Marvel’s X-Men Movie Officially Moving Forward With New Director

Marvel Studios has finally confirmed that a brand-new X-Men movie is officially happening. The film will be directed by Jake Schreier, who fans might know from the recent MCU film Thunderbolts*. This news was shared by Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige during a press event while he was promoting The Fantastic Four: First Steps, according to ComicBook.

Jake Schreier is no stranger to Marvel projects. He worked on Thunderbolts*, which told the story of a team of unusual heroes working together. According to Feige, this experience helped Schreier get chosen to lead the new X-Men movie.

Feige said, “It’s official, Jake Schreier is doing X-Men for us, and we’re very, very lucky. And we’re very, very lucky to have him and very excited to have him. And so we’re beginning. It’s all starting now. The script’s underway.”

Feige also said that the good reaction to Thunderbolts played a part in Schreier getting the job, but there was more to the decision than just that. “Jake’s an incredibly smart guy, and he’s an incredibly talented filmmaker,” Feige said.

“We had a great experience with him on Thunderbolts*. And if you saw that movie, what he did with those character interactions, he also has his pulse on, shall we say, a younger demographic. He’s younger than me for sure, but he’s tapped into that in a way that I think was important for Thunderbolts, much more important for X-Men. Because X-Men, as it was in the comics, will be a very youth-oriented, focused and cast movie.”

When asked about the story of the new X-Men film, Feige didn’t give much away. He pointed out that many famous X-Men stories have already been used in older movies. Feige said, “More than any of them, right? There have been more X-Men movies than there were Spidey movies or Fantastic Four movies.”

But he also made it clear that Marvel Studios isn’t afraid to revisit those stories in new ways, saying, “So a lot has been done. But again, because it’s X-Men, because it’s almost a comic legacy unto itself, there’s so much more to tap into it. And there [are] so many sagas within sagas for X-Men that that’s part of what we’re talking about now — which saga to grow and build to while doing the most important thing, which is introducing all of these characters and giving them their due in our first film.”

Marvel Studios has been planning to bring the X-Men into the MCU for a long time. Back in 2019, during San Diego Comic-Con, Feige mentioned that mutants would eventually join the Marvel Universe, including the X-Men. He also said that Marvel’s version of the X-Men would feel different from the older movies made by 20th Century Fox. After Disney bought Fox in 2019, Marvel Studios finally got the rights to use the X-Men.

By late 2023, Marvel was reportedly meeting with writers to get the project started. In May 2024, Michael Lesslie was in talks to write the script, and a year later, it was confirmed that he would be the film’s writer.

While Marvel Studios is working on this main X-Men movie, other related projects are also being developed. Actor Ryan Reynolds is said to be working on a movie focusing on three or four X-Men characters alongside Deadpool. Reports say Reynolds is working separately from Marvel Studios at the moment to figure out what the film will look like. Sources like The Hollywood Reporter explained that using Deadpool in a smaller role could help introduce some X-Men characters in surprising ways.

Marvel fans have waited a long time for the X-Men to join the MCU, and now it’s finally happening. With Jake Schreier directing and Michael Lesslie writing, Marvel Studios is getting ready to bring these iconic heroes into its movie universe.

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