The Fox X-Men movie universe made a lot of mistakes, but the Marvel Cinematic Universe might be able to rectify some of them with the original X-Men appearing in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. Recently, the Marvel Cinematic Universe shocked fans by introducing the cast of Avengers: Doomsday, revealing that many unexpected Fox X-Men cast members will be joining the franchise in the upcoming crossover films. This provides the series with the opportunity to rectify some of the mistakes of the past.
The Fox X-Men movies had their fair share of faults, with even the best of them being certainly flawed superhero stories. That’s especially true for the original trilogy, which the cast of Avengers: Doomsday will supposedly be pulling from most heavily. Both the Fox franchise and the Marvel Cinematic Universe themselves have made many blunders with the X-Men that this exciting casting choice can finally fix.
10
Alan Cumming’s Nightcrawler Is Back
By far the least expected X-Man to ever return
Each announcement of a returning mutant in Avengers: Doomsday has varying degrees of surprise ᴀssociated with them, from the relatively expected reveal of Kelsey Grammer’s return to the utter shock of James Marsden’s Cyclops. But for what it’s worth, the return of Alan Cumming’s Nightcrawler might be the single most unexpected namedrop out of the entire reveal. Only the most astute will realize that Alan Cumming played Nightcrawler in X2, difficult to recognize buried under layers of blue makeup and scarification.
Despite being a normally comedic actor, Alan Cumming played Nightcrawler as seriously as the grave, giving a true gravitas to the character’s inner turmoil as a prosecuted demon-looking mutant with a deep sense of piety despite his circumstances. Sadly, Cumming only ever appeared as Nightcrawler in X2, with the character eventually recast with Kodi Smit-McPhee in the rebooted X-Men timeline. Smit-McPhee certainly does a serviceable job, but Cumming’s long-deserved return is far more of an exciting prospect.
9
Avengers: Doomsday Is Bringing Back James Marsden’s Cyclops
The great actor has a chance to redeem himself
If there’s one actor who was truly done dirty in the original Fox X-Men continuity, it’s James Marsden, who played Scott Summers, a.k.a. Cyclops. In the comics, Cyclops is the field leader of the X-Men, an unshakable activist whose zealous beliefs, charm, and cool head lead the superhero team to greatness. James Marsden’s sharp handsomeness was perfect for Cyclops, and films like The Notebook and Enchanted more than proved he had the acting range to spare.
Tragically, Cyclops spends most of his time in the Fox X-Men movies whining about Jean Grey and being overshadowed by Wolverine, undercutting the true potential the casting had. Considering how cool the MCU was able to make Cyclops in X-Men ’97, it could be that Marsden finally gets the chance to play the Scott Summers he could always have been. Cyclops should be the true focal point of the X-Men, their biggest representative in the MCU films to come.
8
We’re Finally Getting Channing Tatum’s Gambit In The X-Men
He really did make a name for himself
One of the most unbelievable cameos in ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine was the sudden appearance of Channing Tatum’s Gambit. The casting was an homage to the canceled Gambit solo movie starring Tatum that was never quite able to get off the ground despite the actor’s clear love for the character, taking the time to learn card tricks and perfect his Cajun drawl. Gambit stole the show in ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine with his sly delivery, awesome fight scenes, and hilariously unintelligible voice.
Channing Tatum clearly did his best to make his one sH๏τ at ever getting to play the card-slinging mutant again count, and it more than paid off, convincing the MCU to bring him back for Avengers: Doomsday. Now that audiences have finally gotten a taste of Channing Tatum’s meme-worthy Gambit, it’s clear that the loss of his solo movie is one of the biggest defeats of the Fox X-Men universe. At least the MCU will be able to mitigate this mistake with even more Gambit.
7
The X-Men’s Presence Will Make Secret Wars More Comic Accurate
Mutants are a big deal in the original story
Technically not a mistake on Fox Studios’ behalf, the Marvel Cinematic Universe moving forwards with big crossover stories from the comics heavily featuring the X-Men, despite not having the licensing for the mutants represented a big loss. After Avengers: Doomsday, the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s next major crossover film will be Avengers: Secret Wars. The film will be based on the comic of the same name, in which characters across the Marvel universe are teleported to a mysterious new planet to battle each other at the behest of the all-powerful Beyonder.
The X-Men are a hugely important aspect of the original comic story, notably choosing to form their own faction amid the chaos of Battleworld distinct from the villains or the rest of the heroes. Considering how much the Marvel Cinematic Universe lost out by already moving forward with big crossover adaptations not featuring the X-Men, re-introducing them in such an event is a phenomenal idea. It seems as though the franchise finally understands the importance of mutants in the Marvel mythos.
6
The Post-Credits Scene Of The Marvels Actually Makes Sense
Now that Kelsey Grammer’s Beast is officially returning
Another mistake more on the Marvel Cinematic Universe side of things that has already raised some troubling questions was the presence of Beast in one of the post-credits scenes of The Marvels. There, Kelsey Grammer’s Dr. Hank McCoy shockingly returned in the blue, shaggy flesh to welcome Monica Rambeau to a new parallel universe. For several years, this scene languished in confusion as Beast’s sole return to the movies remained an odd outlier.
