X-Men revival: Ian McKellen, Kelsey Grammer to return for Avengers: Doomsday

WEB DESK: Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Patrick Stewart and Kelsey Grammer are set to reprise their roles as Magneto, Professor Charles Xavier and the Beast, respectively, in the upcoming “Avengers: Doomsday”.

Marvel Studios officially announced a star-studded cast for the forthcoming movie, that includes the friends-turned-enemy duo from the X-Men franchise.

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The announcement was made during an extensive livestream event, generating huge excitement among fans of the original, 2000s X-Men movie franchise.  

Patrick Stewart previously appeared in the MCU as a variant of the Professor X in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”.

Meanwhile, Sir Ian McKellen’s return excited the fans of the original franchise, as he has not portrayed Magneto in a long while.

Kelsey Grammer, who will reprise his role as Hank McCoy, or the Beast, first portrayed the character in the 20^th Century Fox’s “X: Men: The Last Stand” in 2006.

His involvement suggests a deeper integration of the 00s X-Men franchise into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU). Interest was first generated following the actor’s appearance in a post-credits scene of “The Marvels”.

Channing Tatum will also join the cast as the Gambit, a character he was previously set to play in a standalone movie that never came to fruition. Tatum did not appear in the original X-Men franchise.

Similarly, Alan Cumming will reprise his role as Nightcrawler, Rebecca Romijin will return as Mystique, and James Marsden is set to return as the Cyclops.

The ensemble cast from the 00s franchise suggests a potential crossover between the Avengers and the X-Men. Theories circulating in fan corners of the internet suggest a possible Incursion event that could see the two teams collide.

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The stream focused solely on revealing the actor names and did not delve on the specific roles of the many characters. The involvement of all the actors does suggest that Marvel Studios has a detailed plan on how to integrate the X-Men into the wider MCU.

Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled to premiere on May 1, 2026.