The MCU's Avengers Vs X-Men Setup Officially Has The Perfect Iron Man Replacement Now

Published Aug 8, 2026, 12:55 PM EDT Zoë Miskelly is an editor and second in command for Screen Rant's Movies team, having covered the entertainment industry for almost 10 years now. Zoë's love of superheroes and all things Marvel & DC started out in childhood, and has blossomed into a career getting to talk about some of the biggest and best movies and shows of all time, having previously focused on comics while working at WhatCulture. Sign in to your ScreenRant account Warning: This article contains spoilers for Spider-Man: Brand New Day. The MCU has just set up a solid premise for an Avengers Vs X-Men story, and found the perfect figure to replace Iron Man in the on-screen versions of events. Ever since the MCU timeline adapted Civil War into Captain America: Civil War, it's been clear that the franchise isn't afraid to have its hero teams face off in major ways, which has left fans eager to see an Avengers Vs X-Men story going forward. While this seemed somewhat impossible for years, since the X-Men weren't actively a part of the MCU for a long time, the increasing return of X-Men characters and other notable Marvel mutant heroes has paved the way for this possibility in the MCU, especially since the next Saga after the Multiverse Saga is implied to focus on the X-Men. Though Avengers: Doomsday is teased to have some small skirmishes between some Avengers heroes and the X-Men, the franchise is also teed up in a way that means a more long-term version of the Avengers Vs X-Men storyline can play out in the MCU after Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars too - particularly given the MCU now also has a perfect Iron Man stand-in to take the kind of central role it's easy to imagine Tony Stark could have had in this kind of plot line. Spider-Man: Brand New Day Just Set The Stage For The X-Men To Face Off Against The MCU's Non-Mutant Heroes Credit: Sony Pictures Releasing Spider-Man's creation of the power neutralizing inhibitor chips in Spider-Man: Brand New Day effectively serves as Peter Parker's version of Iron Man's Ultron lesson about the prospective danger of his inventions. The web-slinging hero is forced to confront the ways the tech can be misused towards the end of the film, when the Department of Damage Control utilize it in order to torture and experiment on Jean Grey after Spider-Man helped capture her. Of course, one of the MCU's biggest heroes inventing the tech that can and no doubt will be used in order to restrain and mistreat other mutant and metahuman characters down the line is sure to go down poorly with heroes like the X-Men - and sets them up to become furious with Spider-Man if and when they learn he was behind this technology, which is very possible given Jean Grey is already aware of this. Given Spider-Man's bond with Avengers-aligned heroes like Yelena and the Hulk, though, it's easy to see how this conflict could turn into an X-Men vs Avengers skirmish, especially since everyone would have valid points - with the X-Men being rightfully angry about the inhibitors and how they can be used to harm mutants, and the Avengers and or New Avengers trying to protect a years-established hero that they know invented the chips with good intentions, and initially did so only to help himself with his own powers and how to handle them. Jean Grey & Spider-Man's Bond Would Make An MCU Avengers Vs X-Men Story All The More Interesting The ending of Spider-Man: Brand New Day sees Jean Grey and Spider-Man go from enemies to friends who save each other's lives, as Peter protects Jean from being shot, and Jean uses her powers to ensure Spider-Man survives after he's instead shot protecting her. This bond would make an Avengers vs X-Men conflict that centers around Spider-Man all the more interesting, since one of the X-Men's biggest heavy hitters historically would have divided interests, and could potentially be key to non-lethally ending the bad blood between the groups. Altogether, Spider-Man: Brand New Day teeing up this prospective conflict for the MCU - and setting up a justification for Spider-Man to replace Iron Man and be at the forefront of this conflict - makes a lot of sense for the franchise on more than one level, and ensures audiences are aware that this prospective story is more likely to happen now than ever before. Movie(s) Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, Iron Man 2, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger, ​The Avengers, Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Guardians of the Galaxy, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Ant-Man, Captain America: Civil War, Doctor Strange, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, Spider-Man: Homecoming, Thor: Ragnarok, Black Panther, Avengers: Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Captain Marvel, Avengers: Endgame, Spider-Man: Far from Home, Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Eternals, Spider-Man: No Way Home, Doctor Strange In the Multiverse of Madness, Thor: Love and Thunder, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever , Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3, The Marvels, Deadpool & Wolverine, Captain America: Brave New World, Thunderbolts*, The Fantastic Four: First Steps, Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Avengers: Doomsday, Werewolf by Night , The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special, The Punisher: One Last Kill TV Show(s) Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Agent Carter, Inhumans, WandaVision, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Loki, What If...?, Hawkeye, Moon Knight, Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, Secret Invasion, Agatha All Along, Ironheart, Daredevil: Born Again, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, Wonder Man, Echo, Marvel Zombies, Eyes of Wakanda