After eighteen years of superhero success, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is finally ready to introduce the X-Men. Sure, there have been small teases here and there, namely in Disney+’s Ms. Marvel series, but after 2024’s Deadpool & Wolverine, which confirmed the Fox X-Men universe as a multiverse in the MCU, the powers that be are bringing in the Merry Mutants and moving full steam ahead with a reboot directed by Jake Schreier of Thunderbolts* fame.
But after decades of X-Men films in the Fox universe, the MCU’s new X-Team will have an uphill battle to climb. Since the X-Men are arguably the longest running Marvel live action franchise, having kicked off in the year 2000 with X-Men and churning out sequels and spin-offs year after year, any reset of the franchise will have the unenviable task of introducing the numerous concepts and characters of the world to millions of new fans. With the epic history of the franchise, that could be a problem.
The Fox era laid the groundwork well.
In the year 2000, comic book movies were not as commonplace as they are now and the ones that fans did have were campy and unrealistic. Then along came X-Men, which took the source material seriously and took time to build up the characters, to the point that the film opened with a flashback sequence to a WW2 concentration camp. The concept of mutants living among us and the social divide between them and the human population was explored and treated with respect to the debate inherit in the premise.
The film also succeeded when it came to establishing numerous classic comic book characters. The X-Men are a large and diverse team in the comics- there’s practically a mutant for everybody to identify with- and the film had the task of picking and choosing the very best of them to present to a brand new audience. The filmmakers chose wisely and cast the parts perfectly, namely Hugh Jackman as Wolverine and Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier, both of whom have reprised their roles countless times.
The franchise’s evolution will be hard to top.
As the decades went on, the X-Men franchise got bigger and bolder with each successive film, introducing new characters, adapting famous comic book storylines, and upping the ante when it came to their action set pieces. By the time Matthew Vaughn soft rebooted the franchise with 2011’s X-Men: First Class, audiences were familiar enough with the lore that a prequel detailing certain characters’ history was a huge box office success.
And now the MCU is planning on essentially starting from scratch, recasting key iconic characters and planning a fresh take on the concept. With all the groundwork laid by the Fox universe, redoing and disregarding the deep lore of those films will be massive challenge, especially when it comes to introducing the characters that fans are accustomed to from previous films.
Worse, since the MCU has confirmed that the Fox universe is canon, albeit in another multiverse, the comparison between old and new will be fierce and unforgiving. If the MCU was truly doing its own thing and restarting from square one, maybe fans could forgive a reboot. But with Stewart, Ian McKellan and more returning in the upcoming Avengers: Doomsday, any new cast of X-Men will have to hold a candle to their predecessors, who have played the roles for so long that they’re practically inseparable from the characters.
With a deep cast and long history behind the franchise, the X-Men are ripe for a big screen saga. But since fans have already enjoyed numerous films showcasing these characters, starting over could either be a big win or a massive backfire. Only time will tell which fate will befall the new X-Men.
- Release Date
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July 13, 2000
- Runtime
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104 minutes
- Director
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Bryan Singer
