Are the X-Men finally having sway in the Marvel Cinematic Universe?
Despite some teases in things like Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2023) and Ms. Marvel, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is lacking a huge Marvel superhero team! No, not the Fantastic Four; at least they have a movie announced. The X-Men made the backbone of Marvel Comics for years, especially in the 90s, and though there hasn’t been any X-Men movie announced, there is a significant update on that front!
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For years, the reason that Marvel Studios picked the heroes they did was that those were the heroes they had access to. Sony held claim to the film rights for Spider-Man and his franchise, Fox held those to the X-Men and various others. Slowly, more and more heroes made their cinematic debut, and Marvel even struck a deal with Sony, ushering in Spidey as one of the Avengers.
Then, finally, Disney not only acquired the rights to the Marvel characters that Fox owned, they acquired Fox! Fans thought it would be only a matter of time before Marvel brought the X-Men crashing into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but up until now, this hasn’t been the case. In fact, to date, there have only been a handful of cameos, nods, and references to X-Men or mutants in general.
Fans saw Professor Charles Xavier (Sir Patrick Stewart) in Multiverse of Madness, Namor (Tenoch Huerta) called himself a Mutant in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022), and Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) found out that she may well be a mutant instead of an inhuman, but beyond that, fans will have to wait until Deadpool 3 (2024) for other confirmed mutants like Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds) and Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That doesn’t mean there won’t be more influence, however.
The Direct recently reported on an interview with Jeff Loveness, writer for Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania (2023) and writer for the upcoming Avengers: Kang Dynasty (2025). In the interview, Loveness spoke about his inspiration for the upcoming film, which promises to be one of the biggest in recent Marvel History, and the relationships he’d like to cultivate therein:
“In a superhero movie, that’s make or break. The reason I love the X-Men is because they are a family. The Avengers are coworkers. The X-Men are a family. Or like the Fantastic Four, obviously, are a family…and so, I think to write an Avengers movie that has a bit more of a tender family kind of personal connection, even between their villains, I think will be really exciting to see.”
Though many may not agree with Loveness’ description of the Avengers as coworkers, especially the first generation, it will be interesting to see how he, as the writer of the next Avengers film, brings the new team, which is a bit scattered, closer together than the first. Will he be incorporating members of the actual X-Men, or will he simply be emulating that level of familial kinship?
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Loveness’ last film, Quantumania, was panned by critics early on and is on a crash course for a dismal box office take, but the screenwriter has said the negative feedback has not affected his plans for Kang Dynasty. Whatever he decides on for the future of the film, it’s clear that he will be putting the band back together, so to speak, and creating a united Avengers that, if he has his way, is even closer than before!
What do you think about Loveness’ commentary? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments below!