The WGA strike just penned a new deal, and Marvel Studios wasted no time jumping into one of their most anticipated projects.
Deadline broke the news today that Kevin Feige has begun searching for a writer for the MCU introduction of the X-Men, with the outlet reporting that, “Marvel will start setting writer meetings later this fall for pitches on its anticipated X-Men movie.”
However, the Deadline story notes that Marvel Studios is not rushing the process, primarily due to the project not being slated with a release date yet. This would also help put a gap between the last era of X-Men from Fox and whatever the MCU will do, as the previous traditional X-Men film was Dark Phoenix in 2019. There have been a few entries related to the X-Men, like The New Mutants, but the X-Men have mainly laid dormant for some time.
While some fans have been delighted by the story that Marvel is looking into X-Men, there’s some pushback to this new direction. In recent years, Marvel hasn’t put out the same content that many have come to know and expect, wearing themselves thin between the films and all the Disney+ series. There was also the treatment of a classic X-Men character in an MCU move, with Patrick Stewart’s Professor X being thrown aside rather quickly in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Add in the odd introduction of mutants during the season finale of Ms. Marvel, and the argument to pause before bringing in the X-Men begins to have some validity.
We could see a test run of these characters in the future. Deadpool 3 is set to bring back Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, and rumors have swirled that the Fox-era X-men characters could feature in Avengers: Secret Wars. With these attempts to close the door on the previous era and introduce the new one, Feige and Marvel can shake off any issues with their depictions here.
There’s another issue plaguing Marvel projects right now, which needs to be addressed with this X-Men writer news. These films and series require the right writers for the right projects.
As countless writers come and go from the Marvel writer’s room, and many of the scripts recently caught a lot of heat, Marvel will need to turn to their biggest hits or what Deadpool movies have done and ensure everything fits well. There have been multiple reports of actors turning away Marvel projects due to the state of the scripts, so to get the best talent and outcome, Marvel needs perfect mutant scribers.
The Deadline story notes Marvel declined to comment, but the announcement could come at the start of 2024.
Originally published September 30, 2023. Updated October 2, 2023.
