Avengers: Doomsday is missing countless iconic X-Men from the Fox era. That has bugged fans for the longest time, but a new Avengers: Endgame Encore theory may offer the most rational explanation, albeit a tragic one. The fifth Avengers crossover arrives in theaters December 18, and the X-Men are facing the biggest threat they've ever encountered in Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom. They won't be taking him on alone, though; the Avengers and the Fantastic Four join the fight as well.
Avengers: Endgame Encore may have quietly explained one of the biggest mysteries surrounding Doomsday. Marvel Studios' theatrical rerelease of the 2019 blockbuster arrives with brand-new footage that directly sets up the next Avengers movie, and one post-credits scene shows the TVA watching an incursion between Earth-10005, the original designated home of the Fox-era X-Men, and Earth-1127, a reality never before seen in the MCU.
The two realities fire missiles at each other, since the only known way to survive an incursion is to destroy the opposing Earth before the two collide. As Mobius, Casey, and O.B. of the TVA watch, more universes begin crashing into one another, until roughly 3,000 realities are falling at once. This prompts O.B. to conclude that "The Multiverse is collapsing."
If the reality housing the Fox universe already endured multiple incursions before the events of Doomsday, the tragic absence of several iconic mutants suddenly makes a lot more sense.
Footage from Doomsday also supports this. The X-Men teaser showed Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters in ruins, and the first full Doomsday trailer showed Charles Xavier looking up at a burning sky. A red sky is the classic comic book sign of an incursion, which suggests the one bearing down on the X-Men in the film could be the latest in a long line of crises their world has survived. One notable detail from the footage is that amidst the chaos, Xavier and Magneto sit down to a game of chess. Their calm suggests they have done this many times before.
It is worth noting, however, that even though the Fox X-Men universe is widely referred to as Earth-10005, the exact timeline these specific X-Men hail from remains unconfirmed. After all, it's already been established that many, if not all, of the characters from that universe are dead
There's another possibility worth considering. The Marvels' post-credits scene showed Kelsey Grammer's Beast in the alternate universe Monica Rambeau wakes up in, a reality Marvel is yet to name. The X-Men seen in the trailers could just as easily belong to that world. Regardless of their universe of origin, incursions offer the most probable explanation for why so many X-Men characters are missing.
Avengers: Doomsday Is Likely Missing Numerous X-Men Icons Due to Incursions
The confirmed X-Men lineup for Avengers: Doomsday includes Patrick Stewart as Professor X, Ian McKellen as Magneto, James Marsden as Cyclops, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, Kelsey Grammer as Beast, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, and Channing Tatum as Gambit. The roster has always seemed odd and random, with some notable omissions from the Fox films standing out.
Famke Janssen has confirmed she will not return as Jean Grey, admitting she doesn't know the film's storyline. Shawn Ashmore revealed in April 2025 that Marvel Studios never invited him back as Iceman. Halle Berry's Storm, Anna Paquin's Rogue, Elliot Page's Kitty Pryde, and Vinnie Jones' Juggernaut also remain unconfirmed, while Hugh Jackman's Wolverine and Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool continue to exist in rumor territory despite both actors publicly angling for a spot.
If the Fox reality already survived multiple incursions before Doomsday, those glaring omissions start to add up. Not everyone survives an all-out war between universes, so casualties are inevitable. Some of the most beloved mutants in Fox's franchise may have already lost their lives in earlier collisions, fighting to keep their world alive one crisis at a time.
Director Anthony Russo added fuel to the theory when asked whether the film would address the fates of Jean Grey, Storm, and Rogue. He chose his words carefully, but pointed to the franchise's legacy playing a role in the story:
"We won't answer specifically, but I will say this, the history of the X-Men is really special to us. All of those characters are loved, and we thought a lot about their history. So, they feed into this movie in a very meaningful way."
Joe Russo offered one more tease in the same interview, saying, "There are always more surprises."
Doomsday serves as a final homage to the Fox X-Men reality, which makes it all the more striking that some of the characters who made that era special will be absent. Perhaps the movie will honor them by acknowledging their fates and how they gave their lives for the teammates they left behind. If we're lucky, we might get flashback footage showing how they met their end.
Geraldo Amartey is a writer at The Direct. He joined the team in 2025, bringing with him four years of experience covering entertainment news, pop culture, and fan-favorite franchises for sites like YEN, Briefly and Tuko.
