Avengers: Endgame directors Joe and Anthony Russo recently provided an update on when Wolverine might be included into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The two directors spoke to Business Insider about which characters they would be interested in adapting to the big screen in future Marvel films.
Anthony Russo noted that at this point there aren’t any ideas on the table to have them come back:
“We love Marvel, we have the most amazing working relationship with them, and we’re very close with them. Maybe there will be an idea that comes up in the future, but there is none now.”
However, Joe Russo would point to Ben Grimm aka The Thing from the Fantastic Four as well as Doctor Doom.
“I love Ben Grimm from the Fantastic Four. Doctor Doom was always one of my favorite villains.”
He would then tip his hat to Wolverine, but indicated, “he’s got to be set aside for a little while.”
This update follows Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige’s recent statement regarding the X-Men. Feige spoke to io9 back in April where he stated it would “be a while” before the X-Men were introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“It’ll be a while. It’s all just beginning and the five-year plan that we’ve been working on, we were working on before any of that was set. So really it’s much more, for us, less about specifics of when and where (the X-Men will appear) right now and more just the comfort factor and how nice it is that they’re home. That they’re all back. But it will be a very long time.”
However, it might be happening sooner rather than later. Disney recently released their upcoming film schedule that includes a number of new Marvel films as well as Star Wars films. However, that list also included The New Mutants. The film was pushed back to April 3, 2020 after it had been postponed to August 2, 2019. With the film being pushed back, it’s quite possible there might be some reshoots to incorporate the characters into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Or like most Marvel Studios films they include a post-credit scene that introduces The New Mutants to the wider Marvel Cinematic Universe.
As for how Marvel Studios might introduce the X-Men, they made it very clear in the recent Spider-Man: Far From Home trailer there is a Marvel multiverse. It’s quite possible, the mutants arrive in the prime Marvel universe from an alternate reality.
However, it’s also possible they could introduce them in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 via the High Evolutionary. It’s possible the High Evolutionary, might have experimented on humanity and evolved humanity with the X-gene. It’s possible he’s already experimented on humanity as The Sovereign reveal that humanity are their ancestors in Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2.
It’s also possible that the X-Men could be introduced on the upcoming Disney+ streaming platform. Elizabeth Olsen revealed that the upcoming WandaVision show will take place in the 1950s. It’s quite possible, she might use her powers that originated from the Mind Stone to somehow bring forth the X-Men in a House of M style adaptation.
One thing appears to be clear is that the X-Men will be different than what we are use to. Avengers: Endgame writer Christopher Markus told the LA Times, “It’ll be fascinating to see what Kevin Feige does with the properties he’s now getting from the Fox merger with X-Men and Fantastic Four.” He added, “And to see what the MCU version of those things is, because I very much doubt it will be something that resembles what you’ve seen before. So that will be very exciting.”
What do you make of the X-Men not showing up for awhile? How do you think Feige and Marvel Studios will introduce what are arguably the most popular Marvel characters outside of Spider-Man?