Don't Expect X-Men In The MCU For A "Very Long Time"

The Fox characters are home, but it's going to be a while before we see them on screen.

MCU New X Men Costumes
Marvel

The Disney takeover has 21st Century Fox has a number of far-reaching implications, both good and terrible, but as far as the Marvel Cinematic Universe goes there's only one thing fans care about: the X-Men and Fantastic Four can finally feature in the MCU.

With Endgame wrapping up the MCU as we know it, there's been a lot of chatter as to when we might see those characters introduced, with (wild) rumours even suggesting it could be in the post-credits scene of the upcoming Avengers movie. However, speaking to io9, Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige has quashed such rumours, and said we'll all be waiting a while yet. Asked specifically about the X-Men joining the MCU, he said:

“It’ll be a while. It’s all just beginning and the five-year plan that we’ve been working on, we were working on before any of that was set. So really it’s much more, for us, less about specifics of when and where [the X-Men will appear] right now and more just the comfort factor and how nice it is that they’re home. That they’re all back. But it will be a very long time.”

Note that is about the X-Men and not the Fantastic Four, which could leave the door open for them to appear sooner, but really it's likely to be a few years yet before we see any Fox characters. The deal has only just been completed, and Marvel typically plan far in advance. They did change things up with Spider-Man, but that was dropping one character (and a few supporting players) in, with a very different kind of deal too, rather than introducing an entire raft of major new superheroes.

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The Phase 4 slate is already taking a rough shape, with the likes of Black Widow and The Eternals on the horizon alongside some sequels, so it'd make sense for the X-Men (and perhaps Fantastic Four) to be introduced in a big event movie a few years down the line.

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NCTJ-qualified journalist. Most definitely not a racing driver. Drink too much tea; eat too much peanut butter; watch too much TV. Sadly only the latter paying off so far. A mix of wise-old man in a young man's body with a child-like wonder about him and a great otherworldly sensibility.