Worlds are colliding in Avengers: Doomsday. Marvel Studios has already announced that the followup to 2019’s Avengers: Endgame will assemble stars from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the Fox-made X-Men movies, including Patrick Stewart (Professor Charles Xavier), Ian McKellen (Magneto), James Marsden (Cyclops), Rebecca Romijn (Mystique), Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler), and Kelsey Grammer (Beast). But in a behind-the-scenes crossover, Marsden can be seen training alongside Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings star Simu Liu.
See the image that Marsden and Liu’s trainer shared on Instagram below:
It remains to be seen what roles Marsden’s Cyclops and Liu’s Shang-Chi will play in Doomsday, and whether they’ll meet as enemies or allies. Marsden’s X2 co-star Alan Cumming previously suggested — potential spoiler warning — that the mutant X-Men will battle the Fantastic Four in the multiversal crossover.
Marsden last appeared as Scott Summers, the ruby quartz visor-wearing, optic blast-firing field leader of the X-Men, in a cameo in 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past. Marsden’s X-Man was a core member of the team in 2000’s X-Men and 2003’s X2 before being killed off in 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, only for a time-traveling Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to alter the timeline in Days of Future Past, undoing the Last Stand deaths of Scott, Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), and Professor X (Stewart).
Liu made his first, and so far only, appearance in 2021’s Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, as the master martial artist who now wields the ancient and mystical Ten Rings. The last we saw him, Sorcerer Supreme Wong (Benedict Wong) — alongside the Avengers Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) and Bruce Banner/Smart Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) — told Shang-Chi that the Ten Rings were emitting a beacon and sending a message to… somewhere.
Alongside Marsden and Liu, the Avengers: Doomsday cast includes returning Marvel stars Robert Downey Jr. as Victor von Doom/Doctor Doom, Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Anthony Mackie as Sam Wilson/Captain America, Tom Hiddleston as Loki, and Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man.
Black Panther: Wakanda Forever‘s Letitia Wright (Shuri/Black Panther), Winston Duke (M’Baku), Tenoch Huerta Mejía (Namor), Mabel Cadena (Namora), and Alex Livinalli (Attuma) are all set to return alongside Thunderbolts*/New Avengers‘ Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova/Black Widow), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes/the Winter Soldier), David Harbour (Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian), Hannah John-Kamen (Ava Starr/Ghost), Wyatt Russell (John Walker/U.S. Agent), and Lewis Pullman (Bob Reynolds/Sentry).
Deadpool & Wolverine‘s Channing Tatum is reprising his role as card-slinging Gambit, with The Fantastic Four: First Steps‘ Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards/Mister Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm/the Invisible Woman), Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm/Human Torch), and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm/the Thing) rounding out the ensemble.
Marvel Studios’ Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled to release in theaters on December 18, 2026, followed by Avengers: Secret Wars on Dec. 17, 2027.
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