In recent months, we've heard a lot about Marvel Studios going back to the drawing board with its Disney+ offerings. When these MCU series started, they felt like events, but now even the most die-hard fans seem to have no issue skipping them.
That's become a problem for Marvel Television, and low viewership is reportedly what doomed the critically acclaimed Wonder Man series.
Marvel Studios has also inadvertently created a situation where casual and hardcore fans alike are required to do homework to understand what's going on. In the case of Captain America: Brave New World—The Falcon and The Winter Soldier was essential viewing beforehand—that definitely hurt box office takings.
Fortunately, Kevin Feige is now back to focusing on quality over quantity, with multiple sources reporting that we're about to see far fewer MCU TV shows on streaming.
Puck's Matt Belloni has now weighed in, explaining, "The Marvel TV mandate is not to do these big, expensive limited series that connect into the larger MCU. They believe, and I think they're right, that that diluted the brand. It made the Marvel movies feel like homework and not special. And they are focused on Marvel as a theatrical franchise."
"Doesn't mean there won't be TV shows. There will be, but I think they will be separate; more animation and more separate stuff that doesn't connect directly to the MCU," he continued. "The thinking is that they're likely not going to be as continuous with the MCU movies. They're going to be sort of standalones and not necessarily homework for understanding what the movies are."
Marvel Studios' focus now looks set to shift to the X-Men franchise, and mutants are expected to be front and centre in the next Saga. X-Men has the potential to expand into multiple films, TV shows, and Special Presentations, so it likely won't surprise you to learn that the reboot's cast are in the MCU for the long haul.
"I do know from the deals that these X-Men stars, like Sadie Sink and all of them, have signed that these deals include appearances in X-Men movies and other Marvel movies," Belloni confirmed. "So, you'll see like Storm pop up in Black Panther 3, and you'll see, you know, the other X-Men are in Doomsday, and Secret Wars obviously, but also probably in Ghost Rider."
"And they're using the power of the MCU to incorporate the X-Men and make their team-up that much more impactful when it comes in 2028, which is very smart," he added, confirming that he expects Marvel Studios to release at least two movies a year moving forward.
Storm is rumoured to appear in Black Panther 3, while Jean Grey recently made a huge impact in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Seeding mutants across multiple movies makes sense for the MCU, especially if the X-Men are being established as one of the franchise's main superhero teams.
Directed by Jake Schreier (Thunderbolts*), the untitled X-Men movie stars Kit Connor (Heartstopper) as Scott Summers, Sadie Sink (Spider-Man: Brand New Day) as Jean Grey, Christopher Abbott (Catch-22) as Professor Charles Xavier, Samara Weaving (Ready or Not) as Emma Frost, Inde Navarrette (Obsession) as Rogue, and Maya Boyd (& Juliet) as Storm. Adam Driver (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) will play Nathaniel Milbury.
X-Men will be released exclusively in theaters May 5, 2028.