For over two decades the Marvel superhero team X-Men was a 20th Century Fox property. As a result, they couldn’t appear in Disney's Marvel Cinematic Universe. Since Disney's acquisition of Fox, bringing the X-Men to the MCU has been on the menu, and now a screenwriter has addressed whether the mutants will soon appear.
Four years on and there has been little to no progress in the integration of the X-Men team into the MCU, apart from Wolverine who is billed to appear in the next iteration of Deadpool. Many fans have speculated that Marvel Studios will introduce the X-Men in its next Avengers film titled Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. However, the film’s writer, Jeff Loveness, has put an end to these speculations.
During a recent interview on the Phase Zero Podcast, Loveness stated that the X-Men will not appear in Avengers: The Kang Dynasty. While the television producer and actor affirmed Marvel’s plan to reintegrate the team into the MCU, he revealed that it is some time away.
In his words, "No, I think all that stuff is pretty far away. I mean, I know they’re making Fantastic Four, but that’s its own thing. So, no, I mean, look, I’m the biggest X-Men guy in the world… No, no, no. I think that’s being saved for a bit. But, you know, these Avengers are in trouble. They got a lot going on with Kang. They got more than enough to handle."
Loveness’s comments echo previous comments by Nate Moore, a Marvel Studios Vice President. During an interview with Screen Rant late last year about the connection of popular X-Men character Storm to Wakanda, Moore revealed that Marvel Studios is "a few years out from the X-Men" and, as a result, can’t incorporate the character into the MCU just yet.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is still in pre-production. At the moment, Anthony Mackie’s Captain America, Tenoch Huerta’s Namor, and Jonathan Majors’ Kang are the only characters confirmed to appear in the film.
While unconfirmed, Paul Rudd, Jeremy Renner, Hailee Steinfeld, Kathryn Newton, and Iman Vellani will reportedly reprise their roles as Ant-Man, Hawkeye, Kate Bishop, Cassie Lang, and Ms. Marvel respectively, among other heroes.
Destin Daniel Cretton, best known for Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, will direct based on a script by Loveness. Avengers: The Kang Dynasty will act as the climax of the latest, embattled phase of the long-running MCU.
Marvel Studios’ latest release, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is setting some unwanted records. The film is currently the joint worst-rated MCU film ever alongside the 2021 film Eternals. The film also set the record for the worst drop in US domestic box office earnings for an MCU film when its ticket sales dropped by 69% in its second week.
Ahead of his return as Wolverine, Hugh Jackman recently shared some of the meals he has been eating to bulk up as the character. The actor, who is set to play multiple variants of his character, will also reportedly be in the MCU for the long haul.
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty is slated to arrive in theaters on May 2, 2025.
