The X-Men's arrival in the Marvel Cinematic Universe has been a long time coming. The mighty mutants have been among the most popular characters in all of comic books and they transcended their own genre to do it all again in the movies when the X-Men film series took the world by storm in the 2000s and 2010s. And through it all, fans waited to see them make their debut in the MCU.
Since Marvel Studios kicked off its Multiverse Saga, we have gotten our first official references to them, with some even appearing before long. Patrick Stewart reprised his role as Professor Charles Xavier in a cameo appearance in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness while Kelsey Grammer returned as Beast in The Marvels. The most significant X-return, however, was that of Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in 2024's juggernaut summer film Deadpool and Wolverine.
We know that a host of X-Men stars will also make their MCU debut in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday (and maybe also in Avengers: Secret Wars) and now a report claims that one of the biggest absences on that casting announcement may not be as "real" as we thought.
Evan Peters will reportedly return as Quicksilver in the MCU
According to renowned Marvel scooper account Marvel Updates, Evan Peters will reprise his role as Peter Maximoff, a.k.a. Quicksilver, from the X-Men movies in an upcoming MCU movie, but not necessarily the one you might think. The post claims that the star will actually return in Avengers: Secret Wars, which is the 2027 sequel to next year's Avengers: Doomsday.
Peters portrayed the speedster in 2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past, 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse and 2019's infamous Dark Phoenix. Based on the Marvel Comics character of the same name, Peter is an alternate version of Pietro Maximoff, the speedster known as Quicksilver and brother of the Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff. Interestingly, Pietro appeared in the MCU already, with Aaron Taylor-Johnson playing the role in 2015's Avengers: Age of Ultron. Pietro's death catapulted the arc of Wanda to the forefront of the MCU, continuing to influence her story as she has battled with grief throughout her time in the franchise.
What's even more interesting is that the loss of her brother played a big role in WandaVision, the Disney Plus series in which Evan Peters cameoed as "Pietro". His appearance sent the internet into meltdown as it seemed that the Fox/X-Men version of the character had finally appeared in the MCU, but it all turned out to be a clever plot by Agatha Harkness to lure Wanda into revealing the true extent of her powers. Peters then reprised the role of Ralph Bohner in spinoff Agatha All Along.
If he does appear in Avengers: Secret Wars, however, it would likely be in the form of Peter Maximoff. Avengers: Doomsday will feature the stars of the original X-Men movies, with Ian McKellen, Patrick Stewart, James Marsden, Rebecca Romijin, Kelsey Grammar, and Alan Cumming all reprising their respective roles from those films. With no references to the cast of the prequel movies, there is the possibility that they could show up in Avengers: Secret Wars instead.
It would be quite ironic if the Multiverse Saga closed out by making up for the first multiversal reference that it made with the fakeout cameo in WandaVision. Not only would it give Peters the chance to portray the character in the MCU for real this time, it would offer him the chance to get some closure to Quicksilver's arc. His final appearance in Dark Phoenix wasn't all that well-received as the film had to underuse him, leaving some of his storylines feeling unresolved. Now is the chance to resolve them.
As always when it comes to Marvel rumors, it's important to take this one with a pinch of salt, as quite literally anyone could - or couldn't - appear in the two upcoming, monumental Avengers movies. But if the feeling of seeing Evan Peters as Quicksilver again is making you a little giddy, then you're not the only one.