Chris Evans And Robert Downey Jr. Gave The New ‘X-Men’ Cast A Heartfelt Backstage Welcome At D23

Marvel Studios turned D23 2026 into a genuine passing-of-the-torch moment, unveiling its long-awaited ‘X-Men‘ reboot cast on the very same stage where its original founding stars had spent years building the MCU into a cultural juggernaut. The symbolism wasn’t lost on fans watching the Disney Entertainment Showcase unfold in Anaheim, where two very different eras of Marvel storytelling briefly overlapped in the same building on the same night.

That overlap played out both on stage and behind the scenes. Director Jake Schreier and Sadie Sink, who had just debuted as Jean Grey in ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day,’ welcomed the newly announced X-Men cast to the stage together, introducing Kit Connor as Cyclops, Christopher Abbott as Professor Charles Xavier, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, Inde Navarrette as Rogue, and Maya Boyd as Storm, all of whom reportedly met each other for the very first time just moments earlier backstage.

That backstage meeting extended beyond the new cast members themselves. A video captured Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr., who had just walked the same stage minutes earlier alongside Hayley Atwell to reveal new ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ footage, greeting the incoming X-Men cast warmly backstage, with one of the veteran actors telling the newcomers, “Welcome aboard.” The gesture placed two of the actors most associated with launching the modern MCU directly alongside the performers now tasked with carrying one of Marvel’s most beloved franchises into its next chapter.

Evans and Downey Jr.’s own presence at D23 was tied to their return in ‘Avengers: Doomsday,’ where they’ll reprise their roles as Steve Rogers and the film’s central villain, Doctor Doom, respectively. During their portion of the panel, Downey Jr. was introduced not as the actor who helped launch the franchise, but as the man who might now end it, before the trio debuted new footage teasing the film’s central conflict.

The X-Men reveal wrapped with one more twist. Adam Driver appeared in a prerecorded video message, confirming he’ll play Nathaniel Milbury, better known to comic readers as the supervillain Mister Sinister, giving the new roster its central antagonist heading into the film’s May 5, 2028 release.

Feige made clear during the panel that the cast announced represents only a partial list, suggesting several more roles have yet to be confirmed as the film moves further into production. Schreier’s take on the material will follow Jean Grey into what Marvel has described as an entirely new version of the X-Men’s story.

The backstage welcome fit into a broader theme running through Marvel’s entire D23 presentation, which leaned heavily into both nostalgia and expansion. Beyond the X-Men reveal and the Doomsday footage, the night also included a first look at ‘VisionQuest,’ introduced by Paul Bettany and James Spader, along with news of an ‘Avengers: Endgame’ theatrical re-release billed as an “Encore” edition.

With ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ arriving this December and the X-Men reboot still two years away, Marvel’s D23 presentation made clear the studio is treating this moment as a genuine transition point between its founding generation of stars and the actors set to define its next decade. That sense of continuity, paired with the genuine warmth captured backstage, gave fans one of the more emotionally resonant moments of the entire weekend.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!