Ever since Disney acquired Fox last year, the X-Men and Fantastic Four franchises have covertly joined the MCU. Marvel Studios Chief Kevin Feige has also teased the introduction of mutants to his expansive big-screen universe, but how and when we will see the X-Men again has not yet been revealed. Dark Phoenix writer/director Simon Kinberg is excited about the future of the property and has offered his take on how it could join forces with the MCU. Here’s what he said:
One of the things the MCU does so well, and I have such a profound respect as a fellow filmmaker and then as just a fan, is that they're really loyal to the comics. They also are very unafraid of a more supernatural or science fiction tonality to their movies. They don't feel like they need to ground them so much in a sort of physics-based reality. I think there's something very great and liberating and spectacular about that. I think the X-Men could be very cool if you brought in science fiction elements and even the beyond Earth elements of the X-Men. That's something as a fan I would love to see, because I don't know that we've ever fully done that in a fully committed way in the Fox X-Men canon.
Even though Dark Phoenix’s box office performance closed out Fox’s franchise on a low note, the producer has been a staple in bringing the X-Men to life on the big screen as the writer for three other films in the series, such as X-Men: Days of Future Past, and served as a producer on Logan and the Deadpool movies.
Simon Kinberg told IGN he’d be interested in bringing his experience to the MCU’s X-Men “in a fresh way.” One aspect of the MCU that he thinks the reintroduction of the mutants should include is taking the characters beyond Earth for more adventures. The producer loves the science-fiction elements of X-Men, even though much of the franchise was often grounded in reality. Wolverine in space? Yes, please.
Although the Fox's X-Men franchise is nearly over, Simon Kinberg is still getting questions about his latest film. With the recent announcement of the Snyder Cut of Justice League, Simon Kinberg has been asked if a director’s cut of his own Dark Phoenix might see the light of day. But Kinberg states that the film we saw was indeed his original vision. However, the writer/director had intended the conclusion to the 20-year franchise to be two films until the studio changed things around. There were lots of changes and reshoots as a result, and Dark Phoenix marked a series low both financially and critically.
Despite this, Fox's superhero franchise would end on a completely dour note. Ryan Reynolds is reportedly working on Deadpool 3 under Disney’s Marvel Studios label, and Fox’s era of X-Men films will officially end this summer with The New Mutants. Josh Boone’s horror-infused mutant flick has been undergoing release delays since 2017, most recently with theater closures pushing it from its April date to August 28.
Simon Kinberg is on to something here with his recent comments. Fox has already explored, in great detail, what it’s like to live on Earth as a mutant – the MCU could take this opportunity to venture out to new corners of the X-Men comics moving forward. There are a ton of storylines already written that Marvel Studios could tackle between "The Brood Saga" and "The Dark Phoenix Saga" alone.
Stay tuned here on CinemaBlend for more updates on the future of X-Men in the MCU.
