- Primary Subject: X-Men films
- Key Update: SDCC 2026 footage reveals Doctor Doom taking control of Sentinels to battle returning original X-Men characters.
- Status: Confirmed streaming platforms.
- Last Verified: July 27, 2026
- Quick Answer: Watch X-Men, X2, The Last Stand, First Class, Days of Future Past, Logan, and Deadpool & Wolverine to prepare for the original mutants’ return in Avengers: Doomsday.
The original X-Men are back in Avengers: Doomsday, and this time they're joining forces with the MCU's heroes to take on Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.).
New Doomsday footage unveiled at San Diego Comic-Con 2026 shows Doom taking control of the Sentinels from X-Men: Days of Future Past, setting the stage for a massive showdown between the villain and the iconic mutants.
With the footage establishing direct connections to Fox's X-Men films, here are the essential movies fans should watch before Avengers: Doomsday arrives.
X-Men (2000)
The best place to start is X-Men (2000), the groundbreaking film that first brought Marvel's mutants to the big screen.
The story follows Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) and Rogue (Anna Paquin), who are rescued and taken to Professor Charles Xavier's (Patrick Stewart) School for Gifted Youngsters.
There, they become caught in a conflict with Magneto (Ian McKellen) and his Brotherhood of Mutants, whose plan involves using Rogue's powers to transform world leaders into mutants.
The film established the ideological conflict between Professor X and Magneto that would define the franchise for years to come. It also introduced Cyclops (James Marsden) and Mystique (Rebecca Romijn), with Professor X, Magneto, Cyclops, and Mystique all set to return in Avengers: Doomsday, reprised by their original actors.
X2: X-Men United (2003)
X2: X-Men United is widely regarded as one of the franchise's finest installments, thanks to its compelling story, memorable score, thrilling action sequences, and standout performances.
In the film, Colonel William Stryker (Brian Cox) launches an assault on Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters and abducts Professor X.
With no other option, the remaining X-Men form an uneasy alliance with Magneto to stop Stryker from using Cerebro to wipe out mutants across the globe.
The film also introduced Alan Cumming's unforgettable portrayal of Nightcrawler, who is set to return in Avengers: Doomsday, bringing his iconic teleportation powers to the MCU.
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
X-Men: The Last Stand may have received mixed reviews from critics and was often considered inferior to its predecessors, but the third installment plays an important role in the X-Men saga.
The film follows the return of Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) as the immensely powerful Phoenix, who joins Magneto in his war against humanity after the discovery of a permanent mutant "cure" divides the mutant community.
It also introduced Kelsey Grammer as Beast, the brilliant scientist and political representative who joins the climactic battle at Alcatraz.
Grammer is set to reprise the role in Avengers: Doomsday, where Beast will once again stand alongside the X-Men in the fight against Doctor Doom.
X-Men: First Class (2011)
A prequel to X-Men and the fifth installment in the franchise, X-Men: First Class is the first film in the prequel quadrilogy.
The film explores the relationship between Professor X (James McAvoy) and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, as well as the origins of their respective groups, the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants, as they confront the Hellfire Club led by Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon), a mutant supremacist determined to start a nuclear war.
As the film introduced younger versions of several iconic mutants and laid the foundation for the rebooted timeline that later films built upon, it's an essential watch to understand the events leading up to Avengers: Doomsday.
X-Men: Days of the Future Past (2014)
To untangle the X-Men franchise's complicated timeline, X-Men: Days of Future Past is an essential watch.
Set in a dystopian future where the Sentinels have driven mutants to the brink of extinction, the film follows Wolverine as he travels back to 1973 to stop Mystique from assassinating Sentinel creator Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage).
To succeed, Wolverine must reunite with the younger Professor X and Magneto, whose fractured friendship ultimately holds the fate of mutantkind in the balance.
By bringing together two generations of X-Men while rewriting the franchise's timeline, Days of Future Past lays the groundwork for the multiversal storytelling that makes it a perfect watch before Avengers: Doomsday.
Logan (2017)
The third Wolverine solo film and inspired by the Old Man Logan comic storyline, Logan follows an aged Wolverine and an ailing Charles Xavier as they do their best to protect a young mutant, Laura (Dafne Keen), from a team of cyborgs known as the Reavers.
While the film is set in a possible future timeline, it serves as an emotional conclusion to Wolverine's story on Earth-17315. With Hugh Jackman returning to the MCU and rumored to be part of Avengers: Doomsday, Logan is definitely worth revisiting.
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
Deadpool & Wolverine may not be a traditional X-Men film, but it marks the long-awaited return of the adamantium-clawed hero following his apparent death in Logan.
The film bridges the gap between Fox's X-Men universe and the MCU, officially bringing Wolverine into the Multiverse Saga after Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) discovers that his timeline is collapsing because of Wolverine's death.
To save it, Deadpool recruits a variant of Logan, and the pair eventually become trapped in the Void, where they face the omega-level telepath and mutant Cassandra Nova (Emma Corrin).
Beyond Wolverine's return, Deadpool & Wolverine also finally introduced Channing Tatum as Gambit after his planned solo film, first announced in 2014, never came to fruition. Tatum is now set to reprise the role in Avengers: Doomsday.
The X-Men will return in Avengers: Doomsday, scheduled to hit theaters on December 18.
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