Murphy's Multiverse

Tag: X-Men

  • SDCC: Every Marvel Studios Project That Wasn’t Discussed

    SDCC: Every Marvel Studios Project That Wasn’t Discussed

    Kevin Feige once said that Marvel Studios would not appear at San Diego Comic-Con unless they could overdeliver, and this year’s event proved he wasn’t kidding. Through two major panels, one for animation and the other for live-action, the entertainment giant landed punch after punch of exciting news. Those in attendance were treated to countless announcements at a rapid fire pace, and information drops were used to both expand on known projects and reveal entirely new ones. If any fans felt left in the dark after 2019’s Avengers: Endgame, they should have a pretty good idea as to what the future holds now.

    That being said, there were still quite a few titles missing from the Marvel Cinematic Universe timeline shown at the end of the company’s Hall H presentation. Despite all the thrilling surprises, it’s hard not to wonder what might be going on with the shows and movies Feige didn’t talk about over the weekend. As such, it feels right to round up every single MCU project that’s definitely in development but somehow still on the downlow. Let’s dig in:

    This was the biggest question mark coming out of Marvel’s Hall H. Armor Wars, an upcoming Disney+ series based on the comic arc of the same name was officially announced during a Disney Investor Day presentation in 2020. It’s probably the longest-standing MCU project yet to score a release window, despite a promising premise and a genuine leading man in Don Cheadle‘s War Machine. Actor, writer, and comedian Yassir Lester was brought on to serve as the series head writer almost a full year ago, and that was more or less the last time fans heard of any progress behind-the-scenes. The fact that Armor Wars wasn’t even mentioned during this year’s Comic-Con initially caused a bit of panic that the series might have been quietly canceled, until Lester took to social media and confirmed it’s still planned to release.

    As history has shown, Marvel Studios is not above shifting its calendar to accommodate new things. It’s very likely that Armor Wars is simply still in its early development stages, and will be slipped into the release schedule when the company and the creatives feel everything is ready to go. It’s also possible the show’s story fits better later in the MCU timeline, and Feige just revealed its existence earlier than he ended up needing to. Until more is known, fans will just have to settle for seeing Cheadle‘s James Rhodes in Secret Invasion instead.

    It really felt like this one was coming, and it’s still kind of shocking that it never did. Deadpool 3 has been in various stages of production since 2018, with its creative process being understandably delayed by Disney’s acquisition of former parent company 20th Century Fox. Since then, it’s been confirmed by the likes of Feige and star Ryan Reynolds that another film is indeed on the way. If that wasn’t enough, they’ve also revealed that this threequel will finally transition its R-rated antihero into the MCU proper.

    The lead-up to this year’s convention saw Disney put both previous Deadpool films on their previously-kid-friendly streaming service, and the convention grounds themselves had the Merc with a Mouth handing out free chimichangas to promote the big additions. Nothing has ever felt like more of a sign that Marvel might announce the new entry during their Hall H panel. Alas, no Deadpool 3 was found on the timeline. At least fans can rest easy knowing Reynolds, along with franchise writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick, are currently hard at work preparing Wade Wilson for his next cinematic adventure.

    Marvel’s Hall H presentation was surprisingly Avengers-heavy for a franchise with so many new toys to play with. As stated before, the MCU can now legally include mutants, and more specifically, the X-Men, in their theatrical projects. Patrick Stewart became the first mutant in the MCU earlier this year when he reprised his iconic role as Professor Charles Xavier for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and Iman Vellani took the reigns as part of a huge twist ending when Kamala Khan turned out to be a mutant in Ms. Marvel‘s finale episode. Now seemed like the perfect time for Marvel to announce exactly when to expect the X-Men’s return to cinemas, in a film Feige continues referring to as The Mutants, but no such confirmation ever came. Not even a peep about a potential creative team.

    It’s worth noting the X-Men did have a presence at the convention, however, in the form of the animated X-Men ’97 series coming to Disney+ in fall 2023. It’s very possible Marvel held back on revealing The Mutants so that show would have time to shine, and besides, there were still about eight empty slots on that Phase 6 slide. It wouldn’t be shocking if Marvel’s Merry Mutants found themselves occupying one in the very near future.

