‘X-Men’ Reboot Writer Lee Sung Jin Says Marvel Is Taking a Bold Swing That No Previous Film Has Dared
Few creative teams in Hollywood have earned as much goodwill in recent years as the group now quietly reshaping one of Marvel’s most beloved franchises. ‘Beef’ creator Lee Sung Jin and ‘The Bear’ co-showrunner Joanna Calo have been brought on to write the script for Marvel Studios’ upcoming ‘X-Men’ reboot, joining director Jake Schreier, who previously helmed ‘Thunderbolts.’ Schreier worked with both Lee and Calo on the first season of ‘Beef,’ and Calo was credited as co-writer of ‘Thunderbolts’ with Eric Pearson, while Lee received an additional literary material credit. It is a reunion built on trust, and the results of what they are building together are starting to sound genuinely exciting.
The collaboration appears to be an unusually hands-on affair, even by Marvel’s standards. Lee has described the writing sessions as an all-in process, noting that Kevin Feige and Louis D’Esposito are in the room every day alongside the creative team, all working through the story together. That kind of direct leadership involvement signals just how much is riding on this project, and how seriously the studio is treating its long-awaited mutant debut in the MCU.
What really caught the attention of fans, though, came from Lee’s candid new remarks in an interview published by Deadline. Speaking about the creative parameters around the ‘X-Men’ reboot versus his previous work on ‘Thunderbolts,’ Lee made clear that this project carries far fewer constraints. He explained that Kevin Feige simply wants to take a big swing and start completely fresh, with no obligation to the films that came before. That kind of clean-slate mandate is rare in the MCU, and it suggests the studio is ready to let this one breathe on its own terms.
Lee also pointed to director Jake Schreier’s sharp creative focus, describing his vision as one centered entirely on returning to character first, drawing inspiration from the early Chris Claremont-era comics, which were fundamentally driven by team dynamics. Claremont defined the team during their most popular era, writing the characters for sixteen years from 1975 to 1991, and his influence on the soap-operatic emotional texture of those stories appears to be a guiding light for what this film aims to recapture. Schreier himself has confirmed that beyond Claremont, he has also been immersing himself in Grant Morrison’s celebrated run on the title while preparing for the project.
Lee has also teased that the team has been given access to every ‘X-Men’ character on the board, allowing them to openly spitball and freestyle around who could appear in the film. That creative freedom appears to have had a galvanizing effect on the writer. Lee described the experience as emboldening, saying it made him realize this would not be a safe movie but rather a genuinely exciting new take on the characters. For fans who have long wanted Marvel to do something adventurous with the mutants rather than play it cautiously, those words carry real weight.
No cast members have been officially announced yet for the MCU ‘X-Men’ reboot, though scooper reports have suggested the team lineup could be revealed at San Diego Comic-Con. Fans are also set to catch a glimpse of familiar faces in December, when Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier, Ian McKellen’s Magneto, and James Marsden’s Cyclops are expected to appear, marking the first full-scale entry of the ‘X-Men’ into the MCU proper. With a creative team this passionate and a mandate this bold, the real question is which mutants will finally make the cut for the MCU’s definitive roster, and we’d love to hear who you think deserves a spot on the team.
