X-MEN Director Jake Schreier On Bringing The Scale And Complexity Of The Source Material To The MCU

X-MEN Director Jake Schreier On Bringing The Scale And Complexity Of The Source Material To The MCU

It sounds like Jake Schreier is going to take the emotional complexity of Thunderbolts and crank it up to 100 for his upcoming X-Men reboot.

By MarkJulian - Jul 28, 2025 07:07 PM EST
Filed Under: X-Men

Recently, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirmed that Thunderbolts aka The New Avengers director Jake Schreier would be directing the upcoming MCU reboot of the X-Men, which is set to follow a post-Avengers: Secret Wars soft reset of the Marvel Universe.

Jake’s going to make a youth-focused reboot,” Feige said. “That may be reflected in mutant castings, and it’ll definitely be felt in the tone and perspective of the film.

Now, in a new interview with The Playlist, Schreier expanded on Feige's previous comments.

Careful not to reveal too much, Schreier agreed with Feige's statement adding, “I mean, yeah, without going into too much—really almost any detail. What I can say is, it’s just inherently interesting and complex material.

In further discussing the comic book origins of the characters, he acknowledged that the X-Men are more about dealing with internal struggles and less about external villains. 

The core idea of what ‘X-Men’ is involves complexity,” he explained to the site.

It’s an incredible opportunity with super interesting characters and [much] internal conflict. These characters are wrestling with their identity and place in the world—that’s inherently interesting and complex material.”

When asked if his take will be very different from the Fox era Hugh Jackman-led X-Men, he carefully replied, “Yeah, I think that’s fair to say.  There’s that red sniper dot out there somewhere, you know….,” he stated, making an often-used joke about Marvel Studios' penchant for secrecy. 

But to be able to explore all of the ideas that are inherent to that rich source material, but also at the scale inherent to the source material, that’s like a very rare and fortunate opportunity. That’s very exciting.

Michael Lesslie has been tapped to pen the script for Marvel Studios’ upcoming X-Men reboot. Best known for his work on The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, as well as Macbeth and Assassin’s Creed.

Although many legacy X-Men actors from the Fox era are expected to make appearances in Avengers: Doomsday, none are anticipated to continue on in the Marvel Cinematic Universe's official X-Men reboot.

After Avengers: Secret Wars, currently slated for a December 17, 2027 release, the franchise is expected to shift focus to a younger, reimagined version of the mutant team.

While there's a chance Marvel may tease or even debut the new lineup during Secret Wars, fans probably shouldn’t expect any casting announcements until after Avengers: Doomsday arrives in theaters on December 18, 2026.

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Wahhvacado
Wahhvacado - 7/28/2025, 7:52 PM
I'm really curious what team they will do. I definitely want a world where they at least have the original team established even if they start the story with later teams
mountainman
mountainman - 7/28/2025, 8:40 PM
@Wahhvacado - Start with Giant Sized team. Original team is missing. Throw in a few later characters from New Mutants, Generation X or New X-Men as students. Boom.
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 7/28/2025, 9:17 PM
@Wahhvacado - If it were me I'd look towards an 8 member team total, not that all eight would go on every mission that is. By doing that you can have all the original members out of training pants with at least a few years in the field but add in a few new younger members as new recruits and can easily split into two 4 member teams when needed.

That makes getting the ballance and focus on point complex but it can be done and allows a more mixed team without changing any character such as by having three of the 8 female instead of just one of five (or 6 with Prof) and having a couple who aren't white for instance.

I'd put money on some suits pushing the idea of getting Lockhead included ASAP, that thing would sell a ton of merch if well done in a film and we're overdue getting a decent adaption of Kitty Pryde IMO as was wasted big time with Fox. If the Rasputins join the franchise her crush on Colossus and friendship with Magik could be an interesting thing to explore too if it isn't overplayed.
RolandD
RolandD - 7/28/2025, 9:44 PM
@Wahhvacado - That’s exactly what I want. None of this Alex was an X-Man before Scott was nonsense. Add Giant-Size X-Men but no Logan yet. I don’t know about everyone else, but I’ve had enough.Wolves for a while. There was way too much focus on him in the Fox-Men movies. That said, I thought he was the best thing in Deadpool versus Wolverine.
RolandD
RolandD - 7/28/2025, 9:45 PM
@Apophis71 - Just make sure Kitty and Peter are close enough in age.
SummersEssex
SummersEssex - 7/28/2025, 10:59 PM
@mountainman - you are correct
alten2345
alten2345 - 7/28/2025, 11:04 PM
@Wahhvacado - I think this is going to be a tougher nut to crack than people think
whoknows
whoknows - 7/29/2025, 2:54 AM
@Wahhvacado - I’m sure the core will be most of first class. Whatever they do, I think it would be best to plan out a trajectory like the Harry Potter franchise for a large X-men story. 6 or 7 movies. Have your regular foes here and there but build to apocalypse from movie one drop the hints. And Harry Potter works as good inspiration for X-men and the school. I miss of classic X-men, X-men evolutions and Harry Potter. Unlikely but that would be my dream X-men movie saga.

