‘The Marvels’ has a high bar to clear to live up to its promised X-Men crossover, but here’s how it can do it

No, it’s not just you, we all saw it too. Marvel Studios definitely seems to be promising that The Marvels is about to drop a multiversal crossover we never expected and collide with the X-Men.

“There’s a different reality bleeding into ours,” Teyonah Parris’ Monica Rambeau declares in a recent promo for the Brie Larson sequel, while Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury teases “They’re here.” OK, so there’s some kind of interdimensional drama going on, but how does this point to the X-Men? “Be there for what comes next,” reads the tagline, before it fades out, leaving the “x” in “next” to stand out a moment. Don’t tell us that’s not deliberate.

Following on from that big hint at a Thor-verse cameo, then, The Marvels is turning out to be a more of an MCU party than we thought. Now it’s got us hyped for some multiversal mutant mayhem, though, it really needs to deliver. Here are five X-Men members who need to show up to make good on the movie’s promotional promise.

Kelsey Grammer’s Beast

Not long ago, this possible cameo isn’t one we ever would’ve considered for The Marvels, but then rumors pointed to Fox’s OG Hank McCoy returning to the fold for a surprise appearance. What with the Frasier reboot, apparently we’re in the Kelsey Grammer Revisits His Old Characters era so, who knows, it might be onto something. With our appetite whetted for such a bizarre cameo, if it isn’t actually a thing, Marvel needs to get some special deal going with SAG-AFTRA pronto so they can shoot a Frasier Beast scene and add it in last-minute.

Professor X

When thinking of an X-Men character who could turn up to tease bigger things to come, naturally the first one who springs to mind is Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier, as the guy has been doing exactly that sort of thing for almost as long as the MCU has been alive — think back to his cameo in X-Men Origins: Wolverine or the post-credits scene in The Wolverine. Or, obviously, his role in Doctor Strange 2. He could even drop by to recruit mutant Kamala Khan to attend his school for gifted youngsters. Maybe not the flashiest X-Men cameo possible, but the most logical.

Deadpool

Well, this one goes without saying. For the most part, it looks like it’s all resting on the shoulders of Ryan Reynolds’ Merc with the Mouth to introduce the X-Men into the MCU, what with various familiar faces expected to return in Deadpool 3. Everything, it seems, is dedicated to setting up that threequel as best it can — see also those Loki rumors — so it would make a certain amount of sense for Wade Wilson to show up in The Marvels and make his long-awaited grand Marvel Studios entrance. Imagine Brie Larson’s stoic Captain M meeting Deadpool? No, I can’t either, but now I want to see it.

Wolverine

As much as we’re excited to see Reynolds back as Deadpool, though, the returning Fox star we’re even more eager to have back in the fold is naturally Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. So it would really blow the roof off of theaters everywhere if James “Logan” Howlett himself slashes his way through some Kree to help the Marvels out of a tight spot. If The Marvels is how the X-Men burst into the MCU’s reality then having Wolverine be the first one to come through would make a lot of sense. And be a heck of a way of welcoming Jackman into the larger Marvel universe at long last.

Rogue

Given Carol Danvers’ comic book history, however, there’s really only one X-Men character who should team up with the Marvels. In the source material, Rogue only turned good after she used her powers to copy Carol’s abilities. As we’ve argued before, Emilia Clarke’s G’iah kind of just stole Rogue’s backstory in Secret Invasion, but with Marvel teasing the coming of the X-Men so soon, surely it’s Rogue’s time to shine, whether that be Anna Paquin’s Fox iteration or a brand-new one (Keke Palmer, if we’re lucky).