10 Things We Know About The Future Of The X-Men Movies

Arguably the biggest movie-related story of the past year is the gamechanging Disney/Fox merger, a deal between the two studios that will see many of Fox's entertainment assets - including the X-Men and the Fantastic Four - fall under the Disney umbrella.

While the deal isn't set in stone, it's looking very, very likely, with Fox apparently quite happy to sell to the global juggernaut, even in spite of better offers from other companies, like Comcast.

If everything pans out, Disney - along with Marvel Studios - will have full creative control over any future X-Men movies, which will definitely result in some shake-ups in terms of which superheroes we see onscreen, as well as impacting the future of the current crop of X-Men franchises, including Deadpool and The New Mutants.

It's an uncertain time for these characters and their fans, especially because Disney could reboot the entire X-Men movie universe to bring it under the MCU banner.

But until that reality is made official - and with several X-Movies already in production - what can we expect from the future of the X-Men on the big screen?

X-Men: Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants were initially slated for release in 2018; in fact, had The New Mutants held its first release date, we'd have seen it already.

Up until recently, Phoenix was set to launch in November, while Mutants was pegged for a mid-April 2018 debut. But earlier this year, the former was pushed to February 2019, while the latter was moved twice - from April 2018 to February 2019, then all the way to its current August 2019 slot.

And while Fox hasn't made the reasons for these enormous delays publicly available, all signs point to behind-the-scenes issues - in the form of extensive reshoots for both films - being the culprit, which could negatively impact each movie.

In March, THR reported that Dark Phoenix was set to undergo "major" reshoots, which would rework the third act. Reshoots are perfectly normal for movies of this size, but concern over Dark Phoenix's state was raised when rumours began swirling that Fox was unhappy with director Simon Kinberg's work.

As for New Mutants, the reshoots are said to be hugely significant. Apparently, at least 50 percent of the movie will be reshot in order to make it much scarier, and to add a couple of new characters.

There are examples of reshoots working wonders for a film (Rogue One) but there are also examples of them hindering the final product (Justice League); Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants really could go either way. But it's a little worrying that the latter needs so much work, and Fox being displeased with Kinberg isn't a good sign.