Ever since Disney bought 20th Century Fox, fans have been dying to see the X-Men appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After years of waiting, we will finally see these mutant heroes appear alongside the likes of Thor, Captain America, and the Fantastic Four in Avengers: Doomsday. The team’s big screen comeback has made this superhero blockbuster one of the most highly anticipated movies of 2026.
Marvel finally gave audiences a glimpse at some of the X-Men in a teaser trailer for Avengers: Doomsday. In it, we see Professor X’s school dark, empty, and ruined, almost like a haunted house. The trailer also suggests that the Professor (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellen), two long-time foes, will be allies once again in the coming war against Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.).
To top it all off, the trailer shows Cyclops (James Marsden) unleashing his fury with a massive blast as Sentinels march in the background. All this invokes memories of X-Men: Days of Future Past, which is arguably the best mainline X-Men film. At this point, it looks like the X-Men will never be the same as they head into Doomsday, as the film has helped revitalize the heroes and paved the way for a bold future.
The X-Men embrace their unique comic book origins
I loved how the MCU has reinvented the X-Men in recent years by bringing the team members back to their roots. We saw Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine finally wearing his iconic yellow supersuit in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine. In the same film, actor Channing Tatum fulfilled his longtime dream of playing Gambit, complete with his own comic-accurate costume.
Marvel also rebooted X-Men: The Animated Series with the Disney+ series, X-Men ’97. This series did a better job of portraying heroes like Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Storm than Fox’s films ever did, as the latter put Wolverine in the forefront, with his teammates receiving increasingly smaller roles.
After these two hit projects, Avengers: Doomsday seems to be following their lead with its portrayal of the X-Men. The film’s teaser showed Cyclops wearing a blue and yellow costume, very similar to the one that the character wore in the comics during the ’90s. Even the Sentinels appear to be modeled after their comic book counterparts.
Though Wolverine may return with Deadpool in Doomsday, the film’s current cast list suggests the story will focus more on X-Men like Professor X, Magneto, Cyclops, and their teammates. The film could do these characters justice after Wolverine spent years as the face of the X-Men film franchise.
Marvel may be relying on invoking nostalgia with the X-Men to bring audiences back to theaters. Nevertheless, Doomsday shows that the MCU continues to embrace the source material’s more distinctive visual style. Fox’s X-Men movies seemed too afraid to be comic book films, giving the heroes generic black leather suits and mocking their original, colorful costumes.
Not only did this make it hard for the movies to stand out from other sci-fi films, but it also seemed to alienate fans of the comic source material. Though Doomsday‘s story will likely have a dark, heavy tone, it has already dared to capture the style and spirit of the comics.
The X-Men could get a proper end and a new beginning
It seems Avengers: Doomsday will end with the deaths of many of Marvel’s most beloved heroes, including the X-Men, in a cataclysmic event similar to Thanos’s Snap in Avengers: Infinity War. It’s unclear if all those who have died will be brought back to life in Avengers: Secret Wars, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world if we don’t see Fox’s X-Men again.
This wouldn’t be the first time we’ve seen the X-Men die on the big screen. In fact, we’ve seen Stewart’s Professor X die three times now. However, it feels like this could be the last time we see many of the actors we’ve associated with the X-Men play their characters. Despite Deadpool’s words, Disney may not be able to have the entire original cast play the X-Men until they’re 90.
Though Fox’s X-Men may die once more in Avengers: Doomsday, it looks like they will finally go out in a blaze of glory.
The X-Men didn’t get the kind of glorious ending Wolverine had in Logan. For one thing, most of them were killed off-screen, ruining what should’ve been their happy ending in Days of Future Past. They also didn’t receive a satisfying sendoff in the widely reviled Dark Phoenix, which was originally supposed to lead into another film that would continue Jean Grey’s (Sophie Turner) journey.
While the X-Men may die, it seems like they will be brought back in some form after Secret Wars, which will reportedly be a “soft reboot” of the MCU. Marvel has already greenlit a solo X-Men movie helmed by Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier. We could see a new lineup of actors portray the X-Men in the new MCU, which could help the franchise move forward and present something fresh for audiences.
We may not see Fox’s X-Men together again after Avengers: Doomsday, but the way they are presented in the film may help them end their decades-long run on a high note. The resulting success could also set a new standard for how the X-Men should be portrayed in live-action, preserving their legacy in the new MCU.