    It’s actually pretty strange that this one didn’t make the cut. It’s an incredibly open secret that Marvel Studios is developing an untitled Disney+ Halloween special centered on Werewolf by Night, but the transparency behind the project isn’t what makes its lack of attention at San Diego Comic-Con so weird. Not only does this one-hour special have a director in longtime composer Michael Giacchino, a runtime, and a full-blown cast in Gael García Bernal and Laura Donnelly, it’s actually already completed filming and is supposedly set to release in October of this year. It seems like, by this point, it should at least have an official title. Yet, the elongated Marvel One-Shot, or whatever it may be, was not even included in the MCU’s Phase 4 when Feige discussed the future timeline with fans, despite coming out before the Phase ends with Black Panther: Wakanda Forever.

    It’s starting to look like Marvel Studios doesn’t consider holiday-themed specials as part of their actual Phase plan. Much like the still-untitled Halloween special, The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is all filmed and rearing to go for this December season. Set photos, promotional merchandise, and a lot of updates from director James Gunn have kept fans satiated for the past year, but an official release date would be a nicer present for under the tree.

    It wasn’t that long ago fans learned Simon Williams would be coming to the MCU. It was just last month The Hollywood Reporter broke the news that Shang-Chi director Destin Daniel Cretton and Community writer Andrew Guest would create a Wonder Man series for Disney+. The article mentioned that cameras could begin rolling on the show as soon as 2023, so many fans felt that an official announcement from Marvel might come out of Hall H. Sadly, Feige‘s presentation ended without any sort of Phase placement or casting reveal for Wonder Man. Perhaps supporters of the longtime Avenger will have better luck at D23.

    Nova is maybe the most elusive MCU project in the company’s history. The character has been rumored to appear in a number of projects since it seems, the beginning of the company’s history. It was once confirmed that Richard Rider, the last of the Nova Corps, was intended to appear in 2018’s Avengers: Infinity War, but was cut for the sake of trimming story fat. All hope seemed lost until news dropped in March that a Disney+ series focusing on the character was in development from Moon Knight scribe Sabir Pirzada. Of course, this led many to believe Marvel would finally make the project official at Comic-Con, putting an end to the cult-like social media campaign to bring Nova to live-action. Maybe Marvel likes all the begging because that obviously didn’t happen.

    Black Panther Spin-Offs

    Early last year, it was reported by Deadline that Marvel Studios had put two Black Panther spin-off series into development at Disney+. One was said to revolve around Danai Gurira‘s Okoye, while the other would be Wakanda-centric and produced by director Ryan Coogler. Not much has been heard about either show since then, even if many expected at least one to be announced alongside Wakanda Forever‘s portion of the night’s program. Much like the mutant situation before it, this could be due to the fact Marvel wanted its highly-anticipated sequel to get every bit of the attention.

    Not long after Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings became a massive success, it was announced that director Cretton and star Simu Liu would return for another go-around. It wasn’t likely that Marvel would make a big fuss about the future project with so much else to cover, but it did seem logical that a title reveal or release date could come with the outlining of Phases 4-6. While this didn’t pan out, fans can still be excited to see Cretton come back for Disney+’s Wonder Man, which as previously mentioned, also wasn’t discussed at Comic-Con.

  • REPORT: Fox Contracts Delaying the X-Men’s MCU Introduction

    REPORT: Fox Contracts Delaying the X-Men’s MCU Introduction

    In 2019, Disney officially completed its acquisition and merger with 20th Century Fox, one of the biggest such mergers in entertainment history. What many fans focused on, however, was the idea that Marvel Studios gained the live-action rights to many beloved characters from the Marvel universe, such as the X-Men and The Fantastic Four. Three years removed from the excitement, we’ve yet to really see much happen aside from X-Men ’97 being made, Deadpool 3 being green lit and Kamala Khan retconned as the MCU’s first mutant and it seems there may be a reason behind that.

    In a recent podcast at his Patreon, CInema Sangha, journalist Devin Faraci shared some information about the situation behind the scenes with the delayed introduction of the mutants in the MCU.

