Avengers 5 Can’t Repeat The Marvel Misstep That Left Hugh Jackman Seriously Injured And Had The Cast Ready To Walk Out

Bryan Singer helped launch Fox's X-Men era and turned Hugh Jackman into a movie star. He also, by many accounts, made those sets a mess. If you ever wondered why the franchise's legacy feels complicated, here's a quick, unvarnished tour through one of the worst days on X2 and the bigger pattern around it — and why that still matters as Marvel gears up for its next massive crossover.

The X2 stunt that went sideways

Midway through X2, Jackman was set to do a stunt. There was no stunt coordinator on hand. Predictably, it went bad. He got hurt and was bleeding on set. That was the breaking point. The cast — everyone except Ian McKellen and Rebecca Romijn — confronted Singer and demanded he get it together. A producer was there while it happened. Safety should be the baseline; that day, it clearly wasn’t.

The pattern that overshadowed the movies

None of this lived in a vacuum. Over the years, Singer has been accused of abusive behavior on set and heavy drug use, with reports claiming crew were pulled into illegal activity and actors were mistreated. The Hollywood Reporter documented a lot of it, including producer Lauren Shuler Donner explaining why people put up with him despite the chaos.

"He was very nervous and he would act out when he was insecure, as many people do. But his way of acting out would be to yell and scream at everybody on the set. Or walk off the set or shut down production. You have to understand, the guy was brilliant, and that was why we all tolerated him and cajoled him. And if he wasn’t so fucked up, he would be a really great director."

THR also reported allegations that young men — including minors — said Singer dangled X-Men auditions in exchange for sexual favors. One anonymous source told the outlet Singer would bring a steady rotation of young guys, not involved with the films, into story meetings. On Bohemian Rhapsody, Rami Malek has been open about how difficult Singer was to work with. And yet, Singer kept getting hired, directing big movies through 2019. The talent on those sets deserved better leadership than they got.

Why this still matters: the Avengers 5 rumor mill

Marvel's next team-up is being whispered about as 'Avengers: Doomsday' — a massive crossover that could fold in the X-Men. If that happens, the last thing anyone needs is a repeat of the X-Men-era dysfunction. The talk around this project is loud and, honestly, a little chaotic. Some of it conflicts with what Marvel has officially said (or hasn’t said). Consider the details below as circulating reports and industry chatter, not hard confirmations.

• Release date: December 18, 2026 (reported)
• Directors: Anthony Russo and Joe Russo (reported)
• Writers: Michael Waldron, Stephen McFeely (reported)
• Production companies: Marvel Studios, AGBO, The Walt Disney Company (reported)
• Filming locations: Pinewood Studios (England), London, and Bahrain (reported)
• Key cast being floated: Chris Hemsworth (Thor), Pedro Pascal (Mr. Fantastic), Vanessa Kirby (Sue Storm), Anthony Mackie (Sam Wilson/Captain America), Paul Rudd (Ant-Man), Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova), Robert Downey Jr. (Doctor Doom), Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes), Simu Liu (Shang-Chi), Tenoch Huerta (Namor), Joseph Quinn (Johnny Storm), Ebon Moss-Bachrach (Ben Grimm/The Thing), Wyatt Russell (John Walker/U.S. Agent), Lewis Pullman (Bob Reynolds/Sentry)
• MCU phase: Phase Six (reported)

Couple things to flag. The Russos have been rumored in and out of this one for years. The RDJ-as-Doom idea gets tossed around a lot, but nobody at Marvel has stamped it as real. Same goes for several of those castings and the supposed shooting plan. And the claim that filming already wrapped? There is no official word to back that up.

The bottom line

Whatever the final lineup looks like, Marvel needs a locked-in, no-drama set culture — especially if they're mixing in the X-Men bench with a mountain of Avengers. Those actors have already lived through one era where a director's behavior became the headline. They deserve the opposite this time: steady hands, clear safety protocols, and a movie that makes news for the right reasons.