Avengers: Doomsday – Predicting the Winner of Every Confirmed Avengers Vs. X-Men Fight (So Far)
Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters this December, marking the most expansive ensemble the Marvel Cinematic Universe has assembled since Avengers: Endgame. Directed by Joe and Anthony Russo, the film pulls together the mainline Avengers led by Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), the New Avengers lineup that grew out of Thunderbolts*, the Fantastic Four fresh off their MCU debut, and the original Fox X-Men cast returning to their iconic roles. Doctor Doom anchors the story, with Robert Downey Jr. called back by Marvel Studios to play the villain. However, before any of these factions can stand together against Doom, Marvel is leaning on its best tradition: letting heroes kick each other’s butts.
Marvel crossover movies routinely stage hero-on-hero conflict before the real threat arrives, a device that goes back to The Avengers. That first event movie had Thor (Chris Hemsworth), Captain America (Chris Evans), and Iron Man (Downey Jr.) trading blows in the woods. Then, Hulk (Mark Rufallo) chases Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) before facing the God of Thunder. Don’t forget the movie revolves around a mind-controlled Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) attacking all the Avengers before a hand-to-hand clash against Natasha. Avengers: Doomsday leans into that formula on a larger scale, using the collision of three separate hero universes to generate friction long before Doctor Doom becomes the shared target. That includes the MCU’s version of Avengers vs. X-Men, with marketing materials and cast interviews having already confirmed three specific matchups.
3) Gambit vs. Shang-Chi
The first trailer for Avengers: Doomsday places Gambit (Channing Tatum) and Shang-Chi (Simu Liu) inside a ruined X-Mansion, trading blows in a fight no one could anticipate. Gambit’s power set revolves around charging objects, most often his signature playing cards, with kinetic energy that detonates on contact. In addition to being the world’s greatest martial artist, Shang-Chi enters the fight wielding the Ten Rings, weapons whose MCU origin remains only partly explained but that Wong (Benedict Wong), one of the franchise’s foremost experts on mystical objects, has already tied to power beyond conventional science.
Given the importance of the Ten Rings in the MCU, it seems unlikely that Gambit would be able to charge them, explode them, and remove Shang-Chi’s weapons. The objects’ mysterious material has to be impervious to Gambit’s kinetic powers; otherwise, the build-up from Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings post-credit scene will lead nowhere. Shang-Chi’s mastery of the Ten Rings, paired with his hand-to-hand training, gives him the edge in this fight, regardless of what Gambit tries to blow around the Avenger.
2) Yelena Belova vs. Mystique
Trailer footage shows Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) hurling her baton at Mystique (Rebecca Romijn) inside the X-Mansion, only for Mystique to catch the weapon and shift into Yelena’s exact likeness. The sequence recalls Mystique’s shapeshifting ambush on Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) in the original X-Men, and it sets up what might be the hardest fight on this list to call.
Yelena was trained from childhood in the Red Room to assume that anyone in front of her could be lying about who they are, so Mystique’s shapeshifting shouldn’t be a decisive factor. In addition, both women fight as trained close-quarters combatants first, relying on fast reflexes and precise movements, rather than brute strength, and there’s nothing in the Marvel movies to tell us who holds an edge over the other when it comes to martial arts. What separates them, narrowly, is Mystique’s mutant physiology, which grants her a durability and adaptability that Yelena’s human body cannot fully match over a prolonged exchange. That advantage is thin enough that either actor could walk away from this fight with the win, but if the two trade blows to the finish, Mystique’s body gives her the last word.
1) Nightcrawler vs. Reed Richards
The Doomsday trailer footage places Reed (Pedro Pascal) inside the X-Mansion alongside Yelena Belova and Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) before the wider brawl breaks out. The footage suggests the Fantastic Four link up with the Avengers first, only to be pulled into the X-Men’s world once the multiverse starts colliding. Since Reed is working with the Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, we can stretch things a bit — pun intended — and make Mister Fantastic an honorary Avenger. That’s relevant because Alan Cumming, aka Nightcrawler, said he was rehearsing a sequence that involved striking Reed Richards (Pedro Pascal) in the head.
Nightcrawler’s teleportation makes him one of the hardest mutants in the franchise to pin down, closing distance and vanishing before an opponent can react. Reed Richards is no fighter, but he can stretch to every corner of the room, allied with an intellect capable of instantly identifying patterns and reacting to them. It’s easy to see Reed guessing correctly where Nightcrawler will teleport next and just waiting for the mutant to fall into a trap.
Avengers: Doomsday is scheduled for release in theaters on December 18th.
