there’s always “Avengers: Secret Wars.” Not to mention that whatever comes next after “Secret Wars, should the X-Men of the early 2000s become the X-Men of the MCU.

Of course, Halle Berry’s name wasn’t the only one from the OG X-Men cast left out of the “Avengers: Doomsday” announcement. The names of Hugh Jackman, Famke Janssen, Anna Paquin, Aaron Stanford, Elliot Page, and Shawn Ashmore were all conspicuously absent.

Berry first played Ororo Munroe/Storm in 2000’s “X-Men.” She returned to the role for 2003’s “X2: X-Men United,” 2006’s “X-Men: The Last Stand,” and 2014’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past.” Alexandra Shipp took up the role for 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse, 2018’s “Deadpool 2,” and finally in 2019’s “X-Men: Dark Phoenix.”

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