Avengers: Doomsday will feature the comeback we've been hoping for, reports say

Marvel Studios has been staging one heck of a comeback this summer. Its acclaimed Marvel Cinematic Universe has always been at the center of the pop-culture conversation, but after a rough 2023 for the franchise, it has bounced back significantly. We mostly owe that to the success of Deadpool and Wolverine, which has broken box office records on its way to surpassing $1 billion, but it's also down to a strong showing at San Diego Comic-Con, where they made some major announcements about the next Avengers movies.

The biggest, of course, revolves around the return of Robert Downey Jr. to the franchise, as the former Iron Man star will now be playing Doctor Doom; the new main villain of the Multiverse Saga. He will play a role in the franchise going forward, specifically in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars.

Both of those movies are expected to be full of major cameos and appearances from other Marvel and MCU stars, and now a new report suggests that one of the most beloved could make an appearance.

In fact, this comeback is a character who just recently made their MCU debut.

Dafne Keen rumored to return in Avengers: Doomsday and Secret Wars

It sounds like we could be about to see more of Laura, a.k.a. X-23, in the MCU. According to Marvel insider Alex Perez, the character is expected to return in both Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. This came during their monthly Q&A with fans (on The Cosmic Circus) and was in response to a question about X-23's fate in the franchise and whether she could stick around for the X-Men's introduction. Though Perez couldn't answer that part of the question, the response suggested she'll be back "for the Avengers films".

This is pretty great news because Laura is a fan-favorite character. Portrayed by Dafne Keen, she doesn't actually exist in the MCU's Earth-616 as she is actually a part of the universe established in the 20th Century Fox X-Men movies, originating in 2017's Logan. She then made her MCU debut in this year's Deadpool and Wolverine, with Keen reprising the role.

The character is essentially Logan's daughter, as she was cloned from his DNA. Her bond with the Wolverine of the X-Men movies was one of the film's most emotional aspects, so when she returned to help this new Wolverine (and Deadpool) in the MCU, it made for an incredibly special moment.

*** The rest of this article contains SPOILERS for Deadpool and Wolverine. ***

X-23's role in the movie saw her aid the titular pair in The Void during their battle against Cassandra Nova. Though it looked like she and her allies might have perished, Deadpool and Wolverine were able to make a deal with the Time Variance Authority that saved them from their fates. Laura then returned in the closing chapter of the film, back in her world and happy, with this new Logan by her side.

That would have been the perfect ending for the character; she promised her father she wouldn't be the weapon they made her to be, and then helped another version of him find some kind of redemption too. But still, fans hoped it wouldn't be the end for X-23, as there is so much more they could do with that character; so the idea of her returning, surrounded by more Marvel characters as she does so, well that's just too exciting.

Dafne Keen could very well play Laura for many more years if Marvel has a more long-term role for the character, so it's good to know that there's a real chance she could return. As always with Marvel rumors, it's best to take this one with a pinch of salt until the movies actually come out, but given the likelihood of plenty of characters important to the Multiverse Saga playing a role in these two movies, there is a strong possibility that this could happen - especially now that we know Hugh Jackman is likely to return as Wolverine in at least one of those movies too.