Original ‘X-Men’ Heroes Could Have Unfinished Business in the MCU

Few corners of Marvel fandom have waited as patiently as the one devoted to Fox’s mutants. Since Disney absorbed 20th Century Fox, fans have wondered how the studio would fold the Children of the Atom into the shared universe, and whether the faces who defined the franchise in the 2000s would get a proper send-off.

That curiosity has only grown as the Multiverse Saga heads toward its finale. ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ arrives in theaters on December 18, 2026, followed by ‘Avengers: Secret Wars’ on December 17, 2027, with both films directed by the Russo Brothers from a screenplay by Stephen McFeely.

Now a fresh rumor says the story of the original mutant lineup may not end where many expected. Marvel Updates posted on October 27 that the original X-Men will reportedly return in ‘Avengers: Secret Wars,’ crediting the leak to scooper Daniel Richtman, better known as @DanielRPK. The post pairs a grid of familiar mutant faces, including Cyclops, Mystique, Beast, Nightcrawler, Magneto and Professor X, with the ‘Secret Wars’ logo.

The timing matters because ‘Doomsday’ was already supposed to be the big reunion. According to the film’s cast announcement, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, James Marsden, Kelsey Grammer, Rebecca Romijn and Alan Cumming will return in their X-Men roles, with Channing Tatum’s Gambit joining them on screen for the first time. That led plenty of people to assume the older generation would take a bow in December 2026 and then step aside.

Some reports pointed the same way. Rumors had suggested ‘Doomsday’ marks the final MCU appearance for the veteran X-Men actors, but another scooper claimed Stewart and McKellen would return as Professor X and Magneto in ‘Secret Wars’ regardless. That claim, attributed to @MyTimeToShineH, would give the longtime rivals another chance to share the screen.

Richtman’s version is broader, since it points to the full original lineup rather than just two of its biggest names. Neither report has details on how Marvel would use them. There is no word on what’s planned for the characters, though it may tie into rumors that Marvel is saving the likes of Storm and Jean Grey for the Multiverse Saga finale in December 2027.

The multiverse is also the most natural explanation. Jonathan Hickman’s ‘Secret Wars’ will almost certainly serve as the basis for the movie, and a story built from the leftovers of collapsed realities has room for almost any timeline. A direct adaptation seems unlikely, but one of the biggest questions surrounding the film is which characters will actually make it in.

There is also a larger plan at work behind the scenes. Marvel boss Kevin Feige has said the company will recast the mutants for its upcoming ‘X-Men’ movie, directed by Jake Schreier, after the events of ‘Secret Wars.’ Richtman has also reported that the cast for that film is almost complete. That makes a ‘Secret Wars’ appearance look less like a victory lap and more like a handoff.

That would give Marvel some distance between the original cast’s farewell and its planned X-Men reboot in 2028. A final scene in the finale could let the studio honor the old guard before introducing a new generation. For fans who grew up on the Fox films, that sounds like a fitting way to close the book.

Of course, none of this is official yet. Marvel Studios hasn’t confirmed the appearances of Stewart and McKellen in ‘Secret Wars,’ and the studio has a habit of keeping its biggest cards hidden until the last moment. Richtman himself has teased that there are certain decisions about ‘Doomsday’ and ‘Secret Wars’ that he doesn’t want to spoil and thinks will make people really angry, so it’s worth treating every scoop with some caution.

Still, the idea has legs. With ‘Doomsday’ arriving in less than 2 months, fans won’t have to wait long to see how much of the original mutant roster is actually accounted for. If these reports hold up, ‘Secret Wars’ may be where those heroes finally get the ending they never had.