Marvel News

Mikey Sutton is reporting the MCU is discussing a Wolverine vs Hulk film--this would echo a desire Anthony Russo mentioned years ago (he owns the former's first appearance in 1974, where the two characters battle). If this is true, it fits my idea of how the X-Men will be introduced in the MCU (gradually). Sutton says the idea is that they will use the Immortal Hulk-version (which I know very little about)--he then gave Tim (of LotLB) the rest of his scoop (apparently verified by Tim's source): "Hulk" won't be used in the title (due to the rights Universal has); the story is Hulk gets sent to retrieve Wolverine from Canada, who is also being sought by Alpha Flight. This would echo both the first appearance of Wolverine as well as Alpha Flight's first interaction with the X-Men. I have my doubts about this, but I love the idea.

Charles Murphy has offered an updated production slate for the Disney+ shows:
October - Falcon and the Winter Soldier
November - WandaVision
First half of 2020 - Loki (Discussing Film claims January 28th)
Second half of 2020 - Hawkeye

I suspect DF's early Loki claim is correct and that Hawkeye will begin not long after, given both the content requirements for Disney+ and the comparative filming schedule of the other shows (the filming of the first two overlaps and I suspect that will be the norm for MCU shows).

Speaking of Hawkeye, Variety is reporting that Hailee Steinfeld has been offered the role of Kate Bishop. This is spot-on casting if correct (as in, she looks like her comicbook counterpart), unlike the utterly random casting for The Eternals (which mimics Guardians of the Galaxy in that respect). I haven't seen her perform much, but I think she's a solid choice. The show has also named Jonthan Igla as the showrunner.

We have our first 4chan rumour in quite some time (by that I mean one getting some buzz). These are the claims (quoting it directly):

• Black Widow’s father is played by Ray Winstone. Isabela Moner plays a new KGB recruit, mentored by David Harbour’s Red Guardian. [Variety reported on Winstone's involvement back in June, but his role hasn't been officially announced; Moner's involvement hasn't been confirmed anywhere that I can find.]
• The main plot of Eternals is Black Knight and Sersi’s relationship. Adam Scott and Brendan Gleeson are cast as Eros and Zuras. [The plot matches what both Variety and THR reported last September, but as yet we have no casting announcements for the other referenced characters]
• Shang Chi and The Legend of The Ten Rings is set before Endgame but after Infinity War. Little to no connection to the MCU besides the Ten Rings. Steven Yuen, Kelly Marie Tran, BD Wong, Jamie Chung, and Donnie Yen are being offered roles. [This is quite vague and we've heard nothing about the story (why would it be a prequel?)--the only rumour comes from the unverified Reddit scooper TMSM back in June, who claimed David Callahan's initial script was considered dull--lacking humour and the usual MCU references--so was being fixed--there's no independent confirmation of that from anyone else, however, unlike the emergency fix of Jac Schaeffer's Black Widow script via Ned Benson]
• Doctor Strange into the Multiverse features the return of The Ancient One and Quicksilver. David Tennant is the studio’s number one choice for Nightmare [Back in December Roger Wardell said the former would be returning; rumours about Quicksilver's return have been floating around since before Infinity War, but this is one of the few to put him in this film--LotLB seems to imply the same]
• Spider Man 3 was planned to come out in July 2021 before the Sony/Marvel deal fell apart [This isn't a scoop--it fits the Sony release schedule]
• Thor: Love And Thunder takes place 95% in space. Peter Dinklage returns as Eitri. Chris Pratt has a small appearance as Quill. Taika Waititi wants Ryan Gosling and Finn Wolfhard for roles in the film. [The space element seems like a given, but I haven't heard these specific rumours before]
• Fantastic Four is the February 2022 film [plausible and a fairly common supposition]
• Black Panther 2 is about Namor taking over Wakanda. Micheal B Jordan has a minor role as Kilmonger [This is a pretty common rumour]
• Guardians of The Galaxy Vol.3 is set to be released in July 2022. Lucas Till, Dacre Montgomery, and Zac Efron all met with James Gunn about playing Adam Warlock; Mark Hamill is in the film as The High Evolutionary [I've heard about Hamill's possible involvement before, if not specifically attached to that character, who was put on the board by Wardell back in May; the date for the film is also a very common guess]
• Blade and Captain Marvel 2 are set for 2023 [Both are plausible]
• The X-Men reboot is a high priority for Disney, with them wanting it to be released no later than 2023 [Again, plausible]
• Feige has met with Ewan McGregor, Millie Bobby Brown, Keanu Reeves, Himesh Patel, Collin Farrell, Jessica Chastain, and Henry Cavill for future MCU roles [I mean, sure? Maybe he has--I don't really get excited about casting rumours until I know what roles they are for]

One of the criticisms of this post is that it looks like someone's wish list, which it could be--its veracity is going to be easy to judge as final casting announcements for The Eternals should be coming soon.

