What Next For The MCU After Avengers: Endgame?

Dark Phoenix may have only been out for a few days, but the last X-Men movie under Fox has already scored the worst reviews in the long-running franchise, currently sitting at a mere 22% on Rotten Tomatoes and 43 on Metacritic. New Mutants, the final mutant-based flick coming from the recently-acquired studio, has just been delayed again for even more reshoots, pushing the original release date back by over two years.

It hasn't been the most graceful of swansongs for one of Hollywood's biggest and most lucrative franchises, one that was flying high recently following the success of Logan and the two Deadpool movies. Instead, the merry band of mutants have gone out with a whimper.

For years, the idea of pitting the X-Men against the heroes of the Marvel Cinematic Universe was nothing but a pipe dream that played out in the heads of fans. Now, its a case of when rather than if they show up as part of the MCU.

The events of Endgame may have robbed us of the chance to see Wolverine and company trade blows with The Avengers, but Marvel Studios now having the rights to well-known characters that have already generated almost $6bn in box office revenue is a potential game-changer.

Gaining access to the X-Men is one of the biggest developments in the history of the MCU, and is something that the studio will be desperate to get right given the immense pressure that will come with rebooting these characters. Kevin Feige will likely take his time on this but when it does happen, its going to be huge.