Doomsday and Their Role in the Secret Wars Comics, Explained

The end of the Multiverse Saga is closer with every day. Fans now know which heroes will make it to Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, potentially. Some of these characters will appear in the MCU for the first time after debuting in the Fox X-Men films.

Marvel Studios will bring back eight X-Men characters from the 2000s films for Doomsday, which could take some story points from the Secret Wars comics to help set up the following film. Some of them have prominent roles in the comics, while others barely appear. The Secret Wars events in Marvel Comics are a great place to begin theorizing about the future of the MCU in these movies.

Gambit Barely Has A Role

Gambit imbues his cards with kinetic energy in Deadpool & WolverineImage via Marvel Studios

As a 1990s creation, Gambit wasn’t around for the first Secret Wars. Then, the 2015 series completely underused him. For such a big universe, Remy LeBeau barely appears in the series. Gambit only appears as a variant (Earth-58163), and he isn’t an X-Man – only a common thief. What’s worse, he dies in M.O.D.O.K.’s hands when he tries to enter his Battleworld domain, Killville. This is the extent of his story in this event

Now that Marvel Studios announced that Channing Tatum’s version of Gambit will appear in Avengers: Doomsday, it’s impossible to know what role he will have in the film, unless he also ends up dying quickly, like in the comics. Fans are divided regarding his appearance. Some would like to see him reach his full potential, but others think Tatum’s portrayal should have stayed a cameo. Although Tatum himself has commented on this role being more serious than his appearance in Deadpool & Wolverine, it makes sense that the fandom worries he will stick out as a sore thumb since he has no connection to any of the franchises that will collide.

Mystique Slowly Morphs Into A Heroine

Mystique’s journey in the comics has been a rollercoaster. The shapeshifting mutant debuted as a villain, but slowly and steadily turned into a sympathetic heroine, and now she’s a fan favorite. Her role in Secret Wars emulates this journey. Mystique didn’t appear in the first Secret Wars. She was a secondary X-Men villain at best at the time, more specifically, a member of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Still, she got no attention during the event.

Nightcrawler, Charles Xavier, Magneto, Beast, MCU Avengers

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By 2015, Jonathan Hickman’s run told a different story. Mystique is part of the X-Men during this event, so she takes part in the fight against Doom. Besides, her Earth-24201 variant in X-Tinction Agenda is actively trying to find a cure for the mutant plague. Rebecca Romjin’s Mystique disappeared from the films right as her moral compass started to shift, so fans are excited to see her join forces with other mutants instead of fighting them as she did in the Fox films.

Beast’s Time Traveling Is Problematic

Following the incredible The Marvels post-credit scene and the massive Avengers: Doomsday announcement in March 2025, fans now know that Kelsey Grammer will reprise his role as Beast in what’s left of the Multiverse Saga. In the comics, this genius mutant actually dies in the final battle, returning only when they restore it all. Before this happens, Beast is actually a part of the Illuminati.

Hank works alongside the team to stop incursions, and then he helps them destroy incursioned Earths, keeping it all a secret from the superhero community. It was during this time that Hank McCoy brought the time-displaced X-Men into the present. Some fans still theorize that his tampering with time travel had something to do with everything that happened after “Time Runs Out.” Since the MCU Beast now knows Monica Rambeau, there’s a chance he’s working to help her back into her reality, which would cause problems for the overall multiverse in the films.

Nightcrawler Has A Couple of Fun Variants

Kurt Wagner, aka Nightcrawler, has tons of presence in the Secret Wars comics. This X-Men is one of the many characters sent to Battleworld during the original Secret Wars. He doesn’t appear in Secret Wars II, but he is in Jonathan Hickman’s 2015 series. First, as one of the many heroes in the life raft who perish when the multiverse is destroyed, but then in Battleworld.

None of the Nightcrawler variants in the 2015 Secret Wars and its tie-ins has a main role in the series, but they are everywhere: one is a Red Hand student at K’un-Lun, another is a genderbent version who fights zombies in Arcadia, and the last one is a Thor, so he works as an enforcer for Doctor Doom. Cumming’s version of the character is already an established X-Men in the movies after a necessary redemption, so fans are excited to see him as a hero in the future.

Cyclops Becomes Incredibly Powerful

Cyclops as Phoenix from Secret Wars
Image via Marvel Comics

During the original Secret Wars, Cyclops was teleported to Battleworld alongside his fellow X-Men. This is only logical: Cyclops has always been one of the most important members of the team, so his presence in the fight was obviously needed. In the 2015 event, things are a bit more complicated. This event found Cyclops as the leader of Nation X, a mutant sanctuary, and, more importantly, as the owner of a Phoenix Egg. When the final incursion began, Cyclops traveled to the incursion point with the egg, ready to hatch. He then bonded with the Phoenix Force, gaining enough power to defeat all of Earth-1610’s forces.

Now all-mighty, Scott takes the life raft that saves him and the Phoenix Force from the end of the multiverse. When Doctor Strange recruits him to help take down Doom, Phoenix Cyclops tries to use his power against the God Emperor Doom, but it isn’t enough. The panel where Doom snaps Phoenix Cyclops’ neck is one of the many moments that prove just how dangerous God Emperor Doom is. Marvel Studios hasn’t introduced the Phoenix Force to the MCU yet, but this storyline from the comics gives the fans hope for the future. Without Jean Grey in the movie, Scott could take over this cosmic entity.

Magneto Has Good Intentions

Originally the biggest villain in X-Men comics, Magneto has slowly and steadily shifted his moral compass. His backstory as a Holocaust survivor made him incredibly sympathetic to the readers as well as his loyalty to the mutant community. This ambiguous morality has always been there. In fact, during the first Secret Wars, Magneto stayed away from the other villains, instead working with the heroes. During his time with them, Magneto even manages to see eye-to-eye with humans, which he had never done before

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Hickman’s Secret Wars keeps a similar formula. Before things get out of control, Magneto is actively looking for a solution to the incursions and the end of the multiverse. During this series, he allies with Namor since they both consider that the other will do whatever it takes to save their reality. This constantly changing moral alignment has fans thinking the MCU Magneto will ally with Doctor Doom, only to end up betraying him, becoming a hero. There’s also a possibility that Marvel Studios will introduce King Magnus, the ruler of Battleworld’s Genosha. This would involve more characters, such as Scarlet Witch and the Maximoff twins. If Wanda actually appears in the movie, it would be a fun moment to have a variant who is actually related to Magneto as a callback to their original relationship in the comics.

Professor X Was Dead During This Event

Charles Xavier in Marvel Comics
Image via Marvel Comics

As the X-Men’s leader, Professor Charles Xavier was teleported to Battleworld by the Beyonder during 1985’s Secret Wars. During this period, Xavier actually walked, but the Beyonder put him back in a wheelchair. Of course, this didn’t stop him from leading the X-Men in battle.

The 2015 Secret Wars features an essential element of Professor X’s history: the Illuminati, a secret group of heroes destroying every Earth going through an incursion to save themselves. Professor X is dead, so he isn’t part of the story. Instead, Beast takes his role after receiving instructions through Charles’ will. However, since Patrick Stewart will reprise the role in the MCU, fans believe he will be part of the Illuminati this time. This already happened during Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, but since this variant died at the hands of Scarlet Witch, the Avengers: Secret Wars version will be different.