I absolutely loved how X-men evolutions built up to apocalypse, I think they had an episode or two every season that was focused on apocalypse or unlocking his tomb.
Incoming large story rant lol.

They had an episode where Jean was robbing a museum for ancient keys, that opened door 1, then an episode where a stone/metal spider was wreaking havoc crossing through cities and magneto crushed it thinking he would stop it but the spider was actually a guardian for door 2 and killing the spider opened door 2. Then door 3 was rogue being Mind being sent on a fritz by apocalypse , she touches mystique, and suddenly has access to every person’s memory and power she’s taken and mystiques power of course allows her to turn into whoever’s power she is using.( to me, as a kid, this made rogue’s power uber elite). And then next apocalypse focused episode she Carries the powers to his tomb, opens Door 3 and he touches her to takes everything. And that’s how apocalypse is released. Even though apocalypse was kids cartoon I think it handled that apocalypse storyline brilliantly, and you can see how each of those episodes, can be a movie, door 1/movie 1 door 2/movie 2, door 3/movie 3 and then you have another trilogy with apocalypse out and about wrecking havoc, picking his horsemen. Rival Mutants banding together, a kid can dream.
MCUKnight11
MCUKnight11 - 7/28/2025, 7:53 PM
I wish we could see those Alex Ross designs used.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 7/28/2025, 8:03 PM
@MCUKnight11 - same , always liked them!!.

Kurt having the priest collar is a nice touch.

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MCUKnight11
MCUKnight11 - 7/28/2025, 8:25 PM
@TheVisionary25 - Really sells the idea that they're outcasts, but we all know they have to wear the 90s suits to be as comic accurate as possible. User Comment Image
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 7/28/2025, 8:31 PM
@MCUKnight11 - yep

Will be interesting to see the designs they have since I expect the Doomsday X-Men to be more like the 90’s tbh.
RolandD
RolandD - 7/28/2025, 9:54 PM
@MCUKnight11 - 70s. Dave Cockrum designed the best costumes. The 90s were the worst era of superhero costumes with too much armor and too many pouches. 80s costumes are also acceptable, my opinions of course.
Lucasberg
Lucasberg - 7/29/2025, 12:26 AM
@RolandD - Cockrum for the win!
NGFB
NGFB - 7/28/2025, 7:55 PM
No, we don't need "internal struggles". I'll watch The Bear if I want that. We want big bad villains and laser beams and claws and lightning and teleporting and explosions. Pander to the fans please, not what a director thinks would be cool in his own head.
MisterBones
MisterBones - 7/28/2025, 8:12 PM
@NGFB -

This is the X-Men. Sure it’s laser beams and claws. But at its purest, its panels like this.
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Laridian
Laridian - 7/28/2025, 9:54 PM
@NGFB - Pander to what fans? The fans just wanna see 'splosions or the fans who want something deep and meaningful, like the comics are? X-men (whether you like it or not_ is a big horny soap with political messaging and meaning relationships. I'm the fan that wants that side represented.
SummersEssex
SummersEssex - 7/28/2025, 11:00 PM
@Laridian - yeah, but I still want my 'splosions.
Lucasberg
Lucasberg - 7/29/2025, 12:28 AM
@NGFB - honestly, X-men’s best stuff (Claremont) was always about the story. And that story always was about internal conflict and resolving agony of the soul *with* splosions.
RaddRider
RaddRider - 7/28/2025, 7:56 PM
Well Crap!!!
Laridian
Laridian - 7/28/2025, 9:55 PM
@RaddRider - Whats' wrong?
Jackraow21
Jackraow21 - 7/28/2025, 7:57 PM
Youth focused and full of emotional complexity. Not exactly strong selling points for me personally. But hopefully Doomsday and Secret Wars are good so the old MCU, with the OG X-men along for the ride, goes out with a bang I guess.
Matchesz
Matchesz - 7/28/2025, 8:04 PM
Jake who??? Feige loves to surround himself with direct to dvd directors
AllsGood
AllsGood - 7/28/2025, 8:15 PM
X-MEN WILL BE AWESOME
MisterBones
MisterBones - 7/28/2025, 8:17 PM
Hope we see the Morlocks in live action. Always dug that group.