    Despite the introduction of mutants at the end of Ms. Marvel, there’s no mutants in Phase 5. I know why. I know why there’s no mutants. I know why this is going to take a while. There might be individual mutants, there might be other characters that show a certain interest. The reason why is the contractual situation with the original Fox stuff is going to be in effect until 2025. So, if they don’t want to use those actors, then they have to wait until that contract all expires.

    Devin Faraci

    It seems like fans are gonna have to wait a while to see quite a few of the big names that they’re looking forward to seeing pop up in the MCU. The problem seems to be that some of the talent brought on by Fox have contracts that are still in effect and carried over following the acquisition of 20th Century. These actors cannot be recast until the contract concludes in 2025. This will most likely result in an X-Men likely not coming till 2026 once Phase 7 begins.

    If they’re going to have stuff hitting in 2025 at the end of the contract, then they’ll announce it. But I think they actually can’t go into production until the contract’s up. So it’s not even a release – it’s the same thing with Superman. So they’re going to be Phase 7. So you’re not going to see mutants until Phase 7. There are going to be mutants that will show up after the Multiverse Saga is over.

    Devin Faraci

    The Illuminerdi was able to back up this claim, saying that their own sources reported that Marvel Studios is holding off on the X-Men due to talent and producers still being contractually attached to anything regarding that group of characters. Feige and company obviously would like to move in a different direction with these characters following the films produced by Fox, and would like a fresh slate to revamp many that may have been mischaracterized and underutilized in the Fox era.

    For now, fans will just have to wait for X-Men ’97 to hit Disney+ next year to get their mutant fill.

    SOURCE: Illuminerdi

  • SDCC: Disney+ to Rearrange the Original 90s ‘X-Men: The Animated Series’ Episode Order

    SDCC: Disney+ to Rearrange the Original 90s ‘X-Men: The Animated Series’ Episode Order

    X-Men: The Animated Series is finally making its return with X-Men ’97, the first showcase during the San Diego Comic-Con panel also came with the reveal that they will finally rearrange the episode order of the original 90s series. As they werne’t in the correct order, rewatching them hasn’t been that easy and is now something people can look forward to.

    If you’re wondering when it’ll happen, it has seemingly already been done:

    Source: SDCC via Twitter

  • SDCC: First Look at ‘X-Men ’97’s Returning Main Cast

    SDCC: First Look at ‘X-Men ’97’s Returning Main Cast

    Since it was first announced, we’ve long waited for any hint on the upcoming X-Men ’97 reboot, which would see the iconic series from the 90s return. Marvel Studios has brought together a new team and the original voice cast to bring the franchise to life, and now San Diego Comic-Con has given us our first look at the character’s designs of the main cast.

    Source: SDCC via Twitter

  • New Report Hints at MCU’s X-Men Project ‘The Mutants’

    New Report Hints at MCU’s X-Men Project ‘The Mutants’

    Here’s a rather surprising little reveal but a new report by Deadline may have given away one of the upcoming Marvel projects. In the latest piece exploring what the San Diego Comic-Con may have in store for us, they reveal that we can expect a variety of sneak peeks, most notably of Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. Yet, the report also may have hinted at Marvel Studios’ first X–Men-focused project.

    They theorize that we might get some updates on films like Mahershala Ali’s film, which they seemingly title The Blade this time around, and next year’s Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3. The big reveal however is that they mention The Mutants, which was a title hinted at for the project quite some time ago back in March of 2021. Of course, it could also just be speculation that it’s heading our way but the name used adds a few questions in regards to what it might mean.

    There’s still no real confirmation on what exactly we can expect from Marvel Studios’ take on the iconic mutants, especially with Ms. Marvel revealing that the franchise’s latest additions are also a member of it. So, it’ll b interesting to see if they make any announcements during SDCC, but likely could be keeping that surprise for D23 if it ends up true. Whatever may end up happening, we do know for sure that the X-Men and mutants are heading our way.

    Source: Deadline, Comic Book

  • ‘Ms. Marvel’s Head Writer Reveals THAT Moment Wasn’t Always the Plan

    ‘Ms. Marvel’s Head Writer Reveals THAT Moment Wasn’t Always the Plan

    The final episode of Ms. Marvel has dropped and it’s time to talk about it. If you, however, want to remain unspoiled then only continue at your own risk.

