You'd think a five-hour video of chairs with names on them would be devoid of Marvel Cinematic Universe Easter eggs, but some fans believe there's one lurking in the shadows.
To recap, this week Marvel announced the cast of Avengers: Doomsday in a video that slowly revealed chairs with MCU actor names on them. The video confirmed an additional 26 actors set to appear in the superhero mash-up alongside Robert Downey Jr.'s Doctor Doom. It took nearly five and a half hours to do so.
Most have now moved on from the video to debating what the cast announcement means for Avengers: Doomsday itself, but some have stuck with it, analyzing the chairs and even the shadows to within an inch of their lives. And now, some believe they've found something intriguing.
The appropriately-named redditor True_Confusion_295 said, "I feel like a conspiracy theorist circling things in red," when they pointed out that a shadow cast by one of the chairs forms what looks like an X on top of an A. What does that mean? Avengers vs. X-Men, of course.
I feel like a conspiracy theorist circling things in red
byu/True_Confusion_295 inmarvelstudios
Marvel surprised many by announcing a number of returning stars from Fox's X-Men films. Fox X-Men veterans Kelsey Grammer, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, and James Marsden are all now confirmed to appear in Avengers: Doomsday. Grammer famously played Beast in the Fox X-Men franchise before making his MCU debut via The Marvels' post-credits scene. Stewart played Charles Xavier/Professor X in the X-Men films before appearing briefly in the MCU via Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as a member of the Illuminati. McKellen, who played Magneto, has yet to appear in the MCU. Neither has Cumming, who played Nightcrawler, Romijn, who played Mystique, nor Marsden, who played Cyclops. Even Channing Tatum gets to play Gambit again after his star turn in Deadpool & Wolverine. It begs the question: is Avengers: Doomsday secretly an Avengers vs. X-Men movie?
Perhaps, when the movie is finally revealed, fans will return to this moment to declare the hotly anticipated superhero scrap was first teased in the shadow of a chair. Or not.
Letters in shadows isn't the only conspiracy theory coming out of Marvel's announcement video. At the end, Robert Downey Jr. does a slightly unnerving 'shhh' to the camera as he brings his finger up to his mouth. Why? Could it be a sort of 'don't tell anyone' warning because production is about to begin? Could it be a tease for Avengers: Secret Wars? Could it be a nod to more casting announcements to come?
Or could it be a reference to Agatha in WandaVision? And, in turn, the unexpected appearance of Scarlet Witch, despite actress Elizabeth Olsen suggesting she's not?
Doom x Agatha.#AvengersDoomsday pic.twitter.com/3LX38W5Kc0
— Cosmic Marvel (@cosmic_marvel) March 26, 2025
Earlier this month, co-directors the Russo brothers said they see Avengers 5 and 6 as a "new beginning" that will lay the foundation for whatever comes next in Phase 7 of the MCU.
"The only thing I'll say about the movie is this: we love villains who think they're the heroes of their own stories," Joe Russo said. "That's when they become three-dimensional and they become more interesting. When you have an actor like Robert Downey, you have to create a three-dimensional, well-shaped character for the audience. That's where a lot of our focus is going."
Avengers: Doomsday is currently set to arrive in theaters on May 1, 2026, and Secret Wars arrives about a year later in May 2027. Before then, Thunderbolts comes out in May 2025, TV show Ironheart is out in June, and Phase 6 kicks off with The Fantastic Four: First Steps in July.
In October, Marvel Studios added three untitled movie projects to its 2028 release schedule: February 18, 2028; May 5, 2028; and November 10, 2028. It seems increasingly likely one of these movies is X-Men.
