Are X-Men and Avengers in the same universe in Marvel Comics & the MCU?

Deadpool & Wolverine may bring the X-Men and the Avengers together in the MCU, but are they in the same universe in Marvel Comics? 

The upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine movie brings the Merc with a Mouth into the multiverse and will pair him up with Wolverine (or a multitude of Wolverines, if reports are to be believed). 

It’s a big step towards incorporating the X-Men into the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it does create some confusion. After all, they’re both Marvel Comics properties, so aren’t they already in the same universe? 

With that in mind, here’s a quick look at the Marvel Comics & MCU takes on the X-Men and Avengers and if they’re in the same universe together. 

X-Men and Avengers co-exist in the Marvel Comics universe

In Marvel Comics, the X-Men and Avengers have always existed in the same universe. 

Both teams debuted at the same time, with Uncanny X-Men #1 and Avengers #1 both hitting stands on September 1, 1963. Though they didn’t have a ton of overlap in early stories, that would change down the road. 

Today, there’s a veritable sea of crossovers, like the world-changing House of M and the all-out brawl in Avengers vs. X-Men. You even have The Avengers playing a role in decided X-Men-focused events, like Iron Man and Emma Frost’s faux-marriage in the current Fall of the House of X.

However, the overlap extends beyond events. Original X-Man The Beast is a card-carrying member of both teams, having joined The Avengers for a spell after graduating from Xavier’s School, while well-known Avengers like Captain Marvel have joined the X-Men during periods when their powers were in flux. 

The MCU Avengers and X-Men aren’t in the same universe – yet

In the MCU, the Avengers and the X-Men are on separate Earths. However, that could change soon. 

The original film take on Marvel’s mutants, debuting in the 2000 X-Men movie, was a Fox property that exists in its own self-contained universe containing the X-Men and Deadpool films. In contrast, the MCU Avengers made their debut in 2012’s appropriately titled The Avengers, where they formed after a handful of solo films established the characters.

Following Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox, all eyes were on the MCU to see when the X-Men would appear. The first true MCU take on the X-Men made their debut in the post-credits stinger of The Marvels. There, Monica Rambeau finds herself in another universe, seemingly rescued by The Beast and a version of her mother who became Binary.

That could change with the upcoming release of Deadpool & Wolverine, which sees Deadpool enlisted by the TVA to save the timeline. We know Deadpool will be meeting up with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, but it remains to be seen if that will be the same one who debuted in 2000’s Fox, effectively bringing that continuity to the MCU or a variant from another timeline. 

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