Daniel is reporting Power Pack is coming to Disney+, a scoop Charles Murphy promptly claimed for himself through comments he made in 2017, but I think he can leave the champagne on ice as his claim was that it would be a film, which is not what Daniel is claiming (that idea, while undoubtedly sourced, doesn't move the needle much from Feige wanting to make a film all the way back in 2005). The last serious rumour we had about it was from Wardell (same link) in December, which said it was going to be a show (Conrad copy/pasted this subsequently; LotLB jumped in on the idea in August). What do I make of all this scoop spaghetti? Wardell has it--while I believe that Murphy heard about film discussions, Wardell actually put it on Disney+.

Fandom Wire reported that Disney is cutting out all the X-Men ties in Fox's New Mutants in case Feige ever wants to canonize the film as part of the MCU (something I doubt, despite a good cast). Conrad disagrees with this (as do I) and he presents good reasoning for it:

[D]ue [to] it still being a Fox production and the Fox producers would then receive a credit on any future MCU movie where these characters appeared. That’s unlikely something Feige would want to happen

There's really no reason for Feige to want add the film into the MCU--what would be the point? A better question is why Disney is insisting on dumping the dead letter into theaters--the worst case scenario is that fans like the film, delaying (even further) ever seeing that IP properly. They should simply spike the film, but it seems like the bean counters simply can't help themselves and like Dark Phoenix want money to help balance the books.

I wanted to reflect briefly on the Ms. Marvel rumours prior to the Disney+ announcement. While Feige confirmed in an interview last year that Kamala Khan was coming eventually, the first specifics came from Wardell in December who said a show was being heavily discussed. Then in June Mindy Kaling talked about her, indicating she'd have a show (comments she walked back, but I think that was to allow the MCU to make the official announcement). I'm going through this just to establish purveyance of information.

WGTC claims a Magneto Disney+ show is being discussed--they say this claim comes from the same source that gave them the She-Hulk scoop (below), so we'll have to watch and wait to see if this one also comes to fruition. Keep in mind WGTC isn't afraid to make things up and will post virtually anything, so I've included this only because of how they've sourced it.

Speaking of WGTC, Conrad is recycling their rumour from March that Doctor Doom won't be the initial villain in Fantastic Four. The rumour makes perfect sense since Doom has been used in the prior films, but once again Conrad doesn't attribute where the information comes from. The most recent Doom rumour was from LotLB, who claimed the MCU was eyeing Viggo Mortensen for the role.

The LotLB Assessment

I started keeping tabs on Tim in June and after a few months I thought it would be worthwhile to follow the threads of his various rumours. Those definitively disproved are in red, those that seem true are in green, those likely to be false are in yellow, and those partially or likely true are in purple:

June

• Fantastic Four and X-Men will be announced at SDCC - both were referenced at the event, which I think is close enough in terms of validating it
• David Harbour's character in Black Widow is Ben Grimm - utterly false and a bizarre idea given the timing
• A Nova film is coming - undetermined
• An A-Force film is coming - undetermined
• Modok will be the villain in Captain Marvel 2 - this seems impossible given that he's in an animated Hulu series, but we can't count it out until we know more about the film
• Avengers 5 will be Avengers vs X-Men - undetermined (they repeated a version of this rumour in August, but seem to make it interchangeable with Hickman's Secret Wars for reasons that aren't clear to me--he subsequently said it will have Annihilation with Galactus as a mid-point)
• Norman Osborn won't be a main MCU antagonist because Sony owns the IP - currently valid and this prediction (while matching my own) went against the conventional wisdom at the time
• The acquisition of the Fox IP moved the MCU away from making Thunderbolts and Dark Avengers films - unknown (also a bit strange, as Tim has said before that Feige doesn't want to make films about villains)--they flipped on this in regards to the Thunderbolts in September (see below)
• Dwayne Johnson is in negotiations to play Namor - undetermined
• Venom will be in Spider-Man 3 - undetermined
• Angela will be in Thor 4 - this seems very improbable, not just because Hela borrowed some of her characteristics in Ragnarok, but due to her costume and the fact that the script hadn't even been started at this point

July (1)