    Marvel Studios has finally made a move in regards to the slow introduction of the mutants into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Ms. Marvel has been revealed to be the MCU’s first mutant with a nice nod and the iconic 90s theme from the animated series. As it turns out, however, this wasn’t always the plan from the get-go as head writer Bisha K. Ali revealed that it was something that was definitely a moving piece as they put the series together.

    It wasn’t from the beginning [of the show]. With Marvel, something’s always a moving piece, and we’re trying to solve this question of, ‘If any of [Kamala’s family] put the bangle on, would they have powers?’ The answer was always no, from a character perspective, no.

    Bisha K. Ali

    It’s interesting as the way it was hinted at was that they had this in the back of their minds while writing the project. They hinted that their plans were always to change their approach to the character to fit Kamala Khan in the bigger mythos being built around the MCU. We all just assumed that they may be actually setting something up in regards to her future appearance in The Marvels, but it definitely was a surprise that they went that direction. Some still believe that this is an erasure of the Inhumans, but with the recent appearance of Black Bolt, there are many opportunities to still tie her with the Royal Family in interesting ways.

    Source: Marvel

  • Iman Vellani Shares Her Excitement About THAT ‘Ms. Marvel’ Scene

    Iman Vellani Shares Her Excitement About THAT ‘Ms. Marvel’ Scene

    Spoiler ahead if you haven’t seen the final episode of Ms. Marvel yet. So, if you want to remain spoiler free, only continue at your own risk.

    The ending of Ms. Marvel did a lot. It felt like the perfect double-whammy as not only did we get the return of Brie Larson to the Marvel Cinematic Universe since her cameo in Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, but also the reveal of the first mutant in the MCU. Now, it wasn’t explicitly stated that she is a mutant but anyone that loves the X-Men: The Animated Series‘ theme would instantly make the combination with the word “Mutation.” In a way, it’s our first official acknowledgment of the team in the mainline MCU, and Iman Vellani shares how she freaked out when she found out.

    They sent me, and only me, the draft [of the final episode], and I immediately freaked out. I emailed Kevin Feige in all caps. I was like, are you doing this like for real? Are you sure? I’m so honored! I was like yelling at him through an email. I was freaking out. This is the biggest deal in the world, and the fact that it’s happening in our show is crazy. People are going to lose their minds. They’re going to lose everything. I did. It’s truly a really big deal.

    Iman Vellani

    We’re naturally left with more questions than answers. The X-Men‘s only confirmed future appearance is through the animated sequel series to the iconic 90s animated series. With the iconic theme song making a repeated return, perhaps they are part of this franchise after all and we’ll meet a very different team that’s always been there. Of course, we also saw that version of Professor X in Multiverse of Madness is part of another dimension. So, they kind of paid tribute to it while also keeping the door open. Perhaps SDCC has some answers for us soon.

    Source. Marvel

  • Russo Brothers Praise Marvel Studios President of Putting the X-Men “Aside for a While”

    Russo Brothers Praise Marvel Studios President of Putting the X-Men “Aside for a While”

    Many have been wondering where exactly the X-Men are. There have been hints that they could get added to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as many looked to projects like WandaVision or Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness to set up their existence.

    Yet, Marvel has been playing coy and not rushing out their introduction. It’s also something that the Russo Brothers highly praised that Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige has been focusing on introducing other characters instead.

    That was one of my favorite comics growing up, Wolverine. One of my prized possessions is ‘Incredible Hulk 181,’ which was the first appearance of Wolverine. It’s an important part of my comic book collection. Wolverine being so essential to the X-Men, of course, that would be a fun project to work on and find a new way into it. But I do think that’s probably something that Kevin has rightfully put aside for a while to introduce some new characters to the world and bring that back when it’s ready.

    Russo Brothers

    It makes sense as the X-Men are an already well-established franchise due to 20th Century Fox’s time with them. While many were hit or miss, it still produced some iconic Marvel entries. So, it’s also a challenge to reintroduce these characters without ignoring their legacy.

    Russo Brothers have proven they have a way of handling massive casts of characters, which is why they have been considered as the right choice for a revival. Yet, many would also like to see their return to the Avengers franchise. Perhaps the upcoming events might clue us in on Marvel Studios’ future plans.

