The X-Men’s Role in AVENGERS: SECRET WARS Is Reportedly Much Bigger Than We Thought
Marvel’s mutants may be heading toward something much bigger than a nostalgic reunion.
While Avengers: Doomsday is already bringing several familiar X-Men actors back into the Marvel fold, a new rumor claims the team will have an even larger presence in Avengers: Secret Wars.
Rather than showing up for a few crowd-pleasing cameos, the X-Men could become an important part of the story as Marvel Studios closes out the Multiverse Saga and prepares the MCU for its next era.
Scooper MyTimeToShineHello recently claimed on X that the mutants will have substantial material in the movie, saying: “The X-Men material in Avengers Secret Wars is bigger than most people are bracing for. Not just cameos.”
Kevin Feige has confirmed that Secret Wars will effectively “reset” the MCU into a “singular timeline,” with a recast X-Men team eventually becoming part of that world. Marvel Studios also has a ten-year plan involving X-Men characters.
Before we get there, Avengers: Doomsday is bringing back a pretty wild collection of actors from Fox’s X-Men movies. Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Kelsey Grammer, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, and James Marsden are all returning. Channing Tatum will also once again play Gambit following his appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine.
Feige previously said in November 2024 that characters from the Fox X-Men films would continue appearing on the road to Secret Wars. More importantly, he described what comes afterward as “a new age of mutants and of the X-Men.”
That makes the returning Fox cast feel like more than a collection of familiar faces brought back for nostalgia. Marvel has a chance to give these versions of the characters a proper farewell while using them to bridge the gap to the MCU’s eventual X-Men.
There’s one pretty important question hanging over this rumor, though: which X-Men is the scooper actually talking about? Most people seem to assume it’s the Fox version of X-Men.
The claim doesn’t specify whether the larger Secret Wars material involves the returning Fox-era mutants, Marvel’s new X-Men cast, or some combination of both. With the Multiverse in play, any of those possibilities could work.
Sadie Sink is set to play Jean Grey after making her first appearance in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, and Marvel has already started filling out its new mutant roster.
Kit Connor will play Scott Summers, Christopher Abbott is Professor Charles Xavier, Samara Weaving is Emma Frost, Inde Navarrette is Rogue, and Maya Boyd is Storm. Adam Driver has also been announced as Mister Sinister.
So, there’s certainly a chance the scooper is referring to these new versions of the X-Men rather than the Fox characters. We simply don’t know yet.
Regardless, the Fox X-Men deserve a meaningful part in the Multiverse Saga’s final chapter, especially if Marvel intends to use the movie to close the book on that era. At the same time, bringing the new X-Men into the action would give audiences an early taste of the mutant team that will carry the MCU forward.
Either way, if the X-Men material really is “bigger than most people are bracing for,” Marvel may be planning to make the mutants a major part of Secret Wars rather than treating them as multiverse window dressing.
Considering the X-Men are expected to become a major force in the MCU after Secret Wars, that would be a pretty cool way to pass the torch from one generation of mutants to the next.
Joe Russo and Anthony Russo have confirmed that both the 1984 and 2015 Secret Wars comic book events are serving as “loose inspiration” for the films. Feige has also pointed to Jonathan Hickman’s Time Runs Out storyline as an influence.
Hickman’s 2015 Secret Wars featured the X-Men throughout its Battleworld story, which leaves Marvel with plenty of comic material to pull from without having to adapt any one storyline directly.
There’s another reason the Fox mutants could matter so much. Feige has explained that one of the goals of Doomsday and Secret Wars is to provide closure for Marvel stories that existed before the MCU, specifically referencing the Fox X-Men characters. He has also called Secret Wars “as ambitious a project as we’ve ever embarked on.”
That opens the door to Secret Wars becoming both an ending and a beginning for the X-Men. The returning Fox characters could get one final major adventure before the Multiverse Saga reshapes Marvel continuity and clears the way for the MCU’s new generation of mutants. But that could be what Doomsday does.
Principal photography on Avengers: Secret Wars is expected to begin in mid-2026 and could run for roughly six months. The film is currently scheduled to hit theaters on December 17, 2027, serving as the 40th MCU movie and the conclusion of the Multiverse Saga.