The MCU has finally confirmed an Avengers vs X-Men skirmish of sorts is on the horizon via Avengers: Doomsday‘s new trailer – but the battle already looks very different to what many fans had predicted or theorized about when it came to this possibility. As the X-Men have steadily returned to the world of Marvel’s film landscape, the prospect of the heroes having a major appearance in an Avengers movie has become too good to ignore, leading to a range of the beloved mutant heroes being confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday‘s cast.

Of course, since we already know the MCU’s multiverse has worlds with X-Men in them – as made concrete by releases like The Marvels and Deadpool & Wolverine – it’s seemed inevitable that the Avengers and X-Men would find themselves in a sticky situation in terms of working together, since the threat of Incursions means defending their own universes may take priority for some characters.

Now it’s been confirmed Avengers: Doomsday will indeed have some Avengers heroes and some X-Men heroes square up, the matter of what the dynamic between the universes and their various factions in the films seems even more pressing, and doubly exciting – especially since this reveal has provided its own share of twists regarding how the MCU timeline seems to intend to handle this conflict.

Avengers: Doomsday’s Avengers Vs X-Men Tease Sets Up A Very Different Kind Of Fight For The Teams

Avengers: Doomsday‘s new trailer has provided some exciting glimpses of some of the MCU’s heroes going up against the X-Men and mutant heroes we’re set to see in Doomsday‘s story. Notably, the trailer features both New Avengers member Yelena fighting Mystique, and Shang-Chi fighting Gambit, suggesting the heroes from the MCU’s main universe and the X-Men end up in conflict at some point in the story.

Naturally, this is an exciting prospect, though it’s also one that’s interesting in terms of what these teases suggest about the main fight itself, as the Avengers vs X-Men bout does appear to be unfolding in a decidedly different way to what theories about it previously suggested might be the case where it to occur in Doomsday.

This is firstly in that it appears to take place between three teams at minimum (when counting the New Avengers and Avengers as separate entities), and also in that the roster of figures facing off against each other is decidedly different to the lineup most imagine when they think of an Avengers vs X-Men fray, especially compared to most comic instances of this kind of skirmish, given the inclusion of figures like Gambit, Shang-Chi, and Yelena, who are almost always entirely absent from comic battles between the hero groups.

Avengers: Doomsday Featuring Conflict Between The Avengers & X-Men Is Their Perfect First MCU Meeting

Whatever form the initial Avengers vs X-Men combat takes, it is exciting to know some iteration of this classic comic occurrence is on the horizon for the MCU, particularly since the movie will mark the first major on-screen meeting between the Avengers and X-Men within the franchise itself.

One of the most engaging things about having the X-Men and Avengers in the same story is that the two groups are both focused on helping others in their own right, and yet their respective rosters and priorities often put them against one another all the same. The MCU’s approach to things seems even more destined for this kind of narrative, since the threat of Incursions adds even more tension between these two teams from differing universes.

With the MCU’s X-Men era teased to be on the near horizon, having the MCU hero team that built the franchise to the heights it’s at now meet up with the X-Men also works as an effective way to help set up the group for their upcoming time in the spotlight going forward – particularly since this appears to be simultaneously something of a farewell to iconic iterations of specific characters, like Patrick Stewart’s Professor X, who helped define those heroes’ on-screen legacies.