The Multiverse Saga hasn't gone quite as planned, with a quantity-over-quality approach to storytelling (largely thanks to a huge influx of TV shows on Disney+) not working out as well as Disney executives hoped.
Returning CEO Bob Iger has acknowledged that, taking the pressure off Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige and making sure he's no longer stretched thin and unable to properly supervise the MCU slate. Still, even with a course correction, many fans are eager to move on to the next Saga.
Why? Well, the prevailing theory is that it will be the "Mutant Saga," a new era of storytelling which largely revolves around a rebooted version of the X-Men franchise.
We were on hand for this weekend's Deadpool & Wolverine global press conference and got to hear from Feige on how that threequel ushers in a new era of storytelling for the MCU.
"Every [MCU] film is important, and there’s nothing better than a great movie for a Cinematic Universe," he started. "The before and after? I think a lot of people talk about the R-rating and, 'Is every [Marvel] movie going to be R-rated after this?' Of course not. But I hope every movie after this embraces its tonality the way the way 'Deadpool & Wolverine' and the way this team does.”
"Also, the 'after' is clearly...now that we have characters from the 'X-Men' world, the Mutants, we haven’t had access to before," Feige added. "So, this is the beginning of that, and every [movie] post 'Deadpool & Wolverine' will be the mutant era coming into the MCU."
Some engagement-farming accounts on X have claimed the Marvel Studios boss said the "Mutant Saga" is up next and, while you could certainly read his remarks that way, we'd say he simply meant Deadpool & Wolverine is what opens the door to them showing up in the MCU.
Before we get to a full-blown reboot, chances are we'll see lots of familiar mutants from the past (perhaps for an Avengers vs. X-Men movie) before Avengers: Secret Wars closes the door on the old X-Men Universe for good.
"Well, it’s that phrase we often use at Marvel, which is 'It’s an embarrassment of riches,'" Feige recently said of plans to eventually assemble a new team of X-Men. "And there are a lot of great X-Men characters in the Deadpool & Wolverine film. There are a lot of great X-Men characters in all of the Fox versions of the X-Men films. And there are a lot of great X-Men characters that have never gone on the big screen."
"So I think, as we always try to do, as we did when we made the arrangement with Sony for Spider-Man, you’ll probably see a mix of characters you’ve seen before and characters you’ve never seen before," he teased.
Marvel Studios has hired writer Michael Lesslie to pen the reboot and while the X-Men could get a mention at Comic-Con this weekend, we're not necessarily anticipating any mention of a release date or the inevitable slate of spin-offs this far out.
Keep checking back here for more on X-Men as we have it.