Last month, the news broke that X-Men director Jake Schreier has enlisted his Thunderbolts* collaborators, Beef creator Lee Sung Jin and The Bear co-showrunner Joanna Calo, to write the upcoming Marvel Studios reboot.
"*The New Avengers" may not have broken box office records. However, it was a critical success and is considered one of the MCU's best movies, thanks to its impactful exploration of mental health and loneliness. X-Men is pretty much guaranteed to be a hit given how familiar audiences are with the property, so this creative team tackling mutants bodes well as a starting point for the Mutant Saga.
During a recent interview with Men's Health, Jin explained his personal connection to the X-Men and once again singled out Chris Claremont's work as a key source of inspiration.
"I wasn't planning on doing another Marvel thing because I do have a lot I want to explore in my personal projects. But Jake is one of my best friends, and when he comes calling with X-Men...come on, you drop everything for that," he shared. "I grew up waking up every Saturday morning and turning on the cartoon. I watched every single episode."
"When they came back with X-Men 97, I devoured that. The original Claremont run of the comics is near and dear to my heart."
"What I'm excited about with Jake's vision for the X-Men—and [Marvel president Kevin Feige and co-president Lou D’Esposito] are fully aligned with his vision—is that he wants to get back to focusing on the characters first," Jin continued, dropping some big hints about how Marvel Studios is approaching this new take on the heroes.
"These are amazing characters with very rich backstories full of so much emotion. There are so many intra-team dynamics and relationships. There's soapy stuff. And sure, there are political themes baked into the DNA of X-Men too, and those are evergreen, but we want to get back to character-first storytelling. We've been in the lab every day. I've been going into Marvel every day."
"We're doing long writing sessions. Kevin and Lou are in there with us. It's me, [co-writer Joanna Calo, who is the showrunner of The Bear], Jake, Kevin, and Lou. We're in the trenches together and it's invigorating," Jin shared. "We all love these characters. I'm excited, and I think true fans will be excited too. I don't take it for granted. This is the privilege of a lifetime. It's the coolest IP out there, in my opinion."
It's not hugely surprising to learn that Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige is getting hands-on with the X-Men reboot. He started his career as an associate producer on the 2000 movie, fighting for comic book accuracy against a filmmaker who wasn't interested in it.
Schreier has also pointed to Claremont being a key source of inspiration, and we can likely expect a similar vibe to his Uncanny X-Men relaunch. In 1975, that put characters like Colossus, Storm, and Nightcrawler front and centre alongside familiar faces, such as Cyclops and Wolverine.
It's previously been reported that the movie will feature a lineup similar to X-Men '97, though there's also chatter about us getting the original five "First Class" of mutants. That may ultimately may hinge on whether we're getting a teenage team or a pre-established group of heroes.
X-Men doesn't have a release date, but is rumoured to begin shooting this year for a 2028 debut.