The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is finally bringing the X-Men into its multi-phase plans, and Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier is reportedly in talks to lead the charge.
Deadline reports that the filmmaker is currently in early talks with Marvel Studios to direct a new X-Men movie. Its sources say that, while the state of negotiations remains a mystery, Schreier currently sits atop the comic book giant’s list of names to helm the project.
The early-in-development X-Men film is said to feature a script written by The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes scribe Michael Lesslie. Marvel mastermind Kevin Feige is also attached as a producer. Other details — including its cast, release date, and how closely it might tie into the MCU — remain tightly under wraps.
The MCU has spent its post-Avengers: Endgame slate slowly building up anticipation for an X-Men introduction of some kind. As multiverse shenanigans continue to weave their way into storylines seen in movies like The Marvels, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, and Deadpool & Wolverine, Marvel has included small nods to how characters like Wolverine, Beast, and Professor X might meet up with the current lineup of Avengers. While The Fantastic Four: First Steps will let fans meet the MCU take on Marvel’s First Family come July, the famous school of Mutants has remained nowhere to be found.
We will see the X-Men in Avengers: Doomsday, of course. Last month’s Avengers: Doomsday cast reveal was heavy on veteran X-Men actors. Kelsey Grammer, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Alan Cumming, Rebecca Romijn, and James Marsden are all now set to appear in Avengers: Doomsday, confirming the X-Men are in the film in a big way. Grammer famously played Beast in the Fox X-Men franchise before making his MCU debut via The Marvels’ post-credits scene. Stewart played Charles Xavier/Professor X in the X-Men films before appearing briefly in the MCU via Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness as a member of the Illuminati. McKellen, who played Magneto, has not yet appeared in the MCU. Neither has Cumming, who played Nightcrawler, Romijn, who played Mystique, nor Marsden, who played Cyclops. It begs the question: is Avengers: Doomsday secretly an Avengers vs. X-Men movie?
We know Marvel has been trying to get the ball rolling on an MCU X-Men film for some time. Feige promised late last year that fans would soon see the X-Men make their debut sometime within “the next few movies.” Meanwhile, THR recently reported that Deadpool himself, Ryan Reynolds, has quietly been pushing to get a Deadpool-meets-X-Men movie made sooner rather than later. There’s no official X-Men movie on the timeline yet, but with the speed the MCU is moving at, audiences likely won’t have to wait too long to see fan-favorite characters join the fight.
Schreier, meanwhile, just launched Thunderbolts* into theaters last weekend. It’s off to a strong start, pulling in a global total of $173,009,775 in theaters so far (via Box Office Mojo). The ensemble anti-hero film has also managed to impress critics, as the project currently boasts an 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes (we gave it a 7/10 in our review).
While we wait for more updates on Marvel’s negotiations with Schreier, check out the internet’s reaction to a potential Nightcrawler/Mister Fantastic showdown In Avengers: Doomsday — leaked by Alan Cumming himself.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
