The X-Men are officially back in live-action.
The third teaser for “Avengers: Doomsday,” which has been playing in front of “Avatar: Fire and Ash” screenings, has been released online, and it marks the return of Fox’s “X-Men” characters Prof. Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart), Magneto (Ian McKellen) and Cyclops (James Marsden).
The trio soared to superhero fame with Fox’s “X-Men” trilogy in the early 2000s, along with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine who has since crossed over into the MCU in “Deadpool & Wolverine.” Stewart also briefly returned in “Doctor Stranger in the Multiverse of Madness,” though he played an Xavier from another dimension who was swiftly killed by the Scarlet Witch. The trio also had cameos in “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” but this winter’s “Avengers: Doomsday” is the first time they’ll cross over with the Avengers, Fantastic Four and many more heroes.
The teaser starts by showing Xavier’s abandoned School for Gifted Youngers, where the X-Men had called home. Magneto says ominously, “Death comes for us all. It’s all I know for sure. The question isn’t ‘are you prepared to die?’ The question is ‘who would you be when you close your eyes?’”
After showing Xavier’s wheelchair and a floating chess piece, reminiscent of the ending to “X-Men: The Last Stand” where Magneto attempts to regain his electromagnetic powers while playing chess, the two frenemies are reunited. A shaggy haired Magneto embraces Xavier, but then the teaser takes a dramatic turn and shows a distraught Cyclops shooting a massive beam of red energy from his visor. It’s a huge display of power from Cyclops’ previous “X-Men” movies, and it perhaps signals that he’ll take more of a central role in the team’s “Doomsday” adventure. There’s also a massive leg lumbering in the distance which could be a Sentinel, the gigantic, mutant-hunting robots that are some of X-Men’s most iconic villains.
Stewart, McKellen and Marsden will be joined by Kelsey Grammer’s Beast, Alan Cumming’s Nightcrawler, Channing Tatum’s Gambit and Rebecca Romijn’s Mystique in “Doomsday.” They’ll also cross paths with “Avengers” characters like Chris Hemsworth, Chris Evans, Anthony Mackie, Danny Ramirez, Sebastian Stan, Paul Rudd, Tom Hiddleston, Letitia Wright, Winston Duke and Simu Liu. The mega team-up will also include “Fantastic Four” stars Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, plus the “Thunderbolts” anti-heroes Florence Pugh, David Harbour, Wyatt Russell, Hannah John-Kamen and Lewis Pullman.
Watch the teaser below.
