Doomsday

It’s official: The X-Men are making their big screen return in “Avengers: Doomsday.”

Marvel’s third teaser for its massive superhero crossover, released Tuesday, spotlights Ian McKellen’s Magneto, Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier and James Marsden’s Cyclops. It’s the latest “Doomsday” teaser that has been playing in theaters in front of Disney’s billion-dollar blockbuster “Avatar: Fire and Ash.”

The short and somber clip starts with a look at some wreckage within the abandoned halls of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters — the home base of the X-Men. The teaser also includes footage of Xavier and Magneto sharing what seems to be a tender moment as well as an emotional Cyclops unleashing a massive optic blast as what appear to be large legs possibly belonging to Sentinels lumber along in the background.

“Death comes for us all,” Magneto says in the voice-over. “It’s all I know for sure. The question isn’t ‘are you prepared to die?’ The question is ‘who would you be when you close your eyes?’”

The clip concludes with text promising the X-Men will return in “Avengers: Doomsday” before fading into the countdown to the film’s release. The countdown was also featured in the previous “Doomsday” teasers spotlighting Chris Evans’ Steve Rogers and Chris Hemsworth’s Thor.

“Doomsday” will mark McKellen and Marsden’s Marvel Cinematic Universe debuts. Prior to Disney’s acquisition of Fox in 2019, the iconic mutant superhero team headlined its own franchise, which kicked off with the 2000 film “X-Men.”

Stewart previously appeared in the 2022 MCU installment “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” playing a different version of the fan-favorite X-Men leader. Other X-Men characters who have already appeared in MCU films include Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, who starred alongside the Merc with a Mouth in “Deadpool & Wolverine,” and Kelsey Grammer’s Beast, who had a cameo in one of “The Marvels” post-credits scenes.

Other X-Men characters expected to appear in “Doomsday” include Beast, Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming) and Mystique (Rebecca Romijn).

“Doomsday,” directed by MCU veterans Anthony and Joe Russo, will feature “Iron Man” actor Robert Downey Jr. as the masked villain Doctor Doom. The massive superhero crossover will also feature fellow “Avengers” alums Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson/Captain America), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes), Paul Rudd (Scott Lang/Ant-Man) and Tom Hiddleston (Loki); the “Thunderbolts*” antiheroes played by Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova), David Harbour (Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian), Lewis Pullman (Bob Reynolds), Wyatt Russell (John Walker) and Hannah John-Kamen (Ava Starr/Ghost); and “Fantastic Four: First Steps” stars Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm), Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm) and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm).

“Avengers: Doomsday” will hit theaters Dec. 18.

The First Avenger is back — and appears to be a dad.

Marvel Studios finally (officially) released its first teaser for “Avengers: Doomsday” on Tuesday, confirming the much-anticipated return of Chris Evans as the super good super soldier Steve Rogers.

The short clip shows Rogers riding up to a house on his motorcycle, looking at his old Captain America uniform, then smiling gently at an infant cradled in his arms. The teaser ends with the words “Steve Rogers will return for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’” appearing on the screen before showing a countdown to the movie’s release.

“The character that changed our lives,” reads the caption shared with the teaser on “Doomsday” directors Anthony and Joe Russo’s joint Instagram page. “The story that brought us all here together. It was always going to come back to this…”

The Russo brothers, of course, made their Marvel Cinematic Universe debut at the helm of the the 2014 film “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.” They followed that up with “Captain America: Civil War” in 2016, before bringing the Infinity Saga home with “Avengers: Infinity War” (2018) and “Avengers: Endgame” (2019).

Rogers was last seen in “Endgame” passing the Captain America shield and mantle to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) after he had chosen to travel back in time to live out a long and happy life with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). Despite Evans bidding the character goodbye after wrapping filming on “Endgame,” Joe Russo had claimed Evans was “not done” with Steve Rogers.

It had been previously reported that Evans would be returning to the MCU for “Doomsday,” but his role remained unclear. Evans appeared in last year’s “Deadpool & Wolverine,” reprising his role as Johnny Storm from the past “Fantastic Four” films.

“Avengers: Doomsday” will pick up sometime after the events of this year’s “Fantastic Four: First Steps” and “Thunderbolts*.” The massive crossover will see “Iron Man” actor Robert Downey Jr. take on the new role of the mysterious Doctor Doom. Other confirmed “Doomsday” cast members include MCU veterans Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson/Captain America), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes), Paul Rudd (Scott Lang/Ant-Man) and Tom Hiddleston (Loki); “Thunderbolts*” stars Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova), David Harbour (Alexei Shostakov/Red Guardian), Lewis Pullman (Bob Reynolds), Wyatt Russell (John Walker) and Hannah John-Kamen (Ava Starr/Ghost); and “Fantastic Four’s” Pedro Pascal (Reed Richards), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm), Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm) and Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm).

“Doomsday” will also feature “X-Men” franchise actors Patrick Stewart (Professor Charles Xavier), Ian McKellen (Magneto), Kelsey Grammer (Beast), Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler), James Marsden (Cyclops) and Rebecca Romijn (Mystique).

“Avengers: Doomsday” will arrive in theaters Dec. 18, 2026.