We recently learned that Marvel Studios had finally started development on its elusive X-Men reboot, with execs beginning to set writer meetings to hear pitches on how to bring the iconic mutant heroes back to the big screen.
It's still very early days, and a writer decision is not expected to be made until early 2021, but one scribe who would love to take a crack at the script is Loki's Eric Martin - and from the sounds of things, he's far from the only one!
"I think everybody's probably chasing after X-Men because I think that's where the richest characters are," Martin tells Total Film. "But I mean, who knows? That's a decision for someone who's not me."
"As long as Marvel is happy, of course, I'd love to [work on more MCU projects]. I mean, Marvel has changed my life by trusting me to write this season. It was a lot of responsibility, and I hope I've earned that trust," he adds. "I think, for me, it all comes down to the characters. Do we have deep, interesting characters to work on? That's what gets me out of bed in the morning. Can I tell a deeply emotional, character-driven story with these people, and on this huge canvas?"
The trades have previously indicated that this X-Men project - whatever it winds up being titled - is attracting a lot of attention in Hollywood, but even if Kevin Feige and co. have a creative team in mind, it might be quite a while before anything is officially announced.
Feige assured fans that a reboot was in the works shortly after Disney acquired 20th Century Fox's assets back in 2019, but we haven't had a single official update until recently. There were rumors that contractual issues may have been preventing Marvel Studios from introducing new actors as established mutant characters such as Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, etc, to The MCU.
It's said that if Marvel wanted to reboot the team using any of the same characters from Fox's franchise before 2025, the likes of Simon Kinberg, Bryan Singer and co. would be, at minimum, entitled to credits and compensation, and may even have some degree of creative control as well.
We have no idea if this is accurate, but it would explain why there's been radio silence on all things X-Men since 2019, and why the only established mutant character we've seen in The MCU since is Professor Xavier in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness - with Sir Patrick Stewart reprising the role. Hugh Jackman is also set to return as Logan for the upcoming Deadpool 3.
This wouldn't prohibit Marvel from debuting new mutant heroes and villains with no connection to the earlier films, however, which we saw when Kamala Khan was ret-conned as a mutant in the season finale of Ms. Marvel. A recent rumor also claimed that Israeli hero Sabra will be introduced as a mutant in Captain America: Brave New World.
At any rate, now that the WGA strike is over and the Actors Strike is (hopefully) set to follow suit, more details should begin to filter through.