Under former Disney CEO Bob Chapek's watch, Marvel Studios began producing a seemingly endless stream of content. From movies to TV shows to "Special Presentations," it started to feel like any and every character was being given the spotlight, a move which diluted the brand.
Bob Iger is now back in charge and, after some pricey streaming series and a handful of box office disappointments, Marvel Studios has seemingly returned to focusing on quality over quantity.
However, that inevitably means some characters and franchises will be sidelined, likely in preference for those which can produce guaranteed hits (when you stop and think about it, it's crazy that 5 years have already passed since the last Avengers movie).
Could that explain this latest X-Men update?
According to Production Weekly, the plan now is for Marvel Studios' planned reboot to begin production in late 2025. This suggests the new X-Men movie will be with us quite a bit sooner than expected, though we'd caution that nothing is confirmed as we write this.
The publication also claims that Shang-Chi 2 will start production next March, with Armor Wars also scheduled for 2024. Interestingly, it appears cameras could start rolling on Vision Quest later this year.
Back to the X-Men, though, and rather than waiting until a year or two after Avengers: Secret Wars concludes the Multiverse Saga, it would be wise for Marvel Studios to get on with rebooting those mutants and launch several new franchises in the process (Wolverine, X-Force, and more could eventually join the main X-Men movie).
"The X-Men are as solid and as rich and as a great a concept in characters as exist," Feige said in an interview last year. "There's the return of the animated series [this] year, which we're very excited about. I saw some new final episodes today, which really bring you back to that core of who the X-Men are and that soap opera that those characters represent."
"Part of the fun is that I've been at this company for half my life, and we're just now tapping into arguably one of the biggest aspects of the publishing history," he added. "It's pretty remarkable, and it's a testament to the house of ideas and what Marvel publishing has done these 80 years. The question is how to do it and when to do it, and that's something we've been working on for years."
Stay tuned for updates on X-Men as we have them.