Marvel Studios finally regained the rights to the X-Men and the mutants back in 2019, when Disney bought up 20th Century Fox for a whopping $71 billion.
Since then, news has been quiet on how the Marvel Cinematic Universe plans to introduce the X-Men. This has mainly because the MCU already had a lot to handle.
But now, with Avengers: Endgame behind us and the introduction of other rather unknown characters like Shang-Chi, the X-Men might be the next biggest name for the MCU to drop on us.
And as they get nearer to returning to film, information is slowly beginning to trickle out.
The MCU X-Men
With the X-Men playing such a huge part in the Marvel Comics, it’s only natural they will take on a similarly huge role within the MCU.
We can assume Marvel producer Kevin Feige will want to build the mutants in slowly to the MCU, before leading up to a team-up movie, like with The Avengers.
If his plan is to drop them into other movies, we may already have the clues we need to work out the first MCU X-Men line up.
Also Read: X-Men’s Evan Peters To Appear in WandaVision
Marvel Scooper Mikey Sutton has revealed some details about the line up, via The Cosmic Wonder. Even though there is still no script for the X-Men movie, he explains:
“Marvel Studios’ plans for the X-Men are indeed at the earliest stages of development. The Mutants are indeed coming to the MCU and will be introduced Avengers style in other characters’ films. They are currently looking at the initial lineup of the X men to include Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Thunderbird, Nightcrawler, Sunfire, Havoc, and Storm, who is going to be from Wakanda.”
A lot of this does appear to make sense. Cyclops and Havoc are brothers, so it’s only logical to have them appear and be introduced together.
Marvel Girl is an alias used by Jean Grey, who has also been prevalent in the previous X-Men movies and has a romantic bond with Cyclops.
Nightcrawler is another familiar character, whereas Sunfire and Thunderbird are the unfamiliar recruits.
Storm – Black Panther 2
One thing that was expected from the lineup was the inclusion of Ororo Munroe, aka Storm.
In the comics, she is from the African country of Wakanda and ends up getting married to T’Challa (Black Panther).
Rumors have already suggested Storm could be introduced in the sequel to Black Panther.
Not only is she a familiar mutant to non-comic fans, but her relationship to T’Challa becomes vital within the lore.
In Black Panther 2, Storm could be introduced as a childhood friend of T’Challa’s before eventually becoming his romantic interest.
It’s a natural inclusion for the character and a seamless introduction before joining the X-Men.
Also read: The New Mutants Images Showcase New X-Men Team
X-Men Shakeup
However, Sutton goes on to provide further, potentially spoilers, information about the line up.
“Kevin Feige wants an all new, all different approach, at least somewhat compared to what Fox did for so long with the X men. The president of Marvel Studios is focusing on the team as a school with some students joining Professor X on missions while others still studying and training (essentially a Hogwarts for mutants). The seriousness of what professor Xavier school does and what the X men do is brought to the surface when spoiler alert Thunderbird is killed during a trip to Krakoa.”
To kill a member of the team so early would indeed be a shakeup. It also correlates to information from the comics.
Thunderbird possessed the superhuman athletic ability but was also killed on an early mission with the X-Men.
It’s also nice to note that Professor X will still be in charge of the team. He is undoubtedly going to make an appearance of some sort.
X-Men Villains
In an earlier scoop regarding the X-Men movie, Sutton explained the team will be fighting the villainous Sauron.
Sauron is your typical evil scientist but gains the ability to, well, turn into dinosaurs.
Yep, after being bitten by mutant pterodactyls (suck it, Spidey), Dr. Karl Lykos becomes the supervillain, Sauron.
Sutton goes on to suggest that Mister Sinister will be the controlling villain behind the curtains. This would likely mean Mister Sinister will play a similar role to Thanos in the first Avengers movie.
As always, this information is best taken with a grain of salt. However, a lot of this information seems logical. Storm being introduced in Black Panther 2 is perfectly logical and the X-Men doesn’t really exist without Jean Grey present in some form.
Only time will tell, but what we can say is that the MCU will finally give the X-Men what they deserve.
Source: The Cosmic Wonder
