A new report explains why Marvel Studios’ long-awaited X-Men film has yet to materialize despite several hints about the group in recent MCU films.
Marvel fans continue to wait agonizingly for an X-Men film as a new report delves into why the studio is taking so long to bring the titular mutant group into the MCU.
Per The Direct, Brian Volk-Weiss, the producer of Vice’s Icons Unearthed: Marvel docuseries, claimed Marvel Studios is “extremely smart” to hold off on integrating the X-Men into the MCU live-action scene. According to Volk-Weiss, Marvel is holding off on an X-Men film by design, referring to their penchant for “five-year blocks” when mapping out their projects and the stories they look to tell. “I think it’s extremely smart and I know the reason for it and maybe that’s why I think it’s smart. The reason is, these people think in five-year blocks so… they can’t wake up one morning and be like, ‘Oh, [Disney CEO] Bob Iger just texted me. Now we own X-Men. Let’s put it into production,'” he said.
While Marvel’s long-term planning may cause some anxiety among MCU diehards, Volk-Weiss insisted the studio’s “methodical” approach allows it to enhance its creativity, making for more coherent storytelling and films viewers can invest in. “They have to be methodical. They have to plant the creative seeds in the movies that are coming, which they’re doing, and then, they have to do it right. They need the right script, they need the right director, they need the right cast. None of that happens quickly.”
Mutants and More New MCU Characters
Disney CEO Bob Iger has spoken about the five-year blocks Volk-Weiss referred to in the past, as well as the desire for more new characters in the MCU. Iger recently questioned Marvel for its tendency to produce sequels, stressing the need to explore new characters and mine fresh stories. Iger has also spoken at length about Disney reducing content production in order to improve quality.
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Though Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige claimed the X-Men’s MCU introduction was getting close last October, very few details have emerged regarding the status of the movie. However, various MCU tentpoles in recent years have teased the eventual emergence of the notable mutants at some stage, with the Ms. Marvel series finale revealing the eponymous superhero had a mutation. Shortly afterward, Talokan leader Namor called himself a mutant in Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Though Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine will be making his return in the MCU’s first R-rated film, Deadpool 3, alongside Ryan Reynolds’ Wade Wilson/Deadpool, the upcoming action-adventure doesn’t appear to be an opening for a wider X-Men debut but a callback to former Fox characters.
Icons Unearthed: Marvel airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. ET on Vice.
