Time has a funny way of offering perspective. Just a few years ago, Marvel’s Cinematic Universe was at the top of the food chain. Avengers: Endgame had done the impossible, proving that serialized storytelling across dozens of films could actually work. The successful integration of Spider-Man, who had been the property of Sony Pictures for over 30 years, only added to Marvel’s omnipotence. Though the company had sold off its most popular characters in the ‘90s, the rise of Marvel Studios proved that the safest hands were always its own.
So began the arduous process of bringing those discarded heroes back into the fold, starting with Disney’s acquisition of Fox in 2019. With the rights to the Fantastic Four and the X-Men safely back with Marvel, audiences could look forward to a much-needed reboot. But the wait hasn’t been without a few setbacks. Superhero fatigue has chipped away at Marvel’s once-untouchable reputation, and as the franchise struggles to keep its interconnected universe interesting, it also has to keep fans invested. The former Fox properties may be the key to redemption — in just a few weeks, the Fantastic Four will return to the big screen yet again, while Thunderbolts director Jake Schreier has been chosen to helm a new X-Men movie.
Schreier might be the perfect filmmaker to reboot the mutant squad for the MCU, as his Thunderbolts infused the franchise with the heart — and more crucially, the cohesion — that it’s been missing for years. It’s definitely a step in the right direction, and while the new X-Men film doesn’t even have a release date just yet, Marvel still intends to use the team to pull its Multiverse Saga to the finish line.
The Multiverse Saga has been a disorganized mess, but two new Avengers films will ideally be the unifying force the MCU needs. Doomsday will finally introduce a new villain in Doctor Doom, and the 2026 film will also bring back members of Fox’s X-Men squad, proving that, all these years later, this franchise is critical to Marvel’s success.
The original X-Men hit theaters 25 years ago today, when a successful comic book adaptation was far from a sure thing. Marvel had struck gold with Blade in 1998, but that was a diamond in a sea of duds. The turn of the century was a graveyard for failed superhero movies, including a Fantastic Four movie that never even saw the light of day. X-Men nearly met a similar fate: it took almost 20 years and a revolving door of directors and writers for Fox to get the project off the ground.
First, the studio couldn’t decide on the mutant team’s line-up (or budget), and characters like Beast, Pyro, and Jubilee came and went. Even when the script was finalized in 1999, after rewrites from Christopher McQuarrie, Joss Whedon, and David Hayter, production was reportedly “tortuous.” Much of that has to do with director Brian Singer, as his history of sexual abuse and troubling on-set behavior would later become public.
“His behavior was poor,” an anonymous executive told The Hollywood Reporter in 2020. “We accommodated him on the first movie, and therefore we [could] accommodate him on the second movie. And on and on. And it created a monster.”
It’s hard to reconcile Singer’s misconduct with the legacy of the franchise he helped build. He did have a hand in making a truly remarkable superhero film, but substance abuse, mood swings, and frequent tantrums didn’t make production easy. According to THR, Marvel boss Kevin Feige — then an assistant to producer Lauren Shuler Donner — had to be dispatched to set to keep Singer on track.
A quarter-century later, the franchise has grown far beyond Singer’s shadow. The film was Marvel’s first mainstream hit, riding the coattails of dark, leather-clad action films like Blade and The Matrix (which inspired the pivot from yellow spandex to sleek black costumes) and effectively transporting its mutants into the modern era. Admittedly, X-Men played a bit fast and loose with the team’s comic book origins, but their soul — their commitment to equality, and their status as outsiders — felt stronger than ever. There were a few corny lines, but it took its themes seriously and gave its ensemble the gravitas it deserved.
X-Men also had a perfect cast in Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, James Marsden, and Rebecca Romijn, among others who have become synonymous with the franchise. Even as Marvel tries to move on, it’s proven impossible to let go: Jackman and Stewart have jumped into the MCU, and McKellen, Marsden, and Romijn aren’t far behind. Doomsday will reunite the actors for the first time since X-Men: The Last Stand, in the latest of a long line of tributes, sequels, and reboots. Looking back might not be ideal, but with the state the MCU is in, no one’s really complaining.
Could this reunion undercut whatever Marvel and Schreier have planned for the new X-Men? Probably. Still, the prospect feels too good to pass up. With the superhero genre on the brink of collapse, it makes sense to turn to what worked in the past. Yes, the X-Men movies have a checkered reputation, and yes, they defied the comics at every opportunity. But they also might be just what Marvel needs to survive, if not with a new film, then with a trip down memory lane.
