Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige was on hand for the opening of the Disney APAC Content Showcase in Singapore today, and shared an exciting update about plans for the X-Men.
There are a handful of MCU movies dated after Avengers: Secret Wars but there's been no word on exactly when the X-Men reboot will be released. While we know that Michael Lesslie (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) is penning the screenplay, updates have otherwise been few and far between.
Talking about bringing the X-Men into the MCU, Feige said, "I think you will see that continues in our next few movies with some X-Men players that you might recognize. Right after that, the whole story of Secret Wars really leads us into a new age of mutants and of the X-Men."
"Again, [it’s] one of those dreams come true. We finally have the X-Men back." So, as expected, it appears the "Mutant Saga" is very nearly upon us as we rocket to the end of the ongoing Multiverse Saga.
Reflecting on Deadpool & Wolverine, the executive added, "When we first started working on the film for the first time, we wanted to see Wolverine in a yellow costume. I had goosebumps on set when he walked out wearing that costume and put on that mask for the first time. I’ve been waiting 25 years to bring that to life."
Feige also shared a few minor updates on next year's MCU projects, including The Fantastic Four: First Steps. "Finally, [we’re] bringing Marvel’s First Family into the MCU," he teased. "They wrap next week, the movie comes out next summer, and then all those characters go right into the next Avengers movies, so I’m very excited for the future of the Fantastic Four."
Later describing Thunderbolts* as "what Marvel is all about," Feige noted, "It’s taking characters from all different types of places and franchises and putting them together. That’s what the Avengers is, that’s what Guardians of the Galaxy is."
Marvel Studios has been sitting on the rights to the X-Men for the better part of five years, but after disasters like Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants, putting the characters on ice for a while was a must.
Only time will tell what's planned for the MCU's mutants but given the success of Marvel Animation's X-Men '97, we'd imagine that series will heavily inspire what we see from the team in live-action.
What do you hope to see from Marvel Studios X-Men movie? (which surely needs to be titled Uncanny X-Men, right?)