Ever since Disney bought Fox in 2019, the MCU and the X-Men have had a long-running “will-they-or-won’t-they” dynamic. WandaVision introduced Evan Peters as a “recast” Pietro, but he wasn’t really him, just a brainwashed actor. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness introduced its own mutants — and brought back Sir Patrick Stewart as Professor Charles Xavier — but they existed in a different universe. Next, Deadpool & Wolverine and the upcoming Fantastic Four movie will make the merger official.
But it’s all leading up to the inevitable: a standalone X-Men movie set within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Now, there’s an update on the movie: the first signs of life in what is sure to be a huge MCU event.
Deadline reports that Hunger Games: Songbirds and Snakes screenwriter Michael Lesslie is in negotiations to write the upcoming movie. X-Men was reportedly a major focus for Marvel Studios once the writer’s strike ended last fall, but it still apparently took nearly eight months to find the right scribe for the high-profile script.
Lesslie has experience with franchises and adaptation (if an uneven track record, at best). Beyond the recent Hunger Games prequel movie, he co-wrote both the Assassin’s Creed movie (starring Michael Fassbinder) and the 2015 adaptation of Macbeth (also starring Michael Fassbinder).
If you’re noticing a pattern here, you’re not alone. So should we expect Michael Fassbinder to reprise his role as Magneto in the upcoming X-Men movie? Probably not, but it feels slightly more likely with Lesslie onboard.
The bigger takeaway is that Lesslie feels like a safe move for the struggling MCU. The screenwriter has a short resume but the journeyman credentials required for a massive undertaking like this. It’s unlikely he’ll be the only writer assigned to the project (he seems to prefer working in a group anyway), but it could signal a more traditional approach to this next chapter. After all, introducing the X-Men in such a big way is a bold enough swing on its own without also hiring a screenwriter with a more distinct voice.
This is what the MCU has been building up to for five years, and now it’s finally coming to fruition. But does a standalone X-Men movie have the potential to become the Endgame-level event the MCU has so desperately needed? With the right script, director, and cast involved, this might just be the shot in the arm the studio needs.
