Credit: Inside the MagicIs Disney slowly pulling away from the Avengers franchise?
Related: Sony and Fox Gear Up To Take over MCU From Disney: Report
Following the exits of Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man and Chris Evans’ Captain America, the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) has transitioned into a new era known as the Multiverse Saga.
Despite concerns about “superhero fatigue” and the departure of Jonathan Majors, who previously portrayed Kang the Conqueror, Marvel Studios is set to reshape the Marvel movie landscape once more.
Related: Disney Cuts ‘Avengers 5’ Cast After Backlash
With Majors no longer with the studio and Marvel President Kevin Feige contemplating a shift from the Multiverse Saga to a new Mutant Saga featuring X-Men characters, Avengers 5 (formerly titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty) is currently in development, albeit on a smaller scale than previous entries.
In fact, one could argue that Disney is slowly turning away from their homegrown Avengers franchise of the MCU, and instead relying on Sony’s Spider-Man and 20th Century Fox (now 20th Century Studios) X-Men intellectual properties established years prior to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
According to io9, Marvel President Kevin Feige has finally spoken out about the much-anticipated future of the Spider-Man and X-Men franchises in the MCU.
Regarding Spider-Man and the incoming Spider-Man 4 that Sony Pictures is desperate to see debut in theaters to secure their Spidey film rights, Feige stated that he and Sony’s Amy Pascal are “working on it”. Feige seems confident, stating:
We have writers who are going to be delivering us a draft relatively soon.
As for the X-Men, it seems like Feige is approaching the franchise with a bit of a looser grip. Apparently, he “didn’t ask for an update specifically”, instead “wanted to know more about the tone and content”. He continues:
Since the X-Men have had so many different members and teams throughout their long history, we asked Feige how Marvel is deciding which mutants will make up the team when they make their inevitable debut in the MCU.
Well, it’s that phrase we use often at Marvel, which is ‘It’s an embarrassment of riches,’ and there are a lot of great X-Men characters in the Deadpool & Wolverine film. There are a lot of great X-Men characters in all of the Fox versions of the X-Men films. And there are a lot of great X-Men characters that have never gone on the big screen. So I think as we always try to do, as we did when we made the arrangement with Sony for Spider-Man, you’ll probably see a mix of characters you’ve seen before and characters you’ve never seen before.
Finishing his statement, Feige stated that the rather shocking success of Disney+ (Disney Plus) Marvel Television revival of the 1990s animated classic X-Men: The Animated Series, X-Men ’97 was “really exciting for [them] to see people revisit and reconnect with that world,” as well as the “soap opera elements of that world, which is one of the things that’s so exciting to us about jumping into it finally in the MCU.”
What do you think of Marvel relying more on Sony’s Spider-Man and 20th Century’s X-Men franchises? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
More on Spider-Man
The journey of one of the franchise’s most beloved Marvel characters began with Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man/Peter Parker in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy from 2002 to 2007. Andrew Garfield then took on the role in The Amazing Spider-Man series, starting in 2012 and continuing with its sequel, The Amazing Spider-Man 2, in 2014.
The most recent portrayal of Peter Parker is by Tom Holland, who first appeared in Marvel Studios’ Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) in Captain America: Civil War in 2016, followed by his solo debut in Spider-Man: Homecoming in 2017.
Following the events of the MCU’s Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019) and the reality-altering spell cast by Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021), Tom Holland’s Peter Parker has deliberately retreated from the public eye.
More on X-Men
Key figures included Patrick Stewart as Professor X/Charles Xavier, Ian McKellen as Magneto/Erik Lehnsherr, and other notable actors like Halle Berry as Ororo Munroe/Storm, Famke Janssen as Dr. Jean Grey, James Marsden as Scott Summers/Cyclops, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique/Raven Darkholme, Alan Cumming as Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler, and Anna Paquin as Marie D’Ancanto/Rogue, among others.
Subsequent entries such as X-Men: First Class (2011), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), and X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) explored prequel narratives, introducing younger versions of characters like Professor Xavier, Magneto, and Mystique, played by James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Jennifer Lawrence, respectively.
The X-Men also encompass personalities like Deadpool/Wade Wilson (self-named “Marvel Jesus”), portrayed by Ryan Reynolds, and Wolverine/Logan/James Howlett, famously portrayed by Hugh Jackman. Jackman’s highly anticipated film, Deadpool & Wolverine, AKA Deadpool 3, is the sole Marvel Studios theatrical release of 2024.