26 years ago, the first all-out superhero ensemble movie hit screens. Introducing legendary characters to live action such as Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine and Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier, the first X-Men movie did what had never really been done before, bringing a team of heroes with equal agency together to face a common enemy. That formula would be repeated over and over, and was the first step on the road to the ultimate team-up movie, Avengers: Doomsday, releasing later this year.

Aside from the questionable outfits, the 2000 movie was a smash hit amongst Marvel comics fans at the time, and still holds up today. Not only does the movie act as a perfect origin story for Xavier’s superhero team, but it also introduces characters and relationships that survive on screen for decades to come. But in a rather ironic twist, the whole story will come full circle later this year in Avengers: Doomsday, as the same characters to introduce the modern superhero ensemble format are returning in the ultimate team-up adventure.

Over two decades after X-Men hit screens, Doomsday welcomes back most of the original mutants, including Xavier, Ian Mckellen’s Magneto, James Marsden’s Cyclops, and Rebecca Romijn’s Mystique, as they make their MCU debut. But with the MCU shifting into a new era, it feels like the fifth Avengers movie is bringing the OG heroes back just to kill them off, which makes looking back to the start of their journey that more heartbreaking.

The first to do it

Directed by disgraced filmmaker Bryan Singer, X-Men introduces Wolverine as he plods across the nation with no memory of how he gained his powers, struggling to accept his new identity. That is until he meets the equally confused teen mutant Rogue (Anna Paquin). But just as the two become targets for the villain Magneto and his henchmen Sabretooth and Toad, they are scooped up by Professor X’s squad. And so the X-Men team was born. The movie gives us just enough of a taste of each mutant’s respective powers and a glimpse at their backstories, and sets up the heated rivalry between Xavier and Magneto that launches the whole franchise.

But you may be thinking, what do you mean X-Men was the first superhero ensemble movie? What about the early Batman movies that saw the Caped Crusader and Robin team up? Or 1987’s Masters of the Universe? It is true that heroes did band together on screen before, but there was always one frontrunner followed by a gaggle of sidekicks. X-Men was the first major Hollywood movie to successfully bring a superhero team to the big screen where all the lead characters played an important part in the story. The joining of heroes who have similar capabilities would be replicated later down the line in 2012’s The Avengers, spawning a whole franchise in and of itself.

The end of an era

However, according to the Avengers: Doomsday synopsis, the Marvel Phase 6 film is setting itself up as a pivotal moment in MCU history, which could mark the end for the original X-Men. “Universes collide, and the Multiverse Saga begins its final chapter,” reads the synopsis. “This epic film will lay the foundation for the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.” Now, to me, that sounds as though the movie will say goodbye to a bunch of old heroes in order to make way for a new era. Furthermore, the Doomsday cast list is so incredibly stacked that there is no way all of the characters will be able to share screen time, meaning many may be binned early on.

In the added Avengers: Endgame Encore footage, the TVA learns that 3,000 universes have impending incursions, the first being between the Fox X-Men universe Earth-10005 and a new universe Earth-1127. The incursions are no doubt caused by Robert Downey Jr.’s Doctor Doom, who is on a path to avenge his own misfortune. But it may be too late for the X-Men. In the Avengers: Doomsday trailer, we see that parts of the X-Mansion have been destroyed, and another shot shows Xavier looking up at the fiery sky. Universes colliding is worlds away from the early 00s movie, so it may be a little too much for X and Magneto, who are huddled together and honestly look terrified.

In with the new

I believe Doomsday will give our favourite Mutants time to shine, though, before closing their coffins shut. In the trailer, we see Gambit fighting Shang-Chi, and in another scene, Mystique shape-shifts into Florence Pugh’s Yelena. The mutants are probably trying to protect themselves from the strange heroes who have landed in their universe, who are really there to save them. But the X-Men will probably be no match for Doctor Doom, who has been described as “very difficult to beat” by director Joe Russo. Especially as Famke Janssen’s ultra-powerful Jean Grey is absent.

It’s going to be incredibly sad to see the OG X-Men go, particularly Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen’s Professor X and Magneto, whose turbulent relationship kept us on our toes for decades. However, the Fox-era X-Men deserve a proper send-off. Let’s face it, the old mutants could never have stayed around in the MCU for long, as Thunderbolts director Jake Schreier’s upcoming X-Men movie is already in the works. The new movie is set to welcome back Spider-Man: Brand New Day’s Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, adding Kit Connor’s Cyclops, Christopher Abbott’s Professor X, Inde Navarrette’s Rogue, and more.

The first X-Men movie is required viewing ahead of Avengers: Doomsday, mainly to remind you how important the X-Men are to Marvel Studios and how one 26-year-old superhero film, that is on a pretty small scale compared to ensemble flicks today, changed the modern superhero genre forever. Knowing that this may be the last time we see our favourite mutants is devastating, but rewatching the first X-Men movie also makes me super excited to see the early days of a new group of mutants again.

Avengers: Endgame is available to stream now on Disney Plus, ahead of the release of Avengers: Doomsday on December 18. Avengers: Endgame Encore is in theaters now.

Look ahead with our list of upcoming Marvel movies and check out how to watch the Marvel movies in order ahead of your next rewatch. See you next week as we revisit the second X-Men movie, X2.