Robert Downey Jr. Says the OG X-Men Cast ‘Lit Up’ the Set of ‘Avengers: Doomsday’
Marvel’s road to assembling its biggest crossover event yet has involved bringing together heroes from corners of its cinematic universe that have never shared the screen before. Few reunions on the ‘Avengers: Doomsday‘ set have generated quite as much internal excitement among the cast as one that reached all the way back to the very beginning of the modern superhero movie era.
That reunion involved actors who helped define what a comic book blockbuster could look like decades before the MCU as fans know it even existed. Rebecca Romijn and Kelsey Grammer, who originated the roles of Mystique and Beast respectively in the original 2000s ‘X-Men’ trilogy, returned to those characters for the first time in years, joining the sprawling ensemble Marvel has assembled for its next major crossover.
That reunion left a genuine impression on one of the franchise’s biggest current stars. Speaking about sharing the set with the returning X-Men veterans, Robert Downey Jr. said their presence “lit up this constellation of excitement” among the cast during a post-Hall H interview with Entertainment Weekly at San Diego Comic-Con.
Downey, who now plays Doctor Doom after more than a decade portraying Tony Stark, told Romijn directly, “It was a big moment, you and Kelsey being back,” before turning to describe the reaction among his fellow castmates in the room. “I have to say, we nerded out,” he added, referring to co-stars Lewis Pullman, David Harbour, Paul Rudd, Chris Evans, Letitia Wright and Pedro Pascal, all of whom were present for the same interview.
Romijn and Grammer last played their respective characters together back in 2006’s ‘X-Men: The Last Stand,’ though both have made brief returns to the roles since then. Romijn reprised Mystique for a small cameo in 2011’s ‘X-Men: First Class,’ while Grammer briefly revived Beast in a post-credits scene from 2023’s ‘The Marvels.’
Romijn spoke about her own return to the character during the same interview, noting that the makeup process for transforming her into Mystique moved considerably faster this time around compared to the original trilogy. She also reflected on how much the original lengthy transformation process had shaped her performance, explaining that going through that process each morning had helped put her in the right headspace to play a character as angry as Mystique.
Downey stopped short of revealing any specific plot details about what role Mystique and Beast play within ‘Avengers: Doomsday,’ with Marvel continuing to keep most of the film’s central storyline and character relationships tightly under wraps ahead of release.
The X-Men presence in ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ extends well beyond just Romijn and Grammer, with the film’s confirmed cast also including Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, James Marsden, Alan Cumming and Channing Tatum reprising their original franchise roles as Professor Xavier, Magneto, Cyclops, Nightcrawler and Gambit, respectively. That lineup gives the crossover a level of connective tissue to Fox’s original X-Men franchise that goes well beyond simple nostalgia.
The broader cast rounds out with an extensive roster spanning multiple corners of the MCU, including Chris Hemsworth’s Thor, Anthony Mackie’s Captain America, the Fantastic Four lineup of Pedro Pascal, Vanessa Kirby, Joseph Quinn and Ebon Moss-Bachrach, and Thunderbolts members like Florence Pugh, David Harbour and Wyatt Russell.
‘Avengers: Doomsday’ is scheduled to arrive in theaters December 18, marking the first half of the Russo brothers’ two-part Avengers finale. With this kind of cross-generational cast reunion already generating genuine excitement among the film’s own stars, expectations for how Marvel plans to use its returning X-Men veterans continue building ahead of release.
Are you excited to see the original X-Men cast reunite in Avengers: Doomsday?
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