X-Men return to MCU in Avengers: Doomsday teaser

The brief clip offers a dramatic glimpse of familiar faces, with James Marsden reprising Cyclops alongside Patrick Stewart.

X-Men return to MCU
X-Men return to MCU

Marvel Studios has finally released the teaser for Avengers: Doomsday, delivering a moment fans have eagerly awaited for years — the official return of the X-Men to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The brief clip offers a dramatic glimpse of familiar faces, with James Marsden reprising Cyclops alongside Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen returning as Professor Charles Xavier and Magneto, respectively.

The teaser opens on a devastated X-Mansion, establishing a somber, apocalyptic tone. In an intense yet quiet sequence, Professor X and Magneto reflect on themes of death and destiny.

The calm is abruptly broken as Cyclops removes his visor in a burst of rage, unleashing a red optic blast across the ruined landscape. The teaser closes with a clear promise to fans: “The X-Men Will Return In Avengers: Doomsday.”

While Patrick Stewart previously appeared as a multiversal variant of Professor X in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, this marks the first proper return of these original X-Men characters in nearly a decade.

Marsden and McKellen last portrayed Cyclops and Magneto in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), making their appearance in Avengers: Doomsday a major nostalgia-filled moment for longtime Marvel fans.

Additional X-Men cameos have been confirmed but do not appear in the teaser. Alan Cumming will return as Nightcrawler, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, and Channing Tatum will reprise Gambit after debuting the character in Deadpool & Wolverine. Collectively, these appearances suggest a full-scale X-Men reunion unlike anything previously seen in the MCU.

Avengers: Doomsday is the fifth film in the Avengers franchise following Avengers: Endgame (2019) and the 39th film in the MCU. Produced by Marvel Studios and AGBO, and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, the film is directed by Anthony and Joe Russo, with a screenplay by Michael Waldron and Stephen McFeely.

Set fourteen months after the events of Thunderbolts (2025), the story brings together the Avengers, Wakandans, Fantastic Four, New Avengers, and the original X-Men to confront their greatest threat yet — Doctor Doom.

Scheduled for release on December 18, 2026, the film will premiere in Indian theatres in multiple languages, including Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu. Its sequel, Avengers: Secret Wars, is set for December 17, 2027, marking the monumental finale of Phase Six of the MCU.