It's been widely claimed that a pre-reshoots cut of Avengers: Doomsday was recently screened to Marvel Studios staffers. Reviews were said to be overwhelmingly positive, and now even more details about the movie have begun trickling out.
While the studio would have no doubt been careful with who they invited to the screening, depending on how big the list of attendees was, legitimate spoilers may have leaked (perhaps even intentionally to build further buzz).
Our latest update comes from Feature First, which claims to have intel on plans for the MCU's mutants ahead of filmmaker Jake Schreier's planned reboot.
"Sources tell us that, yes, mutants will appear in Secret Wars, but that Doomsday will serve as somewhat of a swan song for many Fox X-Men legacy characters, despite focusing mainly on Thor and Steve Rogers," writes the site. "This gives fans the chance to experience one last hurrah before Marvel moves on to their new X-Men cast, marking a permanent shift in the MCU."
For what it's worth, one of X's "scoopers," James Mack, has since chimed in to say, "Apparently, in Avengers Doomsday, all the X-Men died dealing with incursions, leaving only Mystique, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Wolverine, Deadpool, Professor X, Magneto, Beast, Gambit and one more character."
Much of this lines up with what we've previously heard. It seems only some of the X-Men will return because we pick up with the team as their world nears its end. That explains the absence of characters like Jean Grey and Storm; short of some surprises, their respective actors likely didn't return due to lack of interest or not enough money being offered.
This means there will be no grand reunion for this era of X-Men. Instead, they'll make their last stand here, with the odd mutant making it into Avengers: Secret Wars. Hugh Jackman's Wolverine seems a safe bet for the latter, at least.
Bidding farewell to the 20th Century Fox-era X-Men in Avengers: Doomsday gives Marvel Studios the space it needs before the reboot, while allowing that iteration of the team to shine one final time.
Finally, in a "don't take this too seriously" addition to this article, @MyTimeToShineH has taken to X to say, "I even heard one person [say Avengers: Doomsday] it was the greatest movie OF ALL TIME. PERIOD."
Avengers: Doomsday officially stars Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Mackie, Winston Duke, Tom Hiddleston, Sebastian Stan, Letitia Wright, Paul Rudd, and Robert Downey Jr. Wyatt Russell, Simu Liu, Tenoch Huerta Mejia, Mabel Cadena, Florence Pugh, Danny Ramirez, David Harbour, Hannah John-Kamen, Lewis Pullman, and India Rose Hemsworth all make their Avengers franchise debuts.
The Fantastic Four: First Steps leads Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Joseph Quinn join them, as do X-Men franchise stars Kelsey Grammer, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, with Deadpool & Wolverine star Channing Tatum. The trades have pointed to Ryan Reynolds and Hayley Atwell also appearing in Avengers: Doomsday.
The Russo Brothers direct Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars from a screenplay by Stephen McFeely, with whom they previously collaborated on the Avengers and Captain America franchises. Loki and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness's Michael Waldron has also been enlisted to help.
Avengers: Doomsday is set to be released on December 18, with Avengers: Secret Wars scheduled to arrive on December 17, 2027.