Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has confirmed Jake Schreier, director of Thunderbolts*, is helming the MCU’s X-Men relaunch. The MCU’s current arc is headed towards Avengers: Secret Wars, but many viewers are eager for what comes next. We’re expecting a multiversal reboot – and the MCU’s X-Men.

ScreenRant‘s Ash Crossan attended the Fantastic Four roundtable, where Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige confirmed reports of the X-Men movie’s director.

“Yeah, it’s official. Jake Schreier is doing X-Men for us. Very lucky, and we’re very, very lucky to have him, and very excited to have him. And so we’re beginning. It’s all starting now. Script’s underway.

Jake’s an incredibly smart guy, and he’s an incredibly talented filmmaker. We had a great experience with him on Thunderbolts, and if you saw that movie, what he did with those character interactions — he also has his pulse on, shall we say, a younger demographic. Not—he’s younger than me, for sure—but he’s tapped into that in a way that I think is important. It was important for Thunderbolts, much more important for X-Men, because X-Men, as it was in the comics, will be a very youth-oriented, focused and cast movie.”

Jake Schreier Is A Great Choice For The X-Men Relaunch

Thunderbolts* Proved His Skill In Superhero Franchises

Thunderbolts*‘ box office may have been disappointing, but it received rave reviews as an unusually character-driven movie for the MCU. Schreier’s film eschewed the traditional third act big battle, instead focusing on a resolution that was more about mental health than anything else. It was a thrilling departure from standard MCU tropes.

Fox’s X-Men franchise focused mostly on Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, but the comics have shown that almost every member of the mutant community has the potential to shine with the right writers; X-Men stories are traditionally described as superhero soap operas, with readers gripped by the relationships and character dynamics. Thunderbolts* practically feels like a dress rehearsal for that approach.

Our Take On Jake Schreier’s X-Men Relaunch

It’s About Time To Bring On The Mutants

Disney completed its acquisition of Fox in 2019, and X-Men characters have gradually made their way into the MCU – albeit in surprising ways. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and ᴅᴇᴀᴅpool & Wolverine both used the multiverse to exploit previous incarnations of the X-Men, but these were really only nostalgia plays.

Ms. Marvel was the MCU’s first official mutant, a surprising twist that departed from the comics – and one that may mean Iman Vellani’s Kamala Khan is a perfect fit for Schreier’s X-Men movie. No doubt we’ll learn more as Marvel moves closer to finally making the MCU’s first X-Men film, something viewers have been eager to see since Tony Stark first built his armor in a cave.