Civil War In More Ways Than One After Returning X-Men Star’s Recent Comments

New comments teasing Avengers: Doomsday have me convinced the movie is set to top the superhero showdowns seen in Captain America: Civil War. In the 2016 MCU crossover, lines were drawn and Avengers took sides over the Sokovia Accords, new legislation that required heroes and enhanced individuals to register and work with the government. However, I believe Avengers 5 is set to go even further with much bigger rivalries and stakes.

While the full cast of Avengers: Doomsday has yet to be revealed, over 20 actors and characters have been confirmed for the upcoming MCU crossover. Beyond the more expected Avengers and heroes, some of the most exciting names include the MCU’s new Fantastic Four and actors from Fox’s original X-Men universe. This includes Alan Cumming’s Nightcrawler, whose recent comments have me very excited about the kinds of conflicts we’ll be seeing in Avengers: Doomsday.

Alan Cumming’s Nightcrawler Just Gave An Exciting Tease About Avengers: Doomsday

Hinting At The Movie’s Action Sequences

In a recent interview with Buzzfeed UK, Alan Cumming briefly spoke about his work on Avengers: Doomsday. The upcoming MCU crossover recently started production following its initial cast announcement video. Having played Nightcrawler in 2003’s X2, Cumming spoke about the excitement of returning to the character of Kurt Wagner over two decades later. However, Cumming also hinted at a sequence involving himself and none other than Pedro Pascal, who’s set to debut as Reed Richards this July in Fantastic Four: First Steps. Alan Cumming’s Avengers: Doomsday comments begin at about the 2-minute mark:

Talking about how he’s begun learning stunt choreography for the upcoming movie, Alan Cumming hinted that one such sequence in Avengers: Doomsday will seemingly involve a fight between his Nightcrawler and Mister Fantastic:

“I’m sort of learning these fights, and I’m like, ‘What? Who am I fighting with?’ And they said, ‘You’re hitting Pedro Pascal against the head,’ or something.”

The X-Men and Fantastic Four will be coming from their own respective realities set apart from the Avengers of the main Earth-616 dimension. As such, this does support the idea that MCU fans may be in for a major multiversal clash of superheroes, at least at the onset of the upcoming crossover that’s also set to debut Robert Downey Jr. as Doctor Doom.

Will The X-Men Fight The Fantastic Four in Avengers 5?

The Teams May Not Start As Allies…

Alan Cumming’s new comments about NIghtcrawler potentially fighting Mister Fantastic speaks to a larger conflict between the X-Men and Fantastic Four in Avengers: Doomsday. This is fascinating considering the larger context of the Marvel Universe and the original comics that the next two MCU crossovers may be using as inspiration. As an example, the prelude to 2015’s Secret Wars on the page saw heroes of the main 616 universe trying to prevent the end of their world via a multiverse incursion: the collision of one reality and another, destroying both realities in the process.

In the comics, one attempt at a solution saw the Illuminati trying to preemptively destroy worlds before an incursion could occur, hoping to save their own existence in the process. As such, it’s not hard to see this idea becoming used as a framework for Avengers: Doomsday. It could potentially explain why rival teams of heroes from separate realities (like The Fantastic Four and X-Men) might be fighting one another (as has just been teased by Cumming).

Ultimately, these attempts at self-preservation failed, and it was only through the actions of Doctor Doom that existence itself was saved. In the comics’ Secret Wars, Battleworld was created, a patchwork collection of fragmented realities brought together by Doom (which he subsequently ruled over). As such, seeing multiple superhero teams fighting among themselves only for RDJ’s Doom to save the day ahead of 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars would fit with the Russos’ comments about wanting Doom to be the sort of villain who believes they’re the hero of their own story.

Combined With Teases From Thunderbolts*, Doomsday Can Easily Top Civil War

Multiple Clashing Teams Of Rival Heroes

It’s also worth noting that the end of Thunderbolts* teased some ongoing tensions of rivalries between the newly formed New Avengers and Sam Wilson’s team of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. Between teased rivalries with superhero teams from the same universe combined with conflicts with teams from other realities in the face of probable multiversal entropy, it certainly does seem like Avengers: Doomsday intends to provide even bigger showdowns between superheroes than Civil War, with much higher stakes. After all, it would make sense for Doomsday to have the heroes of the multiverse divided before they all fully assemble in Secret Wars.

Avengers: Doomsday is set to release from Marvel Studios on December 18th, 2026.

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