The First MCU X-Men Team-Up Is Already A Disappointment

By Chris Snellgrove
| Published 5 seconds ago

For Marvel Cinematic Universe fans, the X-Men are something of a Holy Grail. Before Disney bought 20th Century Fox, it was impossible for these mutants to appear alongside heroes like Captain America or the Hulk. After the purchase, it was possible for the X-Men to appear, but we only got small hints here and there, like an alternate-universe Xavier in Multiverse of Madness and Beast popping up after the credits in The Marvels. Relatively speaking, why has Marvel been holding back? Simple: they have been working on an X-Men movie that will bring the team into the MCU rather than just giving us more multiversal cameos.

After the Avengers: Secret Wars reboots this cinematic universe, future MCU movies will finally include everyone’s favorite merry mutants. Before that, though, we’re getting one last multiversal cameo, and it’s a doozy. Avengers: Doomsday will feature appearances from several iconic characters from the original 20th Century Fox films, including Professor X and Magneto. This is a big deal because it’s basically the first onscreen X-Men team-up in the MCU. Unfortunately, that team-up is destined to be a disappointment because most of the characters we are going to see have never had much chemistry together.

A Blast From The Past

The early X-Men movies copied the vibe from the original comics, presenting the team as a kind of found family (albeit a dysfunctional one). Cyclops and Jean Grey were like cool older siblings to the young students, while Storm was a really intense den mother. Wolverine, in turn, was basically a protective older brother to fellow newcomer Rogue. Charles Xavier, of course, was the father of the group, which is only fitting; after all, far too many of his young mutant charges had been rejected by their biological families. Xavier offered these gifted children the chance to start over with someone who truly cares about them.

What does this trip down memory lane have to do with Avengers: Doomsday? The earlier X-Men films leaned into their dysfunctional dynamics and allowed different characters to bounce off of each other in fun and exciting ways. For example, there’s a tense love triangle between Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Wolverine, and a slow-burn romance between Rogue and Iceman. But we’re not likely to get great interactions out of the X-Men in Doomsday because the team lineup is so dysfunctional. The film features Cyclops, Beast, Magneto, Xavier, Mystique, Nightcrawler, and Gambit. While these characters are interesting on their own, most haven’t had much onscreen chemistry in earlier films.

When Frasier Has The Blues

For example, Cyclops is here, and it will be exciting to see him kick some Sentinel butt. But he won’t have Jean or Wolverine to interact with, which is deeply unfortunate. Scott’s always been stuck with the straight man role, but that only works if he has someone else (like someone more passionate) to bounce off of. Out of this Doomsday lineup, Xavier is the only one he has much of a relationship with, and it looks like most of the professor’s time will be spent bonding with his favorite frenemy, Magneto, who himself has no other former Brotherhood villains but Mystique to interact with.

Beast is also here, and while Kelsey Grammar is perfect in the role, he didn’t interact with many team members back when he first appeared in X-Men: The Last Stand. That’s because he had long since left the school and become a politician. Like, Xavier is literally the only mutant that he previously spoke with who is returning for Doomsday. Similarly, while Alan Cumming is great as Nightcrawler, he mostly interacted with Storm and Jean Grey back in X2: X-Men United. Neither of them is in Doomsday, so we won’t be getting a tearful reunion or anything.

A Failed Gambit

Mystique will be in Avengers: Doomsday, and in the original films, her closest relationship was with Magneto. However, when we last saw them together, he abandoned her once she lost her powers, and she betrayed him by giving his location to the FBI. The upcoming film may retcon this; otherwise, if this is supposed to be the same universe, we’ll have to re-establish her relationship with Magneto and everyone else. That goes double for Gambit, who never appeared alongside any of these characters and has only appeared in the MCU as a gag character in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Now, maybe Avengers: Doomsday is going to do an excellent job establishing the relationship between a bunch of characters who have never had much chemistry or shared much screen time, but that’s doubtful. After all, the X-Men are just one part of a film that will be crawling with cameos from so many other heroes and villains, leaving very little time to build new dynamics. This is basically the opposite approach of Spider-Man: No Way Home, which leaned into the existing relationships between Tobey Maguire’s Spider-Man and villains like Doctor Octopus. In Doomsday, almost all of these X-Men relationships must be built from the ground up.

Again, all of these X-Men performers are great on their own, but most of us were hoping to see a team that’s greater than the sum of its parts. Avengers: Doomsday drops December 18, and we’ll find out whether the first MCU team-up featuring these marvelous mutants is better than it looks on paper. If so, I’ll be happy to eat crow and admit I was wrong. If not, you can join the rest of me in hoping that the mutants will have much better chemistry in the upcoming X-Men film!