Marvel's upcoming X-Men movie will start the franchise afresh, according to screenwriter Lee Sung Jin. Instead of bringing in lore from previous movies, the first mutant-centric MCU film has the mandate to start from scratch, thanks to Kevin Feige's vision.
Beef creator Lee, who is writing the script, shared the update in a new interview with Deadline, saying there aren't many parameters put on them for what the film has to be. "I'd say there were actually more parameters on Thunderbolts because it was plugging into an existing arc and existing characters, whereas with X-Men, Kevin [Feige] just wants to take a big swing and start anew, not be beholden to any of the movies that have come before," he explained.
Lee worked on Thunderbolts with director Jake Schreier, who will be directing the new X-Men movie as well. The writer says they've been in the writers' room with Marvel producers Feige and Louis D'Esposito dialled in as they "blue-sky" as many ideas as possible.
"I’m such a big fan of that IP of the comics," he added. "My dad and I, every Saturday morning, used to watch the show on television, so to be able to look around this Marvel conference room and have every X-Men character on the board and be able to spitball and freestyle on, 'What about this person?', it’s so emboldening, because you’re like, 'Oh, wow, this isn't going to be a safe movie. This is actually going to be a really exciting new take.'"
That certainly sounds like an exciting approach and one that has surprised us a bit too. This is because Avengers: Doomsday has announced several of the original X-Men stars are set to appear in the big team-up movie, which is arriving ahead of Schreier's standalone film. Some had thought that may have been a way to introduce these characters in the MCU before weaving them into this new story.
However, given that the plan is to "start anew", we're not expecting many of these characters to make it out of Doomsday alive. It's also exciting to see Marvel still willing to take big risks, this far into the MCU.
The X-Men movie doesn't currently have a release date, but Marvel has reserved several slots post-Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars in 2028, so we could see it arrive at some point then.
In the meantime, check out our guide to all the upcoming Marvel movies and shows on the way, as well as everything you need to know about Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
