Marvel"s Mutant Era Can Fix A Lingering MCU Problem Following Avengers: Endgame
Summary
- According to Kevin Feige, the mutant era in Marvel starts with Deadpool & Wolverine,
- This offers a way for the MCU to solve a central character problem post-Avengers: Endgame by bringing in the iconic and beloved X-Men cast.
- The X-Men '97 reboot rejuvenated interest in mutants with great storytelling, boosting the popularity of Marvel's mutants and showing they'd be perfect to carry a new MCU era.
Marvel is entering its mutant era after Deadpool & Wolverine, and it could solve a significant MCU problem that has existed since Avengers: Endgame. Deadpool & Wolverine is exciting for many reasons. It's the first R-rated movie in the MCU and brings two popular X-Men characters into the main timeline. The MCU timeline has teased mutants in a few recent projects, like Ms. Marvel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and The Marvels, but Deadpool & Wolverine is the first project featuring well-known mutants as the leads.
According to Kevin Feige, the upcoming film is just the start of mutants in the MCU. At a Deadpool & Wolverine press conference Screen Rant attended, Feige teased the "mutant era", stating, "everything post-Deadpool & Wolverine will be the mutant era coming into the MCU." It's unclear how mutants could factor into upcoming Marvel movies like Captain America: Brave New World or Fantastic Four, but it's good to know there is a plan for the mutants. These missing characters could also solve many of the MCU's problems, including one significant issue that Marvel needs to address for its future plans.
Related Kevin Feige’s X-Men Comments Could Support An Unexpected MCU Theory Deadpool & Wolverine may not only revisit Fox"s X-Men movie characters, but also tie directly into the creation of the MCU"s own mutants.
1 The X-Men Can Be The Central Figures Of The MCU After Avengers: Secret Wars Avengers: Endgame was a wonderful sendoff for Iron Man and Captain America, two characters who served as the backbone of Marvel's Infinity Saga. Tony Stark sacrificed himself to save the world, while Steve Rogers finally got his happy ending with Peggy Carter. However, the ending of their stories led to the beginning of Marvel's problems. The MCU was left without central characters that kept audiences returning, and Marvel has been scrambling to find a new roster of main heroes that would anchor the Multiverse Saga.
It's almost too late for Marvel to figure it out before Avengers 5, but the mutants are an excellent solution to this problem after Avengers: Secret Wars. The X-Men have an outstanding roster of heroes, like Cyclops, Wolverine, Jean Grey, and Professor X, who can act as recurring characters whose stories are intertwined in the larger MCU. The X-Men are wildly popular, and audiences have long waited to see them join the MCU. Making the X-Men the backbone of Marvel's next saga allows Marvel to keep audiences invested in its next chapter.
Marvel Can Take Advantage Of The X-Men's Refueled Popularity After X-Men '97 Close The X-Men have always been popular, but it had been a while before a movie or TV show featuring the iconic mutants was released. 2024 ended the drought with X-Men '97, a reboot of the 1990s X-Men: The Animated Series. The series blew away viewer's expectations, delivering a nostalgic return to these characters that explored darker and more mature stories. It was a massive hit with critics and audiences, X-Men '97 holds the highest critic score on Rotten Tomatoes for any Marvel Studios project, currently sitting at 99%.
X-Men '97 boosted the X-Men's popularity, and it reminded viewers how great the mutants are, especially when the storytelling is as great and consistent as this series. It also highlighted several underappreciated Marvel characters, like Rogue, Gambit, and Storm, showing there are many memorable mutants besides Wolverine, Professor X, and Magneto. The mutant era could be just what the MCU needs to refuel its popularity, and it should start well with Deadpool & Wolverine.
Marvel Cinematic Universe The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a multimedia superhero franchise that began in 2008 with Paramount's Iron Man starring Robert Downey Jr. The franchise quickly grew in popularity, with Disney eventually buying out Marvel Entertainment in 2009. The MCU consists of dozens of movies and TV shows, most notably Avengers: Endgame, WandaVision, and Loki.
Upcoming Films Deadpool & Wolverine , Captain America: Brave New World , Thunderbolts (2025) , Blade (2025) , The Fantastic Four (2025) , Avengers 5 , Avengers: Secret Wars Upcoming TV Shows Agatha: Coven of Chaos , Ironheart , Daredevil: Born Again , Wakanda , Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man , Marvel Zombies , Wonder Man , Vision Quest Upcoming Marvel Movies
Release Date
Deadpool & Wolverine
July 26, 2024
Captain America: Brave New World
February 14, 2025
Thunderbolts*
May 2, 2025
The Fantastic Four
July 25, 2025
Blade
November 7, 2025
Avengers: The Kang Dynasty
May 1, 2026
Avengers: Secret Wars
May 7, 2027