    Source: Twitter via FandomWire

  • 7 Years Later: A Look Back at Bobby Drake’s Coming Out

    7 Years Later: A Look Back at Bobby Drake’s Coming Out

    It’s been 7 years since Marvel Comics made the decision to have Iceman, one of the most iconic original X-Men characters, come out as gay. As a gay man who understands the impact of proper mass media representation of minority communities, this was a big deal for me. The X-Men comics have always been an allegory for marginalized and oppressed communities, so all of these characters’ stories have helped me learn how to face the same type of discrimination and bigotry in the real world. When it was announced in 2015 that we would see Iceman coming out of the closet, I was so excited about the potential to show general audiences an authentic gay character through a name they would recognize. Now that it’s been years since the announcement, we can reflect on how the character has developed and how well Marvel has represented the gay community through this character.

    First, a little context. In Brian Michael Bendis‘ 2012 The All-New X-Men, the young versions of the original 5 X-Men were sent to the present by Beast to attempt to change how some of the older versions of themselves had turned out. This resulted in normally aged adult versions of the X-Men interacting with the teenage versions of the original members in our modern time. It was at this point that Marvel decided to reveal the teenage version of Iceman as a gay man.

    The backlash was predictable: “Why change a character that’s been around forever?” “But Iceman has been with women in the past!” “They’re shoving the gay agenda down our throats.” The only thing I’m going to address with the homophobia surrounding this character coming out (besides that hatred is obviously wrong) is that bigots should really avoid the “down our throat” analogy when it comes to criticizing gay content. It just makes us giggle.

    The All-New X-Men #40

    Marvel created a major problem by robbing Bobby of his agency with the way they handled his coming out. Long story short, in issue #40, teenage Jean Grey reads some of Bobby’s thoughts without permission and discovers he’s gay. After this brazen invasion of privacy, she confronts him after he makes an objectifying comment about Magik, literally dragging him out of the closet. Setting aside the fantastical concept of telepathy, it is never okay to force someone out of the closet. Instead of pulling Bobby aside to corner him about the gay thoughts she spied on and forcing him to admit he was gay, Jean Grey should have been ashamed of violating his privacy and respected his decision not to tell anyone. As someone who was forced into the closet at age 12, I can confirm that there are an infinite number of reasons why someone would choose to stay there. Coming out of the closet is a moment that the person themselves decides to admit to everyone that matters to them (including themselves) that they’re gay, and it is no one else’s business how or when that happens. In this regard, Marvel really messed up with Iceman’s coming out story.

    A year after young Bobby was forced out of the closet by Jean, Marvel used the older version of Iceman to portray the struggle some gay people face with the internalized homophobia that comes with living a long time in the closet. They addressed his previous relationships with women, which we gays would call a “beard” because being in a heterosexual relationship is part of the mask we wear to hide our sexuality. In 2015’s Extraordinary X-Men #6, Old Iceman has a great conversation with Anole, a younger gay mutant. He explains to Anole how much he admires the Young Iceman’s bravery to live out of the closet after he had lived his own life making the opposite choice. Old Iceman tells Anole that he chose to come out to him now because he figured Anole “already dealt with the stuff I’m grappling with now.” This was a great example of how coming out happens differently for each of us, and how a younger openly gay person can be a role model for older people still struggling to come out.

    Extraordinary X-Men #6

    Since the initial debacle with young Bobby’s coming out, Marvel has taken steps to listen to gay fans about telling more authentic representations of gay stories. Iceman has had two solo comic book runs that have explored his life as an out gay man, and the stories seem to have struck a good balance between his personal life and his duties as a superhero. My favorite place to find Iceman outside of his solo books is in The Marauders as he sails the sea under the Red Queen Kate Pride. The storyline has really brought him back to his roots as a wise-cracking Omega-level mutant without ignoring the progress the character has made.

    I can definitively conclude that, seven years after Iceman was revealed to be a gay character, and despite some of the missteps along the way, Marvel has done a great service to the gay community by giving us more mass media representation through the character of Iceman. His storyline is a great example of how being gay is not the same experience for all gay people in many ways. Marvel has also done a wonderful job showing how being gay isn’t at all the only aspect of life that’s important to a gay person. Iceman has become a truly spectacular representation of the gay community and I’m excited to see where the comics take his story next!

