The end of The Multiverse Saga is just a few years away, and from its conclusion, a new X-Men team is set to emerge—one that will likely become the central focus of the MCU in the years to come.
Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige reportedly has laser focus when it comes to righting the Marvel ship in the wake of Disney+ diluting the brand. At the core of his machinations is a reported 10-year plan focusing on the X-Men (please, don't cover The Phoenix Saga, again).
More recently, it's emerged that Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier is a front-runner to helm the studio's first X-Men film in the wake of glowing reviews - 88% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from verified critics.
However, it's now being reported via veteran film reporter Jeff Sneider that another Marvel director was in the mix- Ryan Coogler, who's currently setting box office records in the horror genre with vampire pic, Sinners.
Sneider said, "I know they did talk to Ryan Coogler at one point...but Coogler, with the timing, you know, he'd have to focus on Black Panther 3. He's needed in another corner of the universe."
Screenwriter Michael Lesslie ( The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes) was hired to pen the first draft of the X-Men reboot's script back in May 2024. However, looking at Marvel's track record, it's likely that another writer or two will be brought in to work on the screenplay before cameras start rolling.
In a previous interview discussing the X-Men's return to Marvel, Feige stated, "...knowing that, thanks to various corporate studio entity deals, we now have 1000s of characters back — characters I hadn’t frankly thought about in many years because we didn’t have the rights to them."
"Now that we do, it is great fun thinking [about who we can finally use]. Our animated series X-Men ’97 was sort of the first taste of people reuniting with the X-Men mythology and that storyline. The response to that series just further excited us about how to bring the soap opera and the saga of the mutants to the MCU."
It should be noted that Jordan Peele also reportedly met with Marvel to discuss directing an X-Men film but talks fizzled out.
There are tons of rumors about the X-Men films' casting currently surfacing on an almost daily basis. And while the accuracy of some of these reports should be met with heavy skepticism, where there's smoke, there's fire.
Do you think Coogler is a better fit to helm an X-Men film, or is the work that Schreier has showcased on Beef and Thunderbolts* enough to warrant Marvel handing over the keys to arguably its most valuable IP? Let us know in the comment section below.