Thunderbolts* is one of Marvel Studios' best-reviewed movies, and an emotional, powerful story about loneliness and depression that just so happens to also introduce the MCU's New Avengers.
Having proven himself with Thunderbolts*, the trades reported that director Jake Schreier will neXt helm Marvel Studios' long-awaited X-Men reboot. It's a decision that's been met with widespread praise from fans eager to see the filmmaker's spin on the mutant superhero team.
We spoke with Schreier earlier this week and asked how working on a movie like Thunderbolts* has prepared him to potentially direct the X-Men movie, or any similarly sized blockbuster, for that matter.
He chose his words carefully, but this attitude is what arguably makes him a great fit to continue telling stories in the MCU.
"I think that, you know, to say nothing about the future, but just this film and what I learned from it...look, I loved working on it," Schreier says in the video below. "And I loved working with everyone at Marvel. I think that the lesson of the movie is also the lesson in making the movie, which is that you cannot, and I mean, it's kind of obvious making it, that you cannot do it alone. I think that Thunderbolts* is the product of just a massive amount of work."
"Jon Watts was my roommate in college, and I used to go see the Spider-Man movies and be like, 'God. That just seems like so much work. There must be some way where it doesn't feel that way,' and it's like, 'No, it's just a massive amount of work by a ton of people who care deeply,' and I think that I would not have gotten through this without so many [of them]."
"It's amazing watching the credits. I could pick up people that go by in a few seconds, and I could talk to you for an hour about what they did on this movie," he continued. "Like Alex Levy, our music editor or just anyone. There are so many people. That, to me, is kind of a lesson in that it takes this massive group of people all caring very much."
"If you can learn to work within that environment and really harness the kind of energy that those people bring, then there's an opportunity to really tell interesting stories and take things to places that are unexpected, and try to make something special," Schreier concluded.
While the director clearly isn't able to confirm his involvement with the X-Men reboot at this time, it sounds like he embraced the Marvel Studios approach to filmmaking and greatly enjoyed the experience.
Schreier's involvement with the movie may be made official at D23 next month, though we could be waiting even longer than that. X-Men won't be released until 2028 at the soonest, but production could begin as soon as mid-to-late 2026 to ensure the next Saga of storytelling kicks off in style.
Thunderbolts* is available on Digital now and will be released on 4K and Blu-ray on July 29.