Kevin Feige has finally shared major updates on Marvel Studios’ X-Men movie and whether or not the Marvel Cinematic Universe will be rebooted after Avengers: Secret Wars. Phase 6 of the MCU timeline is about to begin with The Fantastic Four: First Steps, but Marvel Studios is already working on the ending of The Multiverse Saga.

With Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars ending Phase 6, the MCU is also getting ready to bring the X-Men into the franchise on a full-time basis. While an X-Men movie is still in development, Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier is officially set to direct it, but casting hasn’t started yet.

Variety recently did a roundtable interview with Feige, along with several other outlets. The Marvel Studios president addressed how Avengers: Secret Wars will serve as a new beginning for the MCU as a whole. While Avengers: Endgame was the end of an era, Avengers: Secret Wars will be the opposite:

Kevin Feige: We’re utilizing that [story] not just to round out the stories we’ve been telling post-Endgame, just as importantly — and you can look at the Secret Wars comics for where that takes you — it very, very much sets us up for the future. Endgame, literally, was about endings. Secret Wars is about is about beginnings.

However, as there have been rumblings about the MCU undergoing a form of reboot, Feige also opened up on how he is looking at post-Phase 6 as more of a “reset.” That is also where Feige confirmed that the X-Men will definitely be recast, as he shared the following about the mutants’ upcoming film:

Kevin Feige: Reboot is a scary word. Reboot can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. Reset, singular timeline — we’re thinking along those lines.

X-Men is where that will happen next. They have been a place to tell stories about young people who feel different and who feel Other and who feel like they don’t belong. That’s the universal story of mutants, and that is where we’re going.

What Kevin Feige’s X-Men & Avengers: Secret Wars Comments Mean

While it is understandable why it was expected that the MCU was going to do a soft reboot through the Avengers: Secret Wars story, Feige’s comments about it being more of a reset make more sense. Even though the MCU may retool the continuity to some degree of what the franchise looks like after Avengers: Secret Wars, it may be more related to how they are approaching the X-Men.

The idea that the X-Men movie will follow young versions of some of the key mutants is also perfectly understandable, as Marvel Studios wants the audience to experience these characters from the beginning. If the X-Men are going to be crucial players in the MCU going forward, the fans should get to follow their journeys, rather than starting out with them in the middle of their arcs.

Our Take On Kevin Feige’s X-Men & Avengers: Secret Wars Comments

While Feige is definitely having to withhold a lot of X-Men and Avengers: Secret Wars movie details, these latest comments are definitely exciting for the respective projects. Right now, the focus is on finishing The Multiverse Saga with the remaining Phase 6 projects, which means it is definitely too early to talk about Avengers: Secret Wars, and especially the X-Men film.

With X-Men bringing a new era to the MCU in Phase 7, it will be interesting to see how Marvel Studios will tackle the mutants compared to the Fox-Marvel era. Hopefully, there will be a few more clues shared for X-Men and Avengers: Secret Wars once Marvel Studios gets further into Phase 6.

Source: Variety