X-Men 2 set the high bar for ensemble superhero movies, and it should be the template for Avengers: Doomsday

Pre-MCU, if you polled most fans on the best superhero movies, there's a reasonable chance that X2 would be in the top 3. The 2003 sequel is a seismic step up from its predecessor, fully delivering on the promise of Marvel's mutants on screen with a true ensemble comic book movie that blurs the lines between its heroes and villains. And it could prove the perfect model for integrating Doctor Doom alongside the Avengers in Avengers: Doomsday.

X2, for the uninitiated or those in need of a refresher, is the follow-up to 2000's messy, but undeniably important, X-Men. Following an attack on the White House by acrobatic teleporter Nightcrawler – a sequence that still thrills to this day – tensions between mutantkind and the rest of the world are at an all-time high. Enter Colonel William Stryker (Brian Cox), a military scientist who has a history with Wolverine, and leads an attack on Xavier's mansion, kidnapping Professor X and Cyclops.

Stryker, it turns out, has a plan to kill every living mutant using his telepathic son, Jason, and his own version of Cerebro. With a shared enemy to take care of, the X-Men forge an alliance of necessity with Magneto and the Brotherhood of Mutants, teaming up to infiltrate Stryker's arctic Akali Lake base. Expertly juggling its large ensemble, it also manages to lay some tantalizing groundwork for the Dark Phoenix Saga – a story the X-Men movies would go on to squander on two separate occasions.

New mutants

23 years later, X2 still impresses. Without access to anything-goes VFX tools and the gargantuan budget levels of modern-day superhero tentpoles, it's a far more intimate and personal comic book blockbuster than anything you'll see nowadays, where world/universe-ending stakes are the norm. But this works in its favor; there's a lot of rich character work and knotty drama here among the memorable spectacle.

Nightcrawler alone remains one of the coolest comic book characters ever brought to the screen, his powerset perfectly suited to dazzling in live action. The attack on Xavier's mansion allows Wolverine to let rip in supremely satisfying fashion, followed by a brutal showdown with Lady Deathstrike that betters any of the awkward adamantium-clawed action in Deadpool & Wolverine. And Magneto's ingenious escape from his plastic prison is a spectacularly well-staged sequence that's better for its simplicity.

Before Avengers: Infinity War and Avengers: Endgame proved that the MCU could deftly juggle two dozen main characters in a single movie – albeit with 18 films worth of setup – X2 set the standard for ensemble superhero storytelling. Surprisingly few characters feel shortchanged here (Rogue among them, in part a consequence of her central role in the first movie), with around half a dozen interconnected story threads dovetailing at Alkali Lake. Even the film's Dark Phoenix sequel tease doesn't feel egregious, because you've had such a full meal up to that point already.

Universes collide

So why is X2 on Marvel's essential (re)watchlist ahead of Avengers: Doomsday? The simple answer is that the OG X-Men are set to play a crucial part in proceedings. Notably, Alan Cumming's Nightcrawler – who didn't appear in the first X-Men – is also set to return in Doomsday, alongside OG mutants Professor X, Magneto, Mystique, Cyclops, and Beast.

But I'd argue there's much Doomsday could draw from X2. Without as much of a build-up this time, Doomsday needs to establish its stakes and new threat, Doctor Doom, far quicker than the last Avengers-level mega-event, something X2 excels at. Likewise, X2 is a masterclass in establishing a villain with human motivations and deep connections to existing heroes – something Marvel will need to replicate with Doom if he's to work.

The use of Magneto in X2 could also prove something of template for Doom. In X2, Magneto eventually teams up with the X-Men to take down Stryker, as he's a threat to all mutantkind. The enemy of my enemy proverb literalized. Doom, in all likelihood, will need to spend a significant chunk of Doomsday working alongside the Avengers in an effort to stop the incursions threatening the multiverse, before being revealed as the one orchestrating the chaos.

Either way, as a still-superlative example of ensemble superhero storytelling, there's much Avengers: Doomsday could learn from X2, and plenty to recommend about the movie, even after 18 years of the MCU. And perhaps one day, following a pair of infamous misfires, Marvel's own fresh-faced X-Men lineup will finally make good on the promise of Jean Grey's Dark Phoenix.

X-Men 2 is available to stream now on Disney Plus, ahead of the release of Avengers: Doomsday on December 18.

Look ahead with our list of upcoming Marvel movies and check out how to watch the Marvel movies in order ahead of your next rewatch. See you next week as we revisit Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.