The X-Men will play a major role in Avengers: Doomsday against Doctor Doom, but if they had arrived in the Marvel Cinematic Universe a little earlier, a few of the mutants could have offered great help to the MCU’s heroes against Thanos. Multiple stars from Fox’s original X-Men franchise have been announced for the cast of Avengers: Doomsday, which was surprising.

Notably, the Avengers movie cast reveal did not include the two mutants that seemed like the safest bets for the film: Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and Ryan Reynolds’ ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool. However, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige confirmed that the film’s full cast had not been announced. Now, Reynolds has teased an Avengers appearance with a cryptic social media post, increasing ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool’s return chances.

With their healing factors and R-rated combat experience, ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool and Wolverine could have been worthy ᴀssets for the Avengers in the fight against Thanos. The same goes for Avengers: Doomsday‘s confirmed X-Men. In the past two Avengers movies, Thanos was shown to easily beat the Hulk hand-to-hand without even using an Infinity Stone, showing just how powerful the Marvel villain was.

As the MCU’s biggest villain to date, Thanos has often been used as a comparison when Marvel adds new powerful characters to the MCU. 2025 introduced a few in the form of Sentry, Franklin Richards, Red Hulk, and more. As the X-Men are one of the most powerful teams in Marvel Comics, some of its heroes could take on Thanos.

7

Mystique

First up is Mystique. The character has many uses when it comes to stealth missions, as she is one of the most skilled shape-shifters in the comics. To that end, Mystique could have pretended to be someone in Thanos’ inner circle, perhaps a member of the Black Order, like Proxima Midnight, or one of his daughters, Nebula and Gamora.

That way, she could help the Avengers from the inside, sabotaging Thanos’ plans without him knowing, or getting close to the villain as one of his daughters. However, Avengers: Infinity War showed that Thanos is not that easily fooled. As it stands, Tom Hiddleston’s Loki is the MCU’s most skilled character when it comes to tricking others.

He tried to do that to Thanos in the Avengers movie, but failed to stab him, with Thanos easily killing Loki after. As such, I have a hard time thinking that Mystique would have a different fate against the Mad тιтan. She would not beat him.

6

Nightcrawler

Nightcrawler will have a unique power among the Avengers: Doomsday cast. While Doctor Strange and other MCU magic users are known to open portals, Nightcrawler should be the only character in the movie with the power to teleport at will. In Avengers: Infinity War, we saw how Spider-Man became a nuisance to Thanos during their fight on тιтan due to portals.

Tom Holland’s Spider-Man kept coming out of portals and repeatedly kicking and punching Thanos. With his teleportation powers allowing him to perform an even more skilled version of that move, Nightcrawler could keep Thanos occupied for a time. However, the X-Men character would most likely work only as a distraction.

Since Nightcrawler will seemingly have his comics-accurate suit in Avengers: Doomsday, perhaps Marvel Studios could also give him his swords from the comics. With them, he could have made Thanos sweat for some time if he did not have the Infinity Stones, before ultimately losing.

5

Beast

Beast was one of the first X-Men characters to show up in the MCU, debuting in The Marvels‘ mid-credits scene. The character is an all-around great one to fight quite a few villains, though Thanos might be too much for him. As highlighted by his The Marvels debut, where he was checking in on Monica Rambeau and running tests, he is incredibly smart.

Had Beast been in Avengers: Infinity War and Endgame, he would have undoubtedly helped Iron Man and the Hulk with the Avengers’ time travel plans against Thanos. Beast, as his name suggests, is also known for his brute strength. However, Mark Ruffalo’s Hulk is stronger than him. Since the hero was easily beaten by Thanos in hand-to-hand combat, so would Beast.

4

Cyclops

Cyclops can finally be allowed to shine when James Marsden returns as the character in Avengers: Doomsday. Given the popularity of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, Cyclops never had the same major role in the X-Men movies that he has in the comics. Against Thanos, his leadership skills could have proved invaluable, helping Chris Evans’ Captain America coordinate a large team of heroes.

In terms of fighting, Cyclops’ optic blasts pack quite a punch. He could keep Thanos at bay for some time and cut through the villain’s army. If Marsden’s X-Men hero were to let loose, fully releasing the might of his optic blasts, he could even do some serious damage to Thanos — if the Infinity Stones were not involved.

3

Gambit

Gambit made his MCU debut in ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine. Channing Tatum showed the world that Marvel was right to finally allow him to play Gambit in live-action after his planned solo movie never happened. Gambit excelled in fight scenes, with gritty R-rated action showing that the hero has no problems killing, which would make him a powerful addition to the Avengers.

His power consists of imbuing objects with kinetic energy, making them explode. Gambit normally uses that on a deck of cards, which he used in many creative ways in ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine, including exploding villains’ heads. The Black Order and Thanos’ army would have a tough time with him. That said, I also think Gambit could kill Thanos.

Yes, the villain would need to be without the Infinity Stones for that to happen. X-Men ’97 showed how powerful Gambit can be if he is willing to sacrifice his life. In the animated series, the hero imbues his bones with kinetic energy, exploding himself to take out a giant Sentinel. If Tatum’s Gambit did the same, he could kill Thanos.

2

Charles Xavier

Charles Xavier is a unique case on the list. That is due to how Patrick Stewart’s Marvel hero would not be one to fight Thanos directly. After all, Charles has never been much of a fighter due to his condition. However, he can turn Thanos’ mind into a battlefield where he would have absolute control.

There are a few ways in which Professor X’s powers could be used. If Thanos is not as strong mentally as he is physically, then perhaps Charles could defeat him in his mind. The hero could also incapacitate him for enough time for the heroes to kill Thanos, take out the Infinity Gauntlet, or both.

1

Magneto

Magneto is one of Marvel’s most powerful mutants. A couple of characters, such as the Scarlet Witch and Captain Marvel, managed to give Thanos a hard time even when he had the Infinity Stones in his possession. I believe the same would go for Ian McKellen’s Magneto, who has shown time and again that his power is immense.

In the Avengers movies, Thanos notably wore golden armor. Well, Magneto would have a field day against the villain by exploiting that. Magneto could easily crush Thanos with his own armor, making one of his advantages a major weakness. With the amount of weapons, ships, and armor in Avengers: Endgame‘s final battle, the Avengers: Doomsday character could essentially take over the battlefield.