The Original X-Men Reunite at Comic-Con Ahead of Their MCU Debut in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’

The original X-Men stars reunited at San Diego Comic-Con ahead of their return in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ and the franchise’s long-awaited MCU crossover.

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The original X-Men stars reunited at San Diego Comic-Con ahead of their return in Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday

The X-Men franchise helped launch the modern superhero movie era and remained separate from the MCU until Disney acquired Fox

Avengers: Doomsday will unite X-Men, Avengers and other Marvel heroes to face a multiversal threat led by Doctor Doom

More than 25 years after X-Men helped launch the modern superhero movie era, the franchise’s original stars reunited at San Diego Comic-Con ahead of their highly anticipated return in Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday.

For longtime fans, it’s a full-circle moment.

The Hall H appearance brought together many of the actors who helped turn the X-Men into one of Hollywood’s biggest superhero franchises, including James Marsden, Rebecca Romijn and Kelsey Grammer — the stars behind Cyclops, Mystique and Beast.

Patrick Stewart, Sir Ian McKellen and Alan Cumming, who starred as Professor Charles Xavier, Magneto and Nightcrawler, respectively, did not join the festivities.

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The original X-Men were joined on stage by Black Panther’s Tenoch Huerta and Thunderbolts* stars Hannah John-Kamen, Lewis Pullman and David Harbour to tease their upcoming collaboration.

The gathering comes as Marvel prepares to bring many of those beloved characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Doomsday, marking the culmination of a journey that has been years in the making.

Among the stars expected to reprise their iconic roles as seen in the first trailer in the upcoming crossover are Stewart, 86, McKellen, 87, Marsden, 52, Grammer, 71, Romijn, 53, and Cumming, 61, alongside Channing Tatum’s Gambit following his surprise appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Long before Iron Man launched the MCU in 2008, the X-Men were Marvel’s biggest movie stars.

Beginning with Bryan Singer’s X-Men in 2000, the franchise expanded with 2003’s X2 and 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, which added fan favorites like Nightcrawler and Beast.

Over the next two decades, the series grew into a sprawling franchise that included prequels, Wolverine spinoffs, the Deadpool films and acclaimed standalone entries such as Logan.

But despite their popularity, the X-Men remained separated from the Avengers for one simple reason: the movie rights belonged to 20th Century Fox.

That finally changed in 2019 when Disney completed its acquisition of Fox, bringing the X-Men rights under Marvel’s control and opening the door for the crossover fans had dreamed about for years.

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Since then, Stewart returned as Professor X in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, while Grammer surprised audiences with a Beast cameo in The Marvels. The first true crossover came in 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, which saw Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool work together with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine.

Avengers: Doomsday is expected to unite the X-Men with the Avengers, the Fantastic Four and Wakanda’s heroes as they face Doctor Doom and a threat to the multiverse itself.

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Avengers: Doomsday will release in theaters on Dec. 18.

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