Do I Need to Watch the X-Men Movies Before Avengers: Doomsday?
Not all of them. Watch X-Men (2000) and X2 (2003) and you'll know most of the mutants turning up in Avengers: Doomsday, because they're played by the same actors from Fox's X-Men films. Everything else is optional, and a couple of the sequels are easy to skip.
Which X-Men are in Avengers: Doomsday?
Most of Doomsday's mutants come from 20th Century Fox's X-Men films, not from earlier MCU movies. These actors were among the cast Marvel announced in a marathon livestream in March 2025:
- Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier / Professor X
- Ian McKellen as Erik Lehnsherr / Magneto
- James Marsden as Scott Summers / Cyclops
- Rebecca Romijn as Mystique
- Alan Cumming as Kurt Wagner / Nightcrawler
- Kelsey Grammer as Hank McCoy / Beast
- Channing Tatum as Remy LeBeau / Gambit, a role he first played on screen in Deadpool & Wolverine
Stewart, McKellen, Marsden and Romijn led the original Fox trilogy. Cumming played Nightcrawler only in X2; the character was cut from The Last Stand. His make-up reportedly now takes about an hour and a half, down from four and a half to five hours on X2, which may be the most heartening news in this whole crossover. Grammer played Beast in X-Men: The Last Stand and has a cameo in Days of Future Past.
Spoilers for The Marvels and Deadpool & Wolverine: tap to reveal
Grammer's Beast also pops up in the mid-credits scene of The Marvels. Tatum's Gambit first appears in Deadpool & Wolverine, long after his planned Fox Gambit film fell through.
What does Marvel say you need to watch?
Marvel's own Doomsday watch guide for Disney+ opens with X-Men and X2. Two Fox films from the early 2000s on an official MCU prep list is a fair signal that the old cast matters to this story. How much, nobody outside the production can say yet.
The verdict: the minimum is X-Men and X2
You don't strictly need any X-Men film to follow an Avengers movie, but these two are the cheapest insurance you'll find: two films that cover most of the returning cast.
- X-Men (2000). Wolverine and Rogue get pulled into the fight between Xavier's X-Men and Magneto's Brotherhood. It introduces Stewart, McKellen, Marsden and Romijn.
- X2 (2003). William Stryker targets Xavier's school, forcing the X-Men and Magneto into an uneasy alliance. It adds Cumming's Nightcrawler and was well reviewed.
If you have time: Days of Future Past and The Last Stand
X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) brings the original cast together with the younger First Class cast to stop a future where Sentinels hunt mutants. Fans split on whether it counts as Doomsday homework. It's a well-liked film and puts Stewart and McKellen alongside their younger selves, but it also asks you to care about the prequel cast.
X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) got mixed reviews, and most fans say skip it. The one argument for it is Grammer's Beast, who is introduced there. A recap will cover you.
Deadpool & Wolverine, for the Fox universe
Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) is an MCU film that doubles as a tribute to Fox's Marvel movies, and it matters for Tatum's Gambit in ways best left for the spoiler box above. It's the best single pick after X-Men and X2, and our Deadpool & Wolverine verdict explains why it matters for Doomsday. For Remy's full history, including the canceled solo film, see the Gambit watch order.
If you want to go further, watch Logan (2017) before Deadpool 2 (2018). That's release order, and it keeps Fox's later films in the sequence they were made.
The two Fox X-Men timelines, simply
Fox's films run on two overlapping tracks:
- The original trilogy: X-Men, X2 and The Last Stand, with the Wolverine spin-offs alongside. This is where Stewart, McKellen, Marsden, Romijn, Cumming and Grammer played their roles.
- The First Class era: X-Men: First Class (set in 1962) recast the team younger, with James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult. Days of Future Past joins the two casts and creates a new timeline, which Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix follow.
Continuity across the series isn't uniform, so don't try to make every detail line up. For Doomsday, the original-trilogy side is the one that matters. Our X-Men movies in order guide has the full list, and what to watch before Avengers: Doomsday covers the rest of the cast.
More verdicts: all “Do I need to watch it?” guides · full Doomsday prep list.
FAQ
Do I need to watch X-Men before Avengers: Doomsday?
Not strictly, but X-Men (2000) and X2 (2003) are worth it. They introduce most of the Fox X-Men actors returning in Doomsday, and Marvel's own Doomsday watch guide includes both.
Is X-Men: The Last Stand worth watching before Doomsday?
Most fans say skip it. It got mixed reviews, and its main relevance is introducing Kelsey Grammer's Beast, which a recap covers.
Do I need Days of Future Past before Doomsday?
It's optional and fans are split. It brings Fox's original cast together with the younger First Class cast, so it's a good watch but not essential.
Do I need X-Men: First Class, Apocalypse or Dark Phoenix?
No. Doomsday's returning X-Men are the original-trilogy actors, so the prequel films aren't needed for it.
Where does Channing Tatum's Gambit come from?
His planned Fox solo film was never made, so his MCU version has its own route in. Where he first turns up is a surprise, so it's in the spoiler box on this page.
Are Doomsday's X-Men the same characters as in the Fox movies?
They're played by the same actors reprising roles from Fox's X-Men films. How the film connects them to the MCU hasn't been revealed.