Super Rant Rewatch – 20 Years Later, Avengers: Doomsday Can Redeem X-Men: The Last Stand

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It’s odd revisiting 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand after two decades. While it’s still considered one of the weakest films in the X-Men series and has many flaws, watching it now, knowing what’s coming with Avengers: Doomsday, gives me a different perspective.

Even though X-Men: The Last Stand is flawed and sometimes difficult to watch, it still has some worthwhile elements. I think certain themes and concepts from that film could be adapted for the X-Men in the Marvel Cinematic Universe down the line. However, I’m really hoping the upcoming ‘Doomsday’ storyline will deliver a truly epic and conclusive X-Men event.

Here are my main takeaways after rewatching X-Men: The Last Stand as part of our Super Rant series leading up to discussing Avengers: Doomsday.

The Last Stand Is The Worst Of The Original X-Men Trilogy (But Still Has Some Good Moments)

The Last Stand is by far the weakest of the original trilogy, and most everyone knows it.

As a fan, I was really disappointed with how they handled the Dark Phoenix Saga. It felt incredibly rushed – crammed into just 104 minutes! They sidelined so many of my favorite characters, giving them incomplete storylines, and even completely cut some, like Nightcrawler. To top it off, they killed off Cyclops, a character who deserved a much better send-off than what we got.

These complaints are usually the most noticeable, though ultimately, very few of the big changes made throughout the movie have any lasting impact by the time it ends.

Despite the film’s flaws, certain scenes truly stand out. Magneto’s efforts to unite the mutants are particularly effective, rooted in his deeply personal history as a Holocaust survivor. Plus, the visual spectacle of his plan involving the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz is undeniably impressive, and makes you wonder what even more incredible feats his powers will enable in the future film, Doomsday.

As a huge fan, I always thought Kelsey Grammer was absolutely perfect as Beast, so I was thrilled to see him pop up in a post-credits scene for The Marvels last year! It really got me excited knowing he’ll be back for a larger role alongside other original X-Men cast members in Avengers: Doomsday – and the confirmation that Alan Cumming is reprising his role as Nightcrawler just makes it even better.

Even though Last Stand is messy and wasn’t well-made, it touches on interesting ideas about what it means to be a mutant and the fear of their disappearance. I’d really like to see those themes explored further when Marvel Studios restarts the X-Men movie series after the Doomsday/Secret Wars storyline – that’s what stood out to me most on my recent rewatch.

20 Years Later. I’m So Ready For Doomsday To Be The Fox X-Men’s TRUE Last Stand

Despite everything else, the biggest feeling I had after watching the movie was that it didn’t quite wrap things up. Considering all the timeline issues, changes, and reboots Fox made to the X-Men universe afterward, The Last Stand never felt like a true ending.

The original X-Men cast never received a proper send-off, despite many returning for later films, including this year’s Avengers: Secret Wars. Now, there’s a strong possibility that this version of the X-Men and its actors will finally get the conclusive ending they deserve.

I’ve always hoped to see Cyclops truly step up as a leader for the X-Men, and for Magneto and Professor X to have one last, really powerful clash of ideals – something that builds on the great dynamic they had in Days of Future Past. We’ll be revisiting that movie soon, but I’m still dreaming about that kind of payoff!

Avengers: Doomsday benefits from learning from past superhero movies – and twenty years of improvements in the genre – which gives it a great opportunity to create something amazing for the live-action X-Men. Thinking about this, rewatching The Last Stand recently made me optimistic about how Doomsday could actually improve upon that 2006 film.

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2026-02-15 01:44