- Primary Subject: Avengers: Doomsday
- Key Update: A new conceptual poster hints that the returning original X-Men universe faces ultimate destruction on a multiversal collision course.
- Status: Confirmed
- Last Verified: July 8, 2026
- Quick Answer: The original X-Men return in Avengers: Doomsday to fight multiversal incursions, but promotional artwork suggests Doctor Doom will ultimately destroy their reality.
The original X-Men are returning in Avengers: Doomsday, but if the film's newly released artwork is any indication, they may be headed toward their darkest fate yet.
Details about the mutants' role in Marvel's highly anticipated crossover remain tightly under wraps. So, does this new Doomsday poster spell doom for the X-Men?
What Does the New Avengers: Doomsday Poster Mean for the X-Men?
Seven original X-Men stars are set to reprise their roles in Avengers: Doomsday. Patrick Stewart returns as Professor X, Ian McKellen as Magneto, James Marsden as Cyclops, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, Kelsey Grammer as Beast, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler, and Channing Tatum reprises his role as Gambit.
With the Incursions threatening the Multiverse and Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.) working behind the scenes, the X-Men are expected to fight to save their universe. But will they succeed?
A new Avengers: Doomsday poster by BossLogic appears to hint at the X-Men's ultimate destruction through the imagery of a chess match.
The artwork depicts a lone king piece seemingly emerging victorious, while its shadow forms a silhouette resembling Doctor Doom's iconic cloak. Around it lies a graveyard of shattered and captured chess pieces.
A closer look reveals an "X" among the shards, potentially foreshadowing the fate of the X-Men's Fox universe as three Marvel realities–the X-Men's universe, the MCU, and the Fantastic Four's Earth-828–appear to be on a collision course.
What Do the Chess Pieces Mean for the X-Men?
So, what do the chess pieces have to do with the X-Men? The chess metaphor has already been associated with Avengers: Doomsday.
The film's X-Men announcement trailer famously featured Professor X and Magneto playing a game of chess as the threat of the Incursions loomed over the Multiverse.
With rumors suggesting that Doomsday could be Patrick Stewart's final film, it would be a fitting full-circle moment to see Charles Xavier share one last chess match with his oldest friend, not to mention greatest rival, Erik Magnus Lehnsherr.
The original X-Men are also expected to be in a very different place from where audiences last saw them in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
If Ian McKellen's Magneto has finally achieved his dream of building a mutant utopia, the possible destruction of their universe would make their farewell even more heartbreaking.
Chess has long symbolized the ideological conflict between Professor X and Magneto, representing their opposing visions for the future of mutants and humanity.
Xavier believes in protecting every mutant, while Lehnsherr is often willing to sacrifice a few for what he sees as the greater good.
Although the Fox X-Men films did not always fully explore the depth of their relationship, chess has remained one of the franchise's most enduring visual metaphors, and Doomsday appears poised to continue that tradition.
Avengers: Doomsday is slated to release in theaters on December 18, 2026.
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