Marvel announcements may have been scarce at Destination D23 2025, but Marvel Studios didn't let the moment pass without any new Avengers: Doomsday teases. In a special star-studded teaser, Marvel chose to spotlight two major Fox X-Men characters.
During Destination D23's Disney Studios panel on August 30, Marvel Studios' exclusive Avengers: Doomsday teaser was a rapid montage of the film's live-streamed cast chair reveal, intercut with footage and dialogue from the cast's Marvel characters. Interestingly enough, of the Fox X-Men stars reprising their roles for Avengers 5, the teaser speficially featured Patrick Stewart's Professor X and James Marsden's Cyclops.
Cyclops' dialogue was taken from 2000's X-Men where he says, "If anything happens, I'll take care of them.” As for Professor X, his quote was lifted from 2003's X2: X-Men United where he warns that, "a war is coming:"
"There are forces in this world, both mutant and human alike, who believe that a war is coming."
While Avengers: Doomsday is confirmed to be a Multiversal showdown between Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.) and the MCU's Fantastic Four, Avengers, New Avengers, Wakandans, and the Fox X-Men, much of the plot and the extent and specifics of the X-Men's involvement remains a mystery. But since these various groups are expected to unite against Doctor Doom, Marvel's choice to have Cyclops and Professor X lead the the Avengers: Doomsday teaser may be indicative of their leadership roles in the Multiversal film.
Patrick Stewart's Charles Xavier and James Marsden's Cyclops will be joined by five other X-Men stars, including Kelsey Grammer as Hank McCoy/Beast, Ian McKellen as Magneto, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, and Channing Tatum as Gambit. Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters on December 18, 2026.
Avengers: Doomsday X-Men Leaders Revealed?
In reminding audiences of the X-Men's role in Avengers: Doomsday at Destination D23, Patrick Stewart's Charles Xavier was an obvious choice, especially his character is the leader and founder of the X-Men. However, focusing on James Marsden's Cyclops is a bit more intriguing.
While Cyclops was a founding member of the X-Men and Xavier's second-in-command, in terms of marketing, it's surprising that Marvel opted to feature his hero in place of Ian McKellen's Magneto (who's sporting a new look in Avengers 5?) given his leading status in the previous X-Men films. Therefore, it's possible that Marsden's mutant will be filling a larger leadership role in the upcoming movie, possibly more in-line with what audiences saw from Cyclops in X-Men '97 (and post Xavier's perceived death).
If so, the question now is which Marvel heroes will step up to lead the MCU's heroes since the Avengers and New Avengere are two separate groups and some new MCU heroes aren't affiliated with a team at all. If Professor X and Cyclops are, in fact, leading their team of mutants, maybe the Avengers will have something to learn from the instructors of the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters.
