While it's fair to say that fans would love to see the
X-Men arrive in the Marvel Cinematic Universe sooner rather than later, it appears as if Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige is going to take his sweet time introducing mutants to this shared world.
With a slate that's rapidly getting busier, including
Shang-Chi,
Black Widow, and
The Eternals among others, it seems there simply isn't room for the X-Men and Fantastic Four in the MCU for the time being. Whether that closes the door on some hints about their arrival being dropped or a surprise cameo is hard to say, but
Dark Phoenix may be the only
X-Men movie we get for years!
"It’ll be a while," Feige says. "It’s all just beginning and the five-year plan that we’ve been working on, we were working on before any of that was set. So really it’s much more, for us, less about specifics of when and where [the X-Men will appear] right now and more just the comfort factor and how nice it is that they’re home. That they’re all back. But it will be a very long time."
Leaving some time between Dark Phoenix and a reboot is a smart move, especially as it eliminates the risk of regular moviegoers getting confused about how the MCU's version of the X-Men differ to what's come before. Feige will also more than likely want to delve into the character's origins as opposed to rushing them out, and The Eternals would be the perfect place for that.
What do you guys think? As always, stay tuned for more on this one as we have it.
For a look at ten Fox characters Marvel must prioritise
after the merger, hit the "View List" button below!
Cyclops
While it's true that we've seen plenty of Cyclops over the past twenty years or so, I think an argument could be made that Fox never quite got the character right. James Marsden and Tye Sheridan were both well cast but neither has been given the opportunity to show what a great leader Scott Summers is and most of their screentime has been devoted to pining after Jean Grey.
From the very start, Bryan Singer made a point of emasculating Cyclops as soon as Wolverine showed up and while I'm sure Marvel Studios is well aware of the importance this character holds to X-Men fans, there's sadly a risk that they'll feel he's been overexposed.
With any luck, though, he'll be given the chance to shine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and these movies will focus on his actual personality, including Scott's slightly darker side which has seen him align himself with Magneto in both the regular and Ultimate Marvel Universes over the years.