5 Perfect X-Men Villains For The MCU’s Reboot

Avengers: Doomsday has officially started production, beginning the countdown to the X-Men’s official entrance into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. With that debut, the X-Men’s long list of villains will also be making the jump, some potentially getting a second chance along the way. Mister Sinister is rumored to be the first X-Men villain up for the team’s MCU film debut, and others could be waiting in the wings to become an MCU big bad in the vein of Thanos or the upcoming Doctor Doom. But which villains have the strength to fill such a role?

X-Men villains come in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, from the lowly members of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants like The Blob and Pyro, to the world threats like the Brood or the Phoenix Force. Many of these villains have also made their on-screen debut in the Fox X-Men movies, meaning a few could appear alongside the returning Fox characters in Avengers: Doomsday. The general thinking acknowledges that the MCU is heading toward a reboot after Secret Wars, so the X-Men get a second chance to appear on screen.

We dug through the X-Men rogues gallery in the comics and a few of villains that appeared in the franchise on screen to determine which bad guys are worthy of a total reboot. The answers might be obvious to some, surprising to others, and a shock to the system for fans expecting a replay of the first Avengers movie. Scroll down to see the five X-Men baddies that could threaten the entire MCU after their debut. One is already guaranteed to appear in Doomsday, so it’ll be exciting to see where they can go from here.

Magneto

The obvious choice for the greatest and most powerful X-Men villain is Magneto. His status as a villain is currently up in the air in the wake of the Krakoa Era’s end, but there is little doubt he could grow to be a mega threat against the entire MCU. He is an Omega-level mutant, after all. Seeing as the Ultimate universe was very influential on the creation of the MCU and Avengers, several stories from Mark Millar’s run could at least provide a starting place for Marvel’s mutants, too. Ultimate X-Men‘s first run introduced the Brotherhood in epic fashion on the White House lawn, later paving the way for “Return of the King” and the controversial Ultimatum, where Magneto flooded New York and flipped Earth’s magnetic poles using Thor’s hammer.

The filmmakers and creatives working on the future MCU X-Men movie have plenty of options to draw from as they create their world. With Magneto, they could also look back and introduce Asteroid M or adapt the “Fatal Attractions” storyline for the big screen. Tearing Wolverine’s skeleton from his body at the movies wouldn’t be the type of moment fans would forget.

Apocalypse

The ancient first mutant known as En Sabah Nur has been a thorn in the X-Men’s side since his debut in 1986’s X-Factor #6. Typically joined by his Four Horsemen, the ancient mutant has made several memorable appearances, including an appearance in X-Men: Apocalypse, played by Oscar Isaac.

But the reason he makes this list as an MCU-level threat is due to the mid-90s storyline called “Age of Apocalypse.” In a world where Charles Xavier is killed by his own son, Apocalypse has taken over, and the entire world seems set to go nuts and become twisted. Magneto is the greatest hero of this period, killing the ancient mutant at the end of the story. Seeing some of that play out on the big screen would be epic, especially after that deadly Weapon X preview in Deadpool & Wolverine.

Stryfe

Nathan Summers is best known to most X-Men fans as Cable, the futuristic version of Cyclops and Jean Grey’s son. In that future, Summers ends up infected with a techno-organic virus at the hands of Apocalypse, and a clone is created as a backup plan. This clone becomes the uber villain Stryfe, raised under the parentage of Apocalypse and able to reach across time to target the team.

In the “X-Cutioner’s Song” storyline, Stryfe travels back in time to form the Mutant Liberation Front. Later, he poses as Cable, shoots Professor X with a poison bullet, kidnaps Cyclops and Jean Grey to the Moon, and introduces the Legacy Virus by gifting Mr. Sinister a capsule he claims to hold Summers’ DNA and genetic material. It would continue to ravage the mutants across the X-Men comics from 1993 until 2001. Stryfe also just returned with a new version of the virus in the Deadpool & Wolverine series that debuted in 2025. The drawback for Stryfe is establishing his origins could be messy for the MCU, unless they just go with the Cassandra Nova route and skip the traditional origins in the movies.

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Shadow King

If we’re being fair, Legion‘s version of the Shadow King from the FX series is already a great adaptation of the character. In the comics, Shadow King possesses Amahl Farouk as a host and becomes a sworn enemy of Charles Xavier, attacking him for the first time in 1971 after Farouk becomes stronger. They battle on the psychic plane, with Professor X trapping his psyche there until Shadow King was able to return.

He popped back up in the Muir Island saga, setting traps for the X-Men and taking control of Moira McTaggert and Valerie Cooper at the Muir Island research lab. He also takes over Legion and uses Cerebro to find missing mutants, like Storm. His psychic powers are only rivaled by Xavier in the comics, so it would be quite the tussle.

Professor X/ Charles Xavier

After his more recent actions on Krakoa during the House of X storyline, could we see Professor X become a major villain in the MCU? One that would betray his students to forces that want them and Xavier’s dream dead? That is where we have landed in the current run of comics, taking the savior of mutantkind and turning him into a mass murderer by the end of the era. On top of that, it is part of a deal Xavier makes with Orchis in an attempt to avoid more bloodshed, leading to the death of countless mutants he sent through a Krakoa gate at the final Hellfire Gala.

It’s not the first time Xavier has been portrayed as a villain. Most famously, he became the Onslaught entity after mindwiping Magneto in retaliation for ripping the adamantium from Wolverine’s body. Onslaught would classify as a major MCU-level threat, but keeping it to Professor Xavier as a villain would allow for some great changes to show up for the X-Men founder. Onslaught carries a lot more baggage.

We have plenty of time to wait and see the direction Marvel will take for the X-Men on the big screen. They are set to become a big part of the MCU after Secret Wars ends, so hopefully, time is a benefit. Avengers: Doomsday hits theaters in 2026, while Secret Wars will drop a year later.

Do you think we missed a villain who would fit as the perfect adversary for the MCU? Is there anybody who might have a better shot at destroying the world? Let us know in the comments.