Love or hate them, 20th Century Fox had quite the run with its X-Men franchise. It started in 2000 and continued until 2019, with time-travel, reboots, and frequent continuity issues. There were some great movies, some middling ones, and more than a few disasters.
Marvel Studios will deliver a comic-accurate take on the Fox-era X-Men in this December's Avengers: Doomsday. Beyond that, a reboot is coming, and Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier has been tasked with reimagining mutants for the post-Secret Wars MCU.
We could get a "First Class" of X-Men or an already-established team with multiple offshoots. It also remains to be seen whether we'll return to the X-Mansion or explore wilder locations like Krakoa and Genosha.
In a new interview with ScreenRant, Schreier was asked about finding actors to portray the X-Men for a new generation. "I think I might need to plead the sniper on that one as far as approach. There's some things I can say," he said with a chuckle. "But yeah, I mean, look, obviously it's a huge responsibility and an incredible opportunity."
"I think really just what we've been talking about more than anything is how do we make it feel new, and how do we go places that feel like we're succeeding [our predecessors]?"
Addressing his approach to following in the footsteps of the previous X-Men franchise, the filmmaker added, "Obviously, this series has done such incredible things and succeeded in so many ways, and done so many beautiful things. Like, what are some places we can go, and some areas of the lore that we can explore where it feels like we're taking people to a new place."
It sounds like a fresh start is planned, likely with the spotlight shifting to new threats. After two decades of stories revolving around Magneto and the Phoenix Force, that alone should help freshen things up a little.
In terms of the roster, we can likely expect a mix of new and familiar faces, perhaps with a greater focus on the mutants that Fox failed to do right by (and that's a very long list).
Addressing plans for the team moving forward, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige previously said, "X-Men is where that will happen next. They have been a place to tell stories about young people who feel different and who feel Other and who feel like they don’t belong. That’s the universal story of mutants, and that is where we’re going."
It was recently revealed that Beef creator Lee Sung Jin and The Bear co-showrunner Joanna Calo are rewriting Michael Lesslie's X-Men script.
Keep checking back here for updates on the X-Men reboot as we have them.