Earlier today, Black Panther director and Ironheart executive producer appeared to confirm the recent reports that Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier is set to helm Marvel Studios' long-awaited X-Men reboot.
Coogler - perhaps unaware that the news still hasn't been officially announced - seemed pretty certain that "Jake is directing that" when asked about being a fan-favorite choice to helm the project himself, but Schreier isn't quite so ready to confirm that he's attached to the movie.
During an appearance at the Mediterrane Film Festival in Malta, Schreier was asked how he'd approach the reboot and what he'd do differently to the previous movies from the now defunct 20th Century Studios era.
“Even if I were confirmed on that movie, I don't think I would be allowed to answer that question," Schreier responded. "I guess what I would say is that it always starts from character and working with great writers and collaborators, and certainly thinking about how to do something different with any project that you take on. That's as much as I can say.”
It seems pretty obvious that Schreier will end up stepping behind the camera for the conic mutant heroes' introduction to the MCU, and we will likely get an official announcement at SDCC next month.
Schreier has proven that he can deliver on a story featuring a team of misfit characters (Thunderbolts* may have underperformed at the box office, but it was well-received by fans and critics), but he still seems to be a somewhat divisive choice for this project.
Casting is reportedly set to get underway very soon (if it hasn't already), and the likes of Harris Dickinson, Margaret Qualley, and Julia Butters are said to be on the studio's radar (they were reportedly in contention to play Cyclops, Rogue and Kitty Pryde, but we don't know if this is still the case), along with Alien: Romulus star David Jonsson and Trinity Bliss, who may be in line to play Jubilee.
Other names that have popped up in the rumor mill include Hunter Schafer (Mystique), Ayo Edebiri (Storm) and Javier Bardem (Mr. Sinister).
Here's what Kevin Feige had to say about his "10-year plan" for the Mutant Saga in a recent interview.
"I think you will see that continues in our next few movies with some X-Men players that you might recognize. Right after that, the whole story of Secret Wars really leads us into a new age of mutants and of the X-Men. Again, [it’s] one of those dreams come true. We finally have the X-Men back."
Macbeth (2015), The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023) and Assassin's Creed (2016) scribe Michael Lesslie penned the script, but we wouldn't be surprised if another writer (or two) were brought in to give it another pass before the movie enters production.
No release date has been set.