While the original big screen X-Men will return in this December's Avengers: Doomsday, we know that Marvel Studios is already planning to reboot the team for the post-Secret Wars MCU.
Nothing has been revealed about what Thunderbolts* helmer Jake Schreier has in store for the team, but we have repeatedly heard that the next Saga of storytelling will primarily revolve around mutants. When it comes to how these characters are portrayed on screen, there are almost endless possibilities.
Sure, we could return to the X-Mansion for another battle of ideologies between Professor X's X-Men and Magneto's Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, but that's been done already. With that in mind, we're exploring five vastly different eras of comic book storytelling and how they could positively impact Marvel Studios' take on the X-Men (ranging from rosters to bases, and even the general status quo).
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5. Utopia
Largely written by Kieron Gillen was an exciting period for the X-Men, which saw them use the remains of Magneto's old base, Asteroid M, as their headquarters in the waters surrounding San Francisco.
Despite having (unofficial) sovereignty, the mutant team still faced some pretty serious threats, including Norman Osborn's Dark Avengers and the return of Bastion. Professor X wasn't on the scene during this time, so Cyclops stepped up to lead the X-Men and found a surprising new ally in the Master of Magnetism.
This era ended with a schism between Scott Summers and Wolverine, leading to two vastly different teams of X-Men. Cyclops set out to protect mutantkind by any means necessary, while Logan ended up becoming headmaster of the Jean Grey School for Higher Learning.
4. Krakoa
Perhaps the biggest status quo change in X-Men history, Krakoa saw mutants find a new home on a living island. Now an island nation, they established teleportational gates across the world and figured out a way to cheat death with Professor X's resurrection protocols.
Orchis was an effective threat (that perhaps got a little too convoluted as time passed), but the big draw here was seeing mutants become a global superpower and the challenges—and very different teams—that resulted in.
This period of storytelling, initially spearheaded by Jonathan Hickman, was a far cry from the X-Men calling a mansion in Westchester home, making mutants (heroes and villains) a united front against the threat of humanity and its Sentinels. Told over multiple years and franchises, this is a concept with unlimited potential.
3. All-New, All-Different X-Men
The "First Class" of mutants was Cyclops, Jean Grey, Angel, Beast, and Iceman. There's something to be said about starting with them, but it somewhat limits the franchise's potential and was, in many ways, already covered in 2011's X-Men: First Class.
The All-New, All-Different X-Men era featured a far more diverse group comprised of Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Storm, Banshee, Sunfire, Colossus, and Thunderbird. These mutants hailed from different countries and backgrounds, boasting a varied power set that turned X-Men comic books on their head.
We're not suggesting Marvel Studios deliver a like-for-like roster—and we certainly wouldn't want to see the First Class line-up sidelined—but a new team of X-Men looking to step up to the high bar set by their predecessors would be thrilling, and give these mutants a little bit of history.
2. Blue And Gold
The basis for X-Men: The Animated Series, the Blue and Gold era of X-Men comic books—spearheaded by Chris Claremont and Jim Lee—is still widely considered the best period of storytelling for this mutant team by many fans.
This and the TV show are too entrenched in the 1990s to be adapted without significant changes. However, the look and tone would be a blast to see on screen, from the colourful costumes and larger-than-life enemies, to the team dynamics that explored romance, friendship, and rivalries.
The X-Men Blue and Gold roster included characters like Cyclops, Wolverine, Jean Grey, Storm, Colossus, Rogue, Jubilee, Psylocke, Gambit, and Beast, and that sounds like a perfect lineup for the MCU.
1. From The Ashes
Set after the Krakoan Age wrapped up, From the Ashes has largely revolved around Jed McKay's X-Men and Gail Simone's Uncanny X-Men. The latter is based in Louisiana and features a team that hopes to train the next generation of mutants. Led by Rogue, the lineup includes Gambit, Wolverine, Jubilee, and Nightcrawler.
Then, there's Cyclops' X-Men. Based in a former Sentinel factory in Alaska, Scott's team has a much harder edge and counts characters like Beast, Magik, Psylocke, Juggernaut, Quentin Quire, Temper, and Magneto among its ranks.
It's perhaps a little too soon for multiple teams of mutants, but there are ideas and characters in both runs that Marvel Studios should turn to for inspiration. As we've established, we don't need to head to the X-Mansion quite yet, so why not follow a ragtag team without all the bells and whistles we've already seen on screen?