• Omega Red will be the villain for the Black Widow sequel - undetermined (it hasn't been written yet)
• US Agent will be in Falcon and the Winter Soldier and be played by Henry Cavill - they botched this prediction even more below, but the general idea is correct
• Peter David's X-Factor will be on Hulu - they updated this prediction below, but in both cases it's undetermined
• Werewolf by Night will be on Hulu - they got the character correct (if GWW is to be believed), but he's appearing on Disney+ in another character's show
• A Western-themed show will spin off Ghostrider on Hulu - undetermined

July (2)

• Luke Cage (Mike Colter) will cameo in Black Panther 2 - this is preposterous
• Storm will cameo in Black Panther 2 - undetermined
• There are discussions to have Marvel Zombies on Hulu - they will be in What If? on Disney+
• White Tiger will be in Shang-Chi - undetermined (although it seems unlikely if the model for the film is Black Panther, ie, dominated by Asian characters)
• Young Avengers will be announced at SDCC - this did not happen

July (3)

• Conrad's idea of Daredevil appearing in Spider-Man is impossible - this is just a basic fact, but credit for calling it out
• A She-Hulk Disney+ show is coming - verified at D23; WGTC put out this rumour in April (claiming it's intended to have Ruffalo hand the role over to whoever plays She-Hulk, which is something we can't verify or deny yet); the fact that Tim hasn't added the bracketed information suggests his source is not their source
• Said She-Hulk would appear in Spider-Man 3 after her show - this was logistically impossible in the first place and unlikely to happen regardless--although he believes the film will be in Phase Five (see below), and if that were to occur this sequence could as well (not that I think it will)
• Machine Man is coming - undetermined
• Hercules will be in Thor 4 - undetermined (but plausible enough)
• Sony was putting Venom 2 on hold to help negotiations with Marvel to incorporate him into the MCU - this clearly was not the case
• Richard Rushfield's claim that a billion dollars for Far From Home meant another MCU Spider-Man film was false - true
• Viggo Mortensen is being considered for Doctor Doom - undetermined
• Kraven is being considered for Black Panther 2 (as a Wakandan) - this is almost certainly false given Sony's plans for a Kraven-film
• Moon Knight is coming as either a film or Disney+ show - the latter was confirmed at D23; they updated this rumour to have the show on Hulu below

July (4)

• There will be an Agents of SWORD show on Hulu that will feature some of the characters from Agents of SHIELD - undetermined, but I find this idea unlikely
• Keanu Reeves wants to play either Adam Warlock or Moon Knight - undetermined, but neither seems like a good fit (Reeves is simply too old for either role)

August (1)

• MCU is planning it's next three-phase arc which will end in a version of Jonathan Hickman's Secret Wars - undetermined
• Fin Fang Foom will be in Shang-Chi - undetermined
• The Manderin will have a cameo in Doctor Strange 2 - undetermined
• Feige has rejected using Peyton Reed's old [1960s setting] Fantastic Four script - almost certainly true
• The Herald of Galactus will be Frankie Raye's Nova - undetermined; this prediction was inspired to refute Conrad's rumour that it would be Tyrant (I think both are guessing)
• Nick Fury will train Nova - undetermined
• Iron Heart will be in Phase Six - undetermined, but I doubt Phase Six is on the board yet
• Power Pack will be on Disney+ - undetermined (but see above)
• Spider-Man 3 will be in Phase Five and will feature Kraven - even with an agreement with Sony this seems unlikely, but the villain has been hinted at by Sony
• US Agent will be on Hulu rather than Disney+ - this was a bizarre change to their earlier (more accurate) rumour
• Korvac won't be appearing any time soon - undetermined (this seemed to be a shot at the rumours--from TMSM among others--that were floating around at the time)
• Kamala Khan will appear in Captain Marvel 2 and she'll have a show which ABC wants - unknown, but likely; while the show idea is correct, they put it on the wrong network (whether ABC wanted it or not isn't clear--the clarification that they wanted it rather than it definitively appearing was in the next set of rumours, Tim again struggles to separate Marvel Entertainment with the MCU as Feige had already staked his claim to the character last year at the latest)
• Obnoxio the Clown will appear on Hulu - undetermined

August (2)

