The X-Men have been a staple of modern comic book movies since their introduction in 2000 by director Bryan Singer. The 20th Century Fox films have spanned over two decades, including two main trilogies, a Wolverine saga, and several spin-off films and TV shows. These characters were so vast that they could stand in their own cinematic universe without the need for any other Marvel characters to appear, much like the Spider-Man franchise was extensive enough for its own trilogies at Sony Pictures.
However, everything came to a head when Walt Disney acquired 20th Century Fox through a merger in 2019, effectively allowing Marvel Studios to use characters from the X-Men pantheon again. As well as characters from the Fantastic Four. Both properties have been staples in the Marvel comic universe since the 1960s. Later this year, Deadpool & Wolverine is expected to be released and celebrate the last two decades of Fox films with multiple legacy Fox characters rumored to appear. Disney+ just released the finale of their animated sequel series X-Men 97, which received rave reviews from fans and critics alike. This again proves that the X-Men property rivals The Avengers as it has always done in the comics.
While Marvel Studios is ramping up pre-production on their Fantastic Four reboot, they will now set their eyes on the X-Men. A report has confirmed that Marvel Studios have tapped screenwriter Michael Lesslie to pen their upcoming X-Men reboot. This comes from the news that the studio began taking pitches on their version of the characters last fall. Leslie is best known for co-writing several of The Hunger Games films and the Now You See Me franchise. He will have the extremely tough task of creating an X-Men story that hasn’t been done before in over the 20+ years of Fox films. That means it’s entirely possible that we won’t see famous storylines like the Days of Future Past, Age of Apocalypse, Dark Phoenix Saga, or The Mutant Cure appear in any of the upcoming Marvel Studio films. However, if X-Men 97 has taught us anything, obscure adaptions like Operation: Zero Tolerance can rival even the more popular storylines. Many fans hope that writers from X-Men 97′ could help touch up the script for the upcoming live-action film, though that is unknown. No director has been attached to take on the new reboot. It is also unknown which characters will appear on the team to differentiate from the earlier Fox films. Many fans hope Wolverine takes more of a backseat in the reboot so that characters like Cyclops can shine.
X-Men has no set release date
Source: Deadline