This is when the X-Men will enter the MCU (Disney/ Marvel)
Everyone’s favourite mutants, the X-Men, are finally set to appear in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
Although there have been several on-screen instalments featuring the comic book characters, including Wolverine, Jean Grey and Storm, in the years since their first film, 2000’s X-Men, the mutants have never appeared in the wider MCU.
As the years have gone by, and since the Disney and Marvel merger that transferred ownership of the characters from Fox to Disney, fans have been eagerly awaiting the day Cyclops and Steve Rogers inhabit the same world.
And there have been plenty of breadcrumbs dropped along the way.
Disney+ television series Ms Marvel dropped a bombshell on viewers in 2022 when it confirmed that Kamala Khan, played by Iman Vellani, was the MCU’s first “mutant”.
This was followed by a post-credit scene in The Marvels (2023), in which Monica Rambeau (Teyonah Parris) wakes, after sacrificing herself to close a rift in time to find herself in the basement of the X mansion, accompanied by original Beast actor, Kelsey Grammer.
Now, with Deadpool & Wolverine set to open, and the critically acclaimed X-Men ’97 under the studio’s belt, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has teased when the official integration of the MCU and mutants will begin.
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Feige revealed that the release date for the third Deadpool film, 26 July, will also see the mutants of Marvel kick the MCU door open. He firmly refused to be drawn any further.
Numerous trailers for Deadpool & Wolverine have shown Ryan Reynolds team up with Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine to go up against Emma Corrin’s villain, Cassandra Nova, and the film is set to include some cameos from across the Marvel galaxy – MCU or otherwise.
Elsewhere on the MCU’s upcoming list, Daredevil: Born Again has been compared to X-Men ’97, and, if there is any truth to the rumours, Taylor Swift is reportedly being considered for the lead role in a series about masked crime-fighter Blonde Phantom – a character who first appeared in comics as far back as 1946.