With The X-Men Coming to the MCU, Marvel Already Has the Perfect Team-Up Waiting

The Marvel Cinematic Universe became one of the most popular film franchises of all time on the back of the Avengers and their related characters. However, things are about to change in a big way (or honestly, looking at Spider-Man: Brand New Day, have already changed) because of the debut of the X-Men. Marvel’s merry mutants have long been some of the most popular superheroes in the comic industry; they were the first major Marvel franchise to come to the big screen (sure, Blade was the actual first but he was never popular) and fans have waited for years for them to come to big screen under the auspices of Marvel Studios.

The X-Men have often overshadowed the Avengers in the comics and that’s probably going to happen in the MCU if they’re as popular as they seem like they’re going to be. The Avengers and X-Men’s relationship has always been rather complicated – just look at Avengers vs. X-Men – the two teams often clashing. However, one of the hallmarks of the Marvel Universe is the way everyone works together and the Avengers and X-Men have some fantastic team-up stories, including one from a series that came in the days after Avengers vs. X-Men, when Captain America decided that it was time that the Avengers got serious about working with mutants. This led to the dawn of what could be the MCU’s next big team-up – the Avengers Unity Squad from the fantastic Uncanny Avengers (Vol. 1).

Uncanny Avengers Teamed Marvel’s Greatest Teams

Uncanny Avengers was born into a Marvel Universe that hadn’t been great for mutants for a long time. House of M had nearly destroyed the mutant race and the X-Men spent years struggling against the works of the bigots in charge of the world. They fought this battle by themselves, which is why when the Phoenix Force was discovered making its way to Earth, Cyclops figured that mutants were alone in their struggle and reached out for it. Cap wanted to solve this problem and it led some of the best Avengers stories of the ’10s. The Avengers Unity Squad was his solution, bringing together the two teams like never before.

X-Men had been Avengers before, most notably Beast, Wolverine, and Storm, but the two teams had their respective lanes. The Avengers Unity Squad was meant to straddle those roads. Its first roster consisted of Cap, Wolvie, Thor, Havok, Wasp, Rogue, and Scarlet Witch, with Wonder Man and Sunfire joining the team later. That’s one of the best Avengers rosters ever and they needed threats to match them. Luckily, Uncanny Avengers was up to the task.

They came together when Red Skull stole Xavier’s body (he was killed in AvX) and grafted the telepathic parts of the mutant’s brain to his own, gaining the most powerful psi-talent in the world and launching an attack meant to make people hate mutants and kill them all. It introduced his new servants, the S-Men, and showed the two teams coming together to defeat the Nazi’s threat. After defeating him, Havok was made leader of the team, and they were pit against a new threat – the Apocalypse Twins, from series writer Rick Remender’s Uncanny X-Force run.

Uncanny Avengers took the big action feel of Avengers comics and welded it with the interpersonal turmoil of X-Men books. Scarlet Witch and Rogue fought, Cap got an attitude with Wolverine for being a killer, Havok and Wasp fell in love. The character interactions where just as great as the stories, which were amazing, with Red Skull and the Apocalypse Twins making perfect villains for the new group. This book is basically the coolest event story you could ask for over the run of its 25 issues. After the failure of AXIS, which was teased in book’s opening story “The Red Shadow”, it was relaunched with Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver, Doctor Voodoo, Vision, Rogue, and Sam Wilson, lasting for a handful of issues before the Secret Wars reboot.

Another version of the team brought together the Avengers, X-Men, and the Inhumans, with the roster consisting of Steve Rogers, Rogue, Spider-Man, Deadpool, Doctor Voodoo, Quicksilver, Synapse, and Human Torch, with Cable and Wasp joining down the road. This version of the team wasn’t as cool as the original, but it gave us Rogue as leader of the Avengers, which is fantastic. Finally, we got another version in the Krakoa Era, with Captain America recruiting Rogue, Quicksilver, Psylocke, Monet St. Croix, and Deadpool, battling against Hydra Supreme Cap as Captain Krakoa and his new Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. The Avengers Unity Squad showed how easy it was to meld the two teams, something that the MCU hopefully remembers.

The Avengers Unity Squad Can Be Money for the MCU

The X-Men have a chance to bring the MCU back to the heights it had reached from 2008 to 2019. Fans have been waiting for this for years and the introduction of Jean Grey – and the hype behind the appearance of the FoX-Men in Avengers: Doomsday – shows that fans are more than ready for the mutants to hit the MCU. This cinematic universe was built on the backs of the Avengers, though, and there’s a good chance that the X-Men will take the spotlight from the various pre-existing Marvel characters of the MCU, but there’s a way to meld the two eras of the MCU, the past and future, in the form of the Avengers Unity Squad.

Look, we all know that at some point, we’re going to get an Avengers vs. X-Men movie. Following it up with the Avengers Unity Squad would perfectly bring together the two teams on the big screen after seeing them tear each other apart. It would show how big the Avengers are and that while things can get pretty contentious, the heroes will always find a way to work together. The Avengers Unity Squad is exactly the ticket for the future of big screen superheroes. The group has combined some of the most popular Marvel heroes ever and getting to see them together on the big screen would be a massive treat for any Marvel fan, whether they love Earth’s Mightiest Heroes or the merry mutants.