Avengers: Doomsday Death Watch: Every Avenger and X-Men Member Ranked by Survival Odds

Brace yourself: if the chatter around 'Avengers: Doomsday' is even half right, the Avengers and the X-Men are walking into a buzzsaw. The rumor making the rounds is wild enough on its own — Robert Downey Jr. playing a very not-nice Doctor Doom — and the expectation is that bodies are going to drop. So, in the spirit of emotional prep, here’s my ranked read on who is least likely to die and who feels primed for a heroic exit.

1. Gambit
   Channing Tatum finally got to throw cards and lay on the charm in 2024’s 'Deadpool & Wolverine', and people ate it up — accent and all. He’s been angling to play the guy for ages, and Marvel clearly spent time and capital making that happen. He’s not exactly a flagship Avenger/X-Men figure yet, which is precisely why bumping him off after one proper outing would be a waste. If Marvel has any sense, Gambit sticks around.

2. Mystique
   As a Fox-era mutant, she’d seem expendable on paper — but killing Mystique right now doesn’t add up. She skews younger than the truly old guard (Magneto, Professor X) and has always operated in that morally gray, anti-hero space. Post-soft-reboot, you need a character who can bridge eras and ideologies. That is Mystique’s whole deal. Redemption arc? Likely. Death? Not this time.

3. Cyclops
   The movies have historically shoved him behind Wolverine’s biceps, but Scott Summers is the field general of the X-Men. With the mutants folding into the MCU, you need a steady leader to carry them forward. Yes, comics Cyclops dies a lot to juice stakes and then returns, but the MCU is probably not playing that card here. He’s too useful alive.

4. Thor
   The last original Avenger still clocked in and active. Chris Hemsworth’s been swinging a hammer since 2011 — nearly 15 years — and nuking Thor in 'Doomsday' would cut off the cleanest remaining thread to the OG lineup. If Marvel wants any continuity of feeling post-soft-reboot, eliminating the Norse anchor would be self-sabotage. A grand farewell someday? Sure. A death here? I doubt it.

5. Magneto
   First introduced as the villain who used to be Charles Xavier’s best friend, he’s lived forever in that righteous-but-dangerous lane. Ian McKellen’s Magneto is also one of the last major Foxverse touchpoints. With the mutants now playing on Earth-616, this is exactly the kind of character who either cashes out in one final moment of redemption... or goes out swinging as a warning. Either way, it feels terminal — and it hands the baton to the next generation.

6. Professor X
   Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier has been the X-Men’s moral spine for decades, and he even cameoed in 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness'. If 'Doomsday' is the big handoff between eras, picture Xavier holding the line just long enough for the mutants to step fully into Earth-616 without their mentor. It’s the cleanest, most respectful way to end an era and salute Stewart’s tenure.

7. Ant-Man
   Through no fault of Paul Rudd or Scott Lang, the arc feels wrapped. 'Quantumania' had Scott beat a Kang variant, then spend the final moments nervously clocking that something worse might be coming. With Kang no longer in the MCU mix, his narrative function boils down to "warn everyone, then help in the fight." That makes him a prime candidate for a casualty with emotional punch but minimal long-term disruption.

8. Steve Rogers (variant)
   Chris Evans is confirmed to be in 'Avengers: Doomsday' — no official word on who he’s playing — but the obvious bet is some kind of Steve Rogers variant. The running fan theory is spicy: Steve staying with Peggy created a splinter timeline that destabilized the Multiverse and collateral-damaged Doom’s world, turning Doom into a revenge engine. If that’s the setup, putting a target on a legacy Avenger makes brutal, dramatic sense. If Evans is a Rogers, he’s at the top of the danger list.

What 'Avengers: Doomsday' looks like right now

As it’s being talked about, 'Avengers: Doomsday' is directed by Joe Russo and Anthony Russo, with Robert Downey Jr. reportedly playing the big bad, Doctor Doom. The cast list doing the rounds is stacked: Chris Hemsworth, Vanessa Kirby, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Letitia Wright, Paul Rudd, Wyatt Russell, Tenoch Huerta Mejia, Ebon Moss-Bachrach, Simu Liu, Florence Pugh, Kelsey Grammer, Lewis Pullman, Danny Ramirez, Joseph Quinn, David Harbour, Winston Duke, Hannah John-Kamen, Tom Hiddleston, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, James Marsden, Channing Tatum, Pedro Pascal, and Robert Downey Jr.

Release is pegged for December 18, 2026 in the U.S. Alan Silvestri is on music. Production is listed under Marvel Studios and AGBO.

Who do you think is getting the one-way trip? Drop your picks in the comments — and yes, I’ll be right there arguing about No. 1 with you.