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mountainman
mountainman - 7/28/2025, 8:54 PM
@MisterBones - Calisto and Leech were poorly adapted in The Last Stand. Would be nice to get a proper adaptation.
MisterBones
MisterBones - 7/28/2025, 8:57 PM
@mountainman - so bad you just reminded me that movie tried to adapt them
mountainman
mountainman - 7/28/2025, 8:59 PM
@MisterBones - Calisto may have also been one of Cassandra Nova’s goons in D&W. I know one of them was supposed to be Psylocke.
SonOfAGif
SonOfAGif - 7/28/2025, 8:21 PM
With how good Thunderbolts and Fantastic 4 were, X-Men is in good hands.
bobevanz
bobevanz - 7/28/2025, 8:41 PM
I want Chris Claremont origins with Jim Lee costumes. It's not that hard. PLEASE FEIGE YOU HACK!
Laridian
Laridian - 7/28/2025, 9:56 PM
@bobevanz - Jesus... rude.
Lucasberg
Lucasberg - 7/29/2025, 12:31 AM
@bobevanz - no Jim Lee costumes. Cockrum/Byrne.
DocSpock
DocSpock - 7/29/2025, 2:30 AM
@bobevanz -

Holy shit! I completely agree with you.

TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 7/28/2025, 8:48 PM
Cool , glad to finally hear him talk about it a bit!!.

Also given he has talked about X-Men being to him about characters wrestling with their place in the world & identity which is valid imo , it reminded me how his Thunderbolts had a bit of that aswell with characters trying to find purpose & such so it makes me wonder if that convinced Feige & co that he could fit X-Men too especially since it was also a solid film.

Also it makes sense to go in a more youthful direction since many young people struggle with that which makes it relatable if done well (not to say some adults don’t also but still)..

Plus it just goes back to the roots of the characters were they were teenagers/young adults so I could see something similar happening here or perhaps even akin to X-Men:Evolution!!.

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lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 7/28/2025, 8:49 PM
I feel sorry for the dude that has to step into the boots of Wolverine. Like him for the part or not, no actor has played a character as long as Hugh has and a LOTTA people loved him in the part. The comparisons will be endless.
gambgel
gambgel - 7/28/2025, 9:27 PM
@lazlodaytona - thats why Hugh needs to go As SOON as possible.

stop with the nonsense of more Hugh Jackman in the MCU after Secret Wars. thats a big mistake. time to let him go, and open the doors for a whole new cast, Wolverine included.
Apophis71
Apophis71 - 7/28/2025, 9:28 PM
@lazlodaytona - True, even if Hugh was FAR from source accurate he was such a huge part of the Fox films and the character version he brought to the screen was great and much loved.

ONE reason why I feel they shouldn't put Wolverine in the first Xmen film however, give the character another team as a draw to that and avoid retreading too much, allow Cyclops and Jean to have a strong relationship without fear of complications for at least one full movie.

It won't help if getting a second DP&W with Jackman post Secret Wars so they may delay the recast till that is out the way and if that is seperate mostly from the rest of the MCU use Laura instead at first (idealy giving her a better hero name like the Honey Badger one a variant/clone of her has had).
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 7/28/2025, 10:08 PM
@gambgel - that's a tidy opinion. Maybe let Hugh finish then wait a while before a new Wolverine so he doesn't overshadow the rest of the team like he inevitably always does
lazlodaytona
lazlodaytona - 7/28/2025, 10:10 PM
@Apophis71 - I agree. Save the character for later so the other X-Men can get a strong start and not be overshadowed.
RolandD
RolandD - 7/28/2025, 10:13 PM
@Apophis71 - Honey Badger don’t care
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