• Peyton Reed is in talks to direct Fantastic Four - undetermined (Reed would undoubtedly want the project, but I have no idea why the MCU would want him to have it)
• There will be a lot of Hickman in Phase Four - undetermined (but unlikely given the properties being used thus far)
• Deadpool will have a post-credit scene in Black Widow - undetermined, but by far their most specific prediction
• Brother Voodoo and an Asian-Clea will appear in Doctor Strange 2 and have their own show called Strange Tales - undetermined, but this echoes an old Wardell rumour with an added TV-show elememt
• Giancarlo Esposito is up for the role of Dracula in Blade - undetermined, but seems to be in reaction to Conrad's ridiculous (and stolen from GWW) idea that he would be Norman Osborn
• The MCU has reserved Puck, Pip the Troll, Moondragon, and the Gibbon for their use - undetermined, but I frankly don't believe the latter
• Feige will produce Venom 3 - at the moment this is impossible
• A New Mutants show will be on Disney+ - undetermined
• A War Machine show is coming on Disney+ - undetermined (echoing a 4chan rumour from January)
• An original Human Torch show is being discussed for Disney+ with Chris Evans (!) in the role - undetermined, but the casting idea is ridiculous
• Want a Peggy Carter show that includes Evans that would show their time together - undetermined, but a terrible idea and I find it hard to credit
• Negotiations are occurring with [73-year old] Sylvester Stallone for a Guardians 3000 show - undetermined, but given his age seems unlikely
• Man-Thing and Moon Knight are coming to Hulu - undetermined
• Scarecrow and Orb will appear on Ghostrider - undetermined
• Quake will be on Agents of SWORD - undetermined
• The Netflix characters, with the same cast, will be placed on FX when their rights return - undetermined, although the cast idea seems preposterous

August (3)

• Says Marvel Entertainment (Jeph Loeb/Ike Perlmutter) and Marvel Studios (Kevin Feige) are now cooperating and that it's all connected - almost certainly false; what's really strange about this is when Tim does spec lists he seems to understand the two are different (eg the first September link below), but gets confused when he does scoops
• There are plans for a six-picture Spider-Man deal if an agreement is reached with Sony - undetermined (surely Disney pitched some sort of plan to Sony)
• Quicksilver will return from another universe with the same actor if he wants to return - undetermined
• An actor is auditioning for Nova - undetermined

August (4)

• A new deal with Sony is close - undetermined
• Captain Britain and Excalibur are coming, with the team featuring the Black Knight - undetermined
• Red Hulk, Abomination, and the Leader will appear in She-Hulk - undetermined
• The Paladin will appear on Moon Knight, along with Doctor Strange and Nighthawk - undetermined
• Feige is considering turning the Fox Gambit film into a Disney+ show - undetermined, but I consider this extremely unlikely
• There will be a Nick Fury show on Disney+ - this echoed an old Conrad rumour that was debunked at the time, but that was long enough ago that I can't be completely certain that this reflects the same thing
• Gargoyle will debut on Hulu - undetermined

September (1) Spec List
Slightly different topic: Tim claims these characters are reserved for the MCU (those for film are starred (*)); it's not clear what Tim means by those reserved for TV as he says streaming which could mean MCU or the Jeph Loeb abyss:

• *Thor Corps is being reserved for the MCU - my guess, if this is true, is that it's related to Hickman's Secret Wars (where they appeared)
• *Shanna the She-Devil (they've referenced this idea before) - for those who don't know she's associated with the Savage Lands (which has connections with X-Men); she does not look like Feige material to me (the outfit), but Tim specifically said Feige wants to use the Savage Land and I hope he does
• Spider-Girl (they are aware that Sony owns the movie rights)
• Nightwatch (another Sony IP) - Tim seems unaware that Sony announced plans for a film way back in 2017 (although there's been no movement on it since then that I'm aware of)
• Multiple Man - this echoes the above as Fox put this in development in 2017 with James Franco attached, but we know the MCU killed that specific version of the property--if his speculation is accurate this is has to be unrelated, as the Fox announcement didn't spark speculators at all (made clear by the prices attached to his first appearance)
• The Sentry - there are old rumours about him, but they predate my thorough MCU-coverage so I can't relate Tim's to those
• Thunderbolts - there were a lot of rumours about the property (and see below), with the only serious one coming from Wardell in December where he claimed Marvel had big plans for them--nothing credible has come since (if this is accurate and it's MCU-proper, I'd guess it's a Disney+ show, perhaps tying in with Ghost actress Hannah John-Kamen hinting the MCU wasn't done with her character--see below)

September (2)

• Clarified that his source ("The Black Knight") approached him in May; posting these scoops got Mikey Sutton in touch with Tim
• Thunderbolts coming to Disney+, which is interesting because previously Tim said that Feige doesn't like doing villain films
• Reiterated their old rumour that She-Hulk was originally going to be Peter Parker's lawyer in his third film, but that the MCU switched her to a series due to the impasse with Sony (I find this idea, echoed by Conrad, extremely unlikely); her antagonist is going to be Thundra

Current Score Card
Correct: 5
Partially/likely correct: 5
Incorrect: 11
Likely incorrect: 3

It's less than 50-50, which might sound like guessing, but this is far ahead of Jeremy Conrad's horrendous