Ever since the Walt Disney Company acquired 21st Century Fox in 2019, audiences have speculated on when the X-Men franchise would merge with the Marvel Cinematic Universe. SInce then, there have been a few major updates. Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel was confirmed as a mutant in Ms. Marvel. Patrick Stewart reprised his role as Professor X/Charles Xavier in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. X-Men ’97 brought mutants back to Marvel on the small screen. Deadpool officially joined the MCU alongside an incarnation of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in Deadpool & Wolverine in a multiversal story.
Yet, there seems to be no confirmed appearance of the beloved team in the MCU proper. Screen Rant’s Liam Crowley spoke with Marvel Studios’ Head of Streaming Brad Winderbaum about the future of the X-Men in the MCU, as well as rumors that an Academy X series could be in the works:
ScreenRant: There’s a report that went out recently that Academy X could be something in the works. What can you say about Marvel’s live-action plans for mutants on the television front?
Brad Winderbaum: I think anybody could say anything online, and it hits the rumor mill and people get excited. Right now, we are still working on X-Men 97 season 2. It’s coming together amazingly, and the scripts for season 3 are insane. That is certainly scratching the X-Men itch for me on television.
And there is an X-Men feature in development right now, so that is the focus of X-Men currently.
Though Winderbaum was tight-lipped regarding what plans Marvel has for the X-Men, he did outright confirm their future would be headed for the big screen. Additionally, the X-Men will continue to be represented on the television side through X-Men ’97, which has been renewed for both a second and third season.
Winderbaum’s confirmation of an X-Men feature is hardly the first demonstration that the X-Men are headed to the MCU, but it does give insight into the studio’s priority for the franchise. Chiefly, the live-action MCU X-Men will be part of the film side of Marvel as opposed to appearing in a television series, at least at first. This means that they will most likely not be introduced via a DIsney+ series, as the MCU has done with several new heroes such as Ms. Marvel, She-Hulk, Kate Bishop/Hawkeye, and Billy Kaplan/Wiccan, the latter of whom has distant ties to the X-Men.
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Previously, Kevin Feige, President of Marvel Studios, commented on the arrival of X-Men in the MCU, indicating that post-Avengers: Secret Wars, the franchise will focus more on mutants. He stated: “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.“
Between rumors that the X-Men could appear in Avengers: Secret Wars and Marvel leadership’s focus on adapting the team to film, it seems likely that the so-called “Age of Mutants” could hit the big screen sooner rather than later. Per Winderbaum, the next X-Men feature is in development at Marvel Studios, and there are currently no live-action television projects in the works using the team. As such, it seems that the powers behind the MCU are focusing on the X-Men franchise’s future in film as opposed to on streaming, which might just be the right call given the property’s popularity and longevity.
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X-Men
The X-Men franchise, created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, centers on mutants with extraordinary abilities. Led by the powerful telepath Professor Charles Xavier, they battle discrimination and villainous mutants threatening humanity. The series explores themes of diversity and acceptance through a blend of action, drama, and complex characters, spanning comics, animated series, and blockbuster films.
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Marvel Cinematic Universe
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount’s Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.
