The MCU reboot of the X-Men might be a few years away according to a new report. The MCU gained the film rights to the X-Men, along with the Fantastic Four, when Disney purchased 20th Century Fox. While Marvel Studios has announced plans for Fantastic Four, including a director and a release date, the studio has been quiet on X-Men news.
The studio has been offering small teases of the X-Men in other MCU projects, first with the introduction of a Professor X variant in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. This was soon followed by Ms. Marvel making the first on-screen mention of the word mutant in the MCU, and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law dropping a Wolverine Easter egg. All combined, it appears that Marvel Studios is laying the groundwork for a big X-Men reveal. Marvel recently announced the Thunderbolts lineup, showed a trailer for Werewolf by Night, and more at this year's D23 Expo, but there was no news regarding the X-Men.
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For anyone hoping to see the X-Men soon, there are no immediate plans for the franchise. Justin Kroll, a senior reporter for Deadline, reports that Marvel Studios has hired a writer for X-Men but adds the film will not happen for a long time. Kroll did not reveal what writer has been brought on board or what a long time actually means, but he mentioned not to expect any casting announcements soon. No comment has been made by Marvel Studios. See Kroll's tweet below:
Audiences are eager to see the X-Men join the MCU as they are some of the most iconic and popular superheroes of all time, but there are multiple reasons why Marvel Studios might be taking their time. The first is to give itself space from the release of the 20th Century Fox X-Men series seeing as X-Men: Dark Phoenix only released in 2019 and New Mutants in 2020. Giving the franchise a hiatus could build up audience nostalgia and a desire to see the X-Men return in the MCU.
The other factor is just how jam-packed the Multiverse Saga is with introducing new characters and setting up a two-part epic in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars. The X-Men's popularity and wealth of comic book stories to draw from might be just what the MCU needs following what's sure to be a grand conclusiont to the Multiverse Saga. In which case, the return of one of their most popular titles could be the beginning of Phase 7. It could even be called Dawn of X, similar to a recent Marvel Comics series that launched the X-Men into a new era.