James Whitehead
It has become a common occurrence for Marvel to announce release dates for upcoming projects without announcing which film will fill it… They do this to keep certain spoilers for other films from leaking too soon, but more importantly, they do this to make a statement to the other studios that the date is theirs… And to be wary should you want to release near it. Over the past two decades the latest MCU film has dominated the box office so a lot of studios will move their releases to a different date with less competition.
For the year of 2028, Marvel has just announced that they will be releasing “Untitled Marvel Project” on the 15th of December, a prime-time spot usually taken up by an Avengers movie or an Avatar film, as is the potential for box office over the holiday season. But with two Avengers films coming in quick succession before 2028 with Avengers: Doomsday & Avengers: Secret Wars, it seems unlikely that they will follow these with such another big ensemble so soon. This has led to a lot of speculation that this date is in fact saved for a different kind of ensemble instead… with many fans feeling this slot will be the long awaited MCU X-men reboot film.
Ever since Disney’s acquisition of Fox, the rights to the X-Men Characters have been back with Marvel. Since then, the MCU has been dipping its’ toes in the mutant gene pool. A cameo here, a guitar riff there, but no real news or development for their own plans with the team. This however could be about to change.
Marvel have been buying themselves some time whilst they figure out the direction, they want to go in. As of right now, the only X-Men introductions have been bringing back beloved X-Men Characters from the previous films, whether it’s Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine in Deadpool and Wolverine, or even Patrick Stewart’s Charles Xavier in Doctor Strange 2: Multiverse of Madness. But a few years on and we haven’t had one single recast or new actor be brought in.
Narratively, were building to some sort of soft reboot for the MCU, at the very least a real shake-up. The inclusion of these X-Men favourites in the upcoming Avengers films will work as a reintroduction to the characters, before we get our own MCU counterparts. And with the latter of those Avengers movies coming in2027, 2028 looks like the prime time to do so.
Furthermore, Variety is reporting that Marvel has already chosen their director for the first MCU X-Men film, tapping up Jake Schreier, who just did a stellar job directing Thunderbolts* for the studio. Some fans have expressed desires for a director from a minority background, due to the heavy racial and societal themes surrounding the X-Men lore. However, just by looking at his most recent work for Marvel, his ability to capture a team full of unique perspectives and backgrounds has demonstrated that he could be a dept hand at bringing the X-Men to life in a similar vein. On top of this, the personal explorations in Thunderbolts* show he can tell those stories with the level of reverence required. So I would be very excited with this choice should it be confirmed to be true, and with the convenience of the new date announcement, confirmation could be right around the corner.
Are you excited for the X-Men’s MCU debut? Who would you like to Direct? Which Mutants should make up the core team? Let us know below and as always, check out the TV and Film News section on our Hits Player for more news and reviews in the world of entertainment.
