Marvel boss Kevin Feige already hinted that Phase 7 of the MCU will kick off the Mutant Saga, and now the studio might have found the director for the flagship movie. According to Deadline, Marvel’s top choice to direct its upcoming X-Men reboot is Jake Schreier, who made his Marvel debut with the Phase 6 capper Thunderbolts* this month.
Deadline reports that Schreier is in early talks to helm X-Men after meeting with the studio this past week to pitch his vision for the film. The odds started shifting in Schreier’s favor following the positive critical reaction to Thunderbolts* (aka The New Avengers), which is the highest-rated MCU movie since 2021’s Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Marvel hasn’t announced an X-Men movie yet, but the studio hired Michael Lesslie to write the script in May 2024. With the Multiverse Saga winding down, and Avengers: Doomsday starting up production, Marvel needs to start preparing for the future.
Personally, I think this would be a great move on Marvel’s part. Seeing what Schreier was able to do with the ragtag group of antiheroes in Thunderbolts*, I am excited to see how he handles one of the most complicated and diverse superhero teams in comic book history. Deadline also reports that he is a huge fan of the X-Men comics, so I have no doubt that he’s been dreaming about what his version of an X-Men movie would look like for years.
I’m willing to bet 2026’s Avengers: Secret Wars will find a way to fully integrate mutants into the MCU, and then it’s just a matter of setting them up for their first adventures under the control of Marvel Studios. Remember, the film rights to the X-Men had been owned by Fox for decades prior to Disney’s acquisition of the entertainment conglomerate.
We don’t have any further details about Marvel’s first X-Men movie in the MCU, but 2027 looks like the earliest we would possibly see it in theaters.
