The X-Men are coming to the MCU. Or so we’ve been told for the past couple of years now. We’ve known that mutantkind were due to be folded into Marvel Studios’ universe ever since Disney finalized their takeover of Fox in early 2019, but so far, no X-related projects have been officially revealed to be in the works. Indeed, last month brought news that Marvel was rebooting Fantastic Four, also formerly owned by Fox, but nothing was said about the X-Men.
Kevin Feige has been doing press to promote WandaVision‘s arrival on Disney Plus this week, though, and he’s finally opened up about where he’s at with introducing the Children of the Atom into the MCU. While speaking to ScreenRant, the Marvel Studios president reiterated his passion for the characters and revealed that “discussions” are well underway behind the scenes.
“You know how much I love the X-Men. I already said that’s where I started. I can’t tell you anything before we actually announced it, but rest assured, the discussions have been long and ongoing internally.”
Of course, it makes sense that it’s taking a lot of time for Marvel to work out what to do with the X-Men. Unlike the Fantastic Four, who can be easily brought into the fold with another reboot, the X-Men corner of the MCU will no doubt be huge and maybe even a franchise in itself. The studio has the potential to produce countless movies and TV shows of all kinds based on Xavier’s gifted students and their various offshoots, so it’s going to take a lot of planning to make sure they’re handling the IP in the most fruitful way possible.
As you would expect, though, it sounds like Deadpool 3 could be the first X-related project out the door. Elsewhere on his press tour, Feige has confirmed that Ryan Reynolds is overseeing writing of a script for the threequel – which will be R-rated and take place in the MCU – as we speak, but it won’t be shooting this year. Maybe we can expect that movie to do some of the heavy lifting of introducing the X-Men into the franchise when it eventually arrives, though?