With the WGA strike settled, Marvel Studios is itching to get the ball rolling on several projects, including the studio’s long-gestating plans for the rebooted X-Men Universe. According to Deadline, Marvel Studios hopes to schedule writers’ meetings in Autumn for pitches concerning an X-Men movie. While there’s no rush to put the X-project into production since the studio has not specified a date, more writers will have a shot at selling the studio on their idea.
Regardless of the writers’ schedules, today’s news means Marvel is officially starting its development for the next era of X-Men films. Fans have been popping their claws for the X-Men to join the MCU since Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019. Projects immediately heading our way are X-Men ’97 and Deadpool 3. X-Men ’97 is a follow-up to the beloved after-school-hours animated series—the new show debuts on Disney+ in early 2024.
Marvel is in an exciting position with the X-Men. The studio could take an old-school approach to the team by presenting a classic roster of characters squaring off against a big bad, or they could embrace the latest era of X-Men, which finds the mutant population occupying the living island of Krakoa. The Krakoan era of X-Men could be too ambitious to start, but if Marvel wants to separate itself from Fox’s previous efforts with the X-Men brand, it’d be an excellent way to go.
While the end of the WGA strike is a step in a positive direction, SAG-AFTRA needs to settle its differences with the entertainment industry, too. You can write as many fantastic scripts as you like, but if there’s no one around to act them out, that’s the end of an otherwise exciting endeavor.
What should Marvel’s approach to the X-Men be? Do you want a retread of the 20th Century Fox films or something entirely new? Will the MCU reintroduce Wolverine immediately, or will the studio introduce untapped mutants like Iceman, Glob Herman, Hazmat, Dazzler, and the Five-in-One? I’d love to see them try something new, as the X-Men Universe is vast and full of potential. It would be a shame if the past repeated itself too much. Let us know what you think in the comments below.