    #HappyPrideMonth

  • X Characters That Must Be Part of the MCU’s X-Projects

    X Characters That Must Be Part of the MCU’s X-Projects

    When Disney acquired the live-action right to the X-Men in the merger with Fox, they handed Marvel Studios a gold mine of characters that could support their own cinematic universe for decades. As Kevin Feige and the Marvel Studios Parliament patiently plan their strategy for introducing The Mutants into the MCU, here are 10 characters whose stories could prove incredibly interesting and valuable over the long run.

    Apocalypse

    Most of the characters on this list haven’t appeared on the big screen yet (and to be honest, you could really make an argument that this character never did either), but among the very long list of characters done wrong by Fox, Apocalypse stands out as a giant. One of the world’s first known mutants, Apocalypse personified both the struggle faced by mutants and the idea that survival was only for those most fit. His character received a thrilling retcon recently, courtesy of Jonathan Hickman, and while not everything Hickman writes is easily adaptable to the screen, his retcon of En Sabah Nur provided, maybe for the first time, a glimpse of how to allow audiences to really empathize with the character. If the MCU reboot can pick adapt the history of Hickman’s Okkara, it would provide an entirely different look at the character from what we’ve seen. Apocalypse deserves a major role in any X-franchise reboot rather than the poorly done one-off that Fox gave him. Marvel’s access to Disney Plus can really help Apocalypse out in this way, allowing the character to grow and weave in and out of multiple projects.

    Christopher Summers

    A luxury Marvel Studios will have at its disposal that Fox did not is a self-owned streaming service. The X-world is MASSIVE and Fox chose to only focus on a very, very small portion of it. Marvel Studios is certain to have a team of X-Men, but it’s almost equally as certain that they will explore some of the many other corners left unexplored by Fox. Being able to use Disney Plus to introduce some characters who might not draw huge audiences to the theater will serve the studio well in that regard. Should Marvel Studios choose to make the decision to put the Summers family at the center of their reboot (a choice that can really pay off over the course of several years), one such character whose wild adventures would be worth following is Christopher Summers, aka Corsair, the leader of the Starjammers. Starting off the main X-Men franchise with an introduction to the father of Scott, Alex and Gabriel Summers and immediately introducing the Shi’ar Empire (one of Marvel Comics’ greatest alien races) gives the studios a footprint on which to expand on in two different worlds. Thankfully, Fox stayed away from Corsair and the Shi’ar, allowing for Marvel to cash in on some characters that are as sure of a thing as they have in their stable. Put Corsair at the center of the early days of the MCU reboot and you won’t be sorry.

    Cypher

    Doug Ramsey, mutant name Cypher, was first introduced fairly early on during Chris Claremont’s run on New Mutants. Cypher’s mutant gifts allow him to subconsciously understand any and all languages. As is the case with many characters over the years, as different writers have taken on projects, they imagine new ways for the characters’ powers to manifest. In this way, Cypher has become increasingly more interesting and powerful. Jonathan Hickman placed Cypher front and center in his Dawn of X era as he was able to communicate with Krakoa, the sentient island inhabited by the mutants. Cypher also has a fantastic relationship with the techno-organic alien Warlock, a character who COULD make as big of a splash win fans as Groot first did. Unlike the Fox films, the MCU is very likely to feature some of the X-Men’s cosmic adventures, making a spot for Cypher all but mandatory.

    Destiny

    One of the most powerful precogs in all of Marvel Comics, Destiny has played a major role in X-books over the last few years and seems…destined…to continue to do so. Following a classic archetype, Destiny lost her vision in her early teens as her ability to see the future grew. Fox’s X-films chose to focus heavily on Destiny’s long-time lover, Mystique, but strangely never included Destiny, who, with Mystique, reorganized the terrorist organization the Brotherhood of Mutants. In the comics, mutants have seen more than their fair share of major events, from the rise of Apocalypse to M-Day and even the Dawn of X…and Destiny foresaw them all. A powerful precog with an ever-changing agenda seems like a character who could serve as a wonderful wild card as Marvel Studios brings the mutants to their shared universe.

    Forge

    Forge’s mutant abilities made him a powerful technopath, but it’s his genius as an inventor that makes him truly fascinating…that and the fact that he’s also a pretty skilled sorcerer to boot. Raised in a Cheyenne tribe, the man known only as Forge has one the absolute wildest histories of any mutant. He’s served in the military, developed weapons for the Department of Defense (including one of the most devastating anti-mutant weapons ever created) and, over time, turned himself into a cyborg. Everything about Forge converges to make him exactly the type of character fans have come to expect to see in MCU properties. He should be front and center of the first wave of mutant projects developed by Marvel Studios.

    Kitty Pryde

    Kitty Pryde, played by Elliot Page in a pair of Fox’s X-films, is among the most tragically misused characters under Fox’s watch. Although the character got a bit of redemption in
    X-Men: Days of Future Past, the studio never came near to exploring the full potential of Shadowcat. A member of the main X-Men team, Excalibur and, more recently the leader of the Marauders and part of the Quiet Council that serves as the governing body of Krakoa, Pryde deserves to be at the forefront of Marvel Studios’ efforts. Given the complexity of her character and the multiple audiences to whom she would appeal, Pryde should be one of the building blocks of this iteration of the mutants’ story (and I’m told Kevin Feige is a big fan).

    Lilandra Neramani

    If the MCU is going to space with these mutants, they must include the Shi’ar Empire. And that means they must include Lilandra Neramani. In this regard, Kevin Feige and the Marvel Studios Parliament would do well to learn from X-Men: The Animated Series which saw Lilandra and the Shi’ar figure prominently into one of the show’s best arcs. The dynamics of the Neramani family are absolutely fascinating in the comics and could make for a wonderful Game of Thrones-style project on their own and their story could be sprinkled into a few X-projects before taking center stage. Of course, Lilandra’s love affair with Professor X is one of the great landmark events of Charles’ life and could provide ready-made drama to the MCU’s mutants fairly early on. Her presence in Charles’ life would also allow for an entirely different side of his character to be explored than was ever done in Fox’s films.

    Madrox(es)

    Like Kitty Pryde, Madrox has already been done in live-action; however, also like Kitty Pryde, Madrox has never REALLY been done in live-action. Unlike most other mutants, Multiple Man’s mutant powers began to work immediately after his birth, with his first dupe popping out when the doctor smacked his ass to get that first cry. Marvel Studios will almost certainly take advantage of the multiple X-teams that have appeared in the books over the years and as far as telling a great Madrox story goes, that should mean adapting Peter David’s X-Factor. One of the greatest works of one of Marvel Comics’ all-time great writers, X-Factor totally reimagined the original purpose of the X-Factor team and follows Madrox and a team of mutants as they open up X-Factor Investigations. Though it may take a while to get to a point in their story where this arc fits well, this story, with Madrox at the center (and left…and right) is one that MUST be adapted to the screen, whether big or small.

    Selene

    One of the first mutants to make her way into recorded history, Selene Gallio’s personal history alone makes her a must for Marvel Studios’ mutant tales. However, her connection to the Externals, a group of supremely powerful immortal mutants that includes Apocalypse, could allow Marvel Studios to put a mutie-spin on a classic fantasy franchise: Highlander. Marvel Studios could adapt a mini-arc that kicked off in Jeph Loeb’s X-Force run and see Selene and the other Externals hunt, kill and absorb the life force of one another. If they land the right actress for the role, a Selene solo-series could serve as the de facto History of the MCU project, something ETERNALS should have done better, and introduce the Externals.

    Vulcan

    Should Marvel Studios decide to put the Summers’ family at the center of their MCU mutant franchise, they’ll have the opportunity to introduce the most powerful and craziest of the Summers’ brothers: Gabriel. Gabriel’s origins are horrifying and, as he grew in power, he did some horrifying things. Introducing his father early on allows for Gabriel (and his brothers) to take some time to develop and while Gabe can be a part of some pretty cool stuff early on, he could be the gateway character to Marvel Studios adapting one of its greatest Cosmic crossover events: War of Kings. Marvel Studios has shown it’s willingness to be patient and play the long game. Introducing Vulcan early on allows them to do that with a huge payoff looming at the end.