Deadpool & Wolverine celebrated the 20th Century Fox's X-Men in a way that left fans pretty sure that, beyond the titular duo, we'd probably seen the last of those characters.
Instead, it seems the idea was to test the waters with fans and perhaps even whet their appetites for more. In this December's Avengers: Doomsday, many of those original X-Men stars will reunite—in comic-accurate costumes—to join the battle against Doctor Doom.
A teaser trailer for the movie spotlighted Professor X and Magneto in an emotional exchange. Later, Cyclops was shown unleashing a massive optic blast while surrounded by destruction and a massive Sentinel. Of the four sneak peeks shared by Marvel Studios, it received perhaps the most glowing, excitable response.
Talking to ScreenRant, James Marsden opened up on his emotional reaction to seeing his return as Scott Summers put front and centre in that epic Avengers: Doomsday teaser's closing moments.
"It felt really good. It was really special. It had been so long," he said, having last played Cyclops in 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past. "To see how enthusiastic and how waiting with bated breath everyone is to see this movie, it feels good. To have that epic shot with modern technology and special effects."
Marsden continued, "When I’d do a blast, when we filmed the first movie, I’d have two rolls of film that they painted red [from my eyes]. No, but it felt good. It was a pretty cool thing to see. I watched it over and over and over again."
"My kids don’t care. I’m kidding. I’m kidding. They love what I do. They’re very proud. But they’re like, "Okay, get over yourself," he added with a laugh.
It's been widely reported that the X-Men's role in Avengers: Doomsday will be memorable, but not necessarily as big as those for Earth-616's Mightiest Heroes. However, with Multiversal Variants likely to be front and centre in Avengers: Secret Wars, some of them may well return.
You can relive Avengers: Doomsday's X-Men teaser trailer in the player below.
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.