10 Marvel Franchises That Could Replace The Avengers
5. X-Men
Marvel Comics
Let's be honest, if there was any franchise that has proven it can go toe-to-toe with the Avengers, it's the X-Men. They've been in the game longer, possess instant appeal, and though their introductions presents certain difficulties for Marvel (namely, why haven't mutants never been addressed before), seeing Wolverine, Cyclops, Shadowcat and the others suit up in the MCU will likely give fans little time to dwell on them.
There isn't really much that can be said about the X-Men other than the fact Disney will be very keen to capitalise on the license as soon as possible, and though the crossover potential is there as well, it would be better to flesh out a new interpretation of the mythos, rather than jumping straight into an Avengers vs X-Men-style clash.
Again, there is the matter of Disney's buyout of Fox to complete before fans can start preparing for an MCU full of X-Men, but it shouldn't be long before approval is given. It's also reasonable to suspect that Disney's absorption of Fox was - at least marginally - spurred by a desire to prepare for an MCU post-Avengers, and in rivalling that particular team, Xavier's mutants are the only ones who stand a chance.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