With the casting announcement of Avengers: Doomsday, this scene finally makes a modicum of sense. Kelsey Grammer’s Beast will be an exciting performance to see more of in the MCU, with the former sitcom star piloting the polite yet animalistic genius with an adorable flair. Nicholas Hoult’s version of Beast may be great in a different way, but Grammer’s more comic-accurate incarnation who doesn’t skimp on time in the makeup chair will be a much more welcome sight.
5
Wolverine isn’t Overshadowing The X-Men
Unlike throughout the entire Fox franchise
Getting back to the mistakes of the Fox movie series, one issue that plagued many of the X-Men movies was the over-reliance of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. While the performance is an iconic one, to be sure, the series allowed Wolverine to totally eclipse every other mutant in importance. It wasn’t enough that Logan received not one, not two, but three solo films, but he was also the major protagonist of every pre-time skip film in the entire franchise.
This is made all the more strange by the fact that, outside of his solo series, Wolverine isn’t that major of a character in the mainline X-Men comics. With Hugh Jackman returning once again in ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine, it would be easy to worry that this issue would continue to the MCU versions of the mutants. Luckily, Hugh Jackman’s absence in the initial reveal of Avengers: Doomsday‘s cast implies that the rest of the mutants will finally have more of a chance to shine.
4
Ian McKellen’s Magneto And Patrick Stewart’s Professor X Will Be Together Again
The old friends never got a true send-off together
Two returning names to the Avengers: Doomsday roster of X-Men some fans have found contention with are Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. The return of the octogenarian actors to a superhero franchise lends some worrying truth to ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine’s ““Till you’re 90!” joke, and Xavier has already died on screen three times by now. But the pair’s reappearance gives a valuable opportunity for something the original films somehow missed out on.
Despite being so dramatically important to one another’s characters, the relationship between Magneto and Professor X never gets a satisfying resolution in the original X-Men timeline. They begrudgingly work together in the post-apocalyptic future of X-Men: Days of Future Past, but whether they’re able to resolve their difference on humanity and mutantkind is never explored. If nothing else, the two might finally have a satisfying conclusion to the evolution of their relationship as friends and enemies.
3
Rebecca Romijn’s Mystique Can Redeem Jennifer Lawrence’s Apathy
The biggest downgrade in X-Men movie history
Part of what makes the Avengers: Doomsday casting announcement so exciting is the fact that it’s the original X-Men actors, rather than the new timeline replacements, that are coming back into the fold. That’s not to say that the recasted actors playing the younger versions of the X-Men are any bad, just that they simply aren’t as iconic. That is, with the glaring exception of Jennifer Lawrence’s Mystique, which certainly left something to be desired as the new timeline continued.
Rebecca Romijn was amazing as the femme fatale Mystique, conveying her ᴅᴇᴀᴅliness, conviction, and hidden kindness in so few words. Meanwhile, Jennifer Lawrence phoned in her last few expeditions as the character with wooden performances, constantly finding excuses to stay out of the makeup chair and keep Mystique from using her default form. After seeing such a blatant downgrade, it will be great for Mystique to be played by someone actually excited to slip into the skin of the mutant as Romijn publicly has been.
2
The Original X-Men Can Have A Better Final Movie Appearance
For those that still need one, anyway
Probably the worst thing about the original Fox X-Men series was the sheer gulf in quality between films. In particular, X-Men: The Last Stand is widely considered to be one of the worst X-Men films by a long way, sadly remaining the last movie appearance for many classic X-Men actors. Even for those that have shown up since, most have only been able to do so as mere background characters, such as Kelsey Grammer’s cameo in The Marvels.
Leaving X-Men: The Last Stand alone as the final real appearance of Kelsey Grammer’s Beast, Rebecca Romajin’s Mystique, and especially James Marsden’s Cyclops would have been an abysmally sad prospect. These actors certainly deserve to have their efforts rewarded with a better final goodbye. Considering their average age, it’s very possible that Avengers: Doomsday or Avengers: Secret Wars will be just that.
1
The X-Men Will Get To Interact With Other Marvel Characters
Something the Fox movies never got to do
All in all, it’s simply exciting to see the X-Men finally get to interact with non-mutant superheroes on the big screen. Back when Marvel was financially struggling, they sold the movie rights to popular characters like the X-Men to various studios, keeping the mutants and the rest of the Marvel universe at a far remove for a long time. Even though Fox had the opportunity for a Fantastic Four crossover with the X-Men, the mutants were sadly kept firmly isolated in their own world.
Having mutants be an existing factor alongside other supernatural beings like aliens, wizards, and tech geniuses will be a good thing for the health of the franchise. Iconic interactions in the comics will finally be able to be realized on the big screen, from Spider-Man and Wolverine’s friendly bickering to Cyclops’ ideological clashes with Captain America. This was by far the biggest sin of the Fox X-Men franchise’s mere existence.
Upcoming MCU Movies
-
Thunderbolts*
- Release Date
-
May 2, 2025
Powered by
-
The Fantastic Four: First Steps
- Release Date
-
July 25, 2025
Powered by
-
Avengers: Doomsday (2026)
Powered by
-
MCU Spider-Man 4
- Release Date
-
July 24, 2026
Powered by
-
Avengers: Secret Wars
- Release Date
-
May 7, 2027
Powered by
