Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier is in talks to direct Marvel Studios’ untitled X-Men movie. The X-Men were some of the first Marvel heroes brought to the big screen back in 2000 with Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, and a number of other Hollywood A-listers bringing the mutants to life for the very first time. It was an exciting time and helped Marvel become a pop culture juggernaut beyond its comic books and animated TV shows, even giving Kevin Feige one of his first jobs in the industry. However, when the MCU actually started, rights issues prevented the X-Men from being a part of it, but that changed when Disney bought Fox.
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Now, the MCU plans to introduce new era of X-Men with a new film. Details are extremely scarce on the project and no one knows when it will actually come out, but it seems like Marvel is getting closer to making it a reality. Deadline claims that Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier had a meeting with Marvel last week and is now the favorite to direct the X-Men’s debut film. There’s no word on how far in the dealmaking process they are, but it sounds like Marvel is really bullish on him and is in talks with Schreier to direct the new X-Men movie. The director is reportedly a big fan of the X-Men comics and has been eager to pitch his vision for the group in the MCU, something he was granted after favorable reactions to Thunderbolts*.
Schreier has also reportedly been turning down other job offers following the release of his first Marvel movie, likely signaling confidence in a future at Marvel Studios. It seems likely that we could hear more on this around San Diego Comic-Con in July, assuming Marvel is willing to share more details on their plans for X-Men. A script for the new X-Men movie has already been penned by Michael Lesslie, who has worked on movies like the upcoming Now You See Me, Now You Don’t and The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes.
It’s entirely possible that the new X-Men movie will continue to be developed in secrecy as Marvel goes into Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars, two movies that will likely dramatically change the MCU forever. It’s unclear if the new X-Men will be introduced for these movies or if Marvel wants to wait. Either way, the X-Men will be involved. A number of key actors from the older X-Men movies are returning for Avengers: Doomsday, fully bringing them into the MCU. It’s also likely that Hugh Jackman will be involved in some capacity, but he has yet to be announced.
As for Schreier, he seems like a great pick. He did a wonderful job with Thunderbolts* showing he’s not only capable in terms of large scale filmmaking, but weaving an emotionally charged and compelling story that can tackle bigger themes. The latter part of that is extremely important for an X-Men movie and hopefully, Marvel Studios entrusts him further to take his thoughtful ideas and apply them to arguably one of their biggest franchises. Only time will tell who is included in Schreier’s X-Men, but it sounds like we could finally see the heroic group of mutants make their debut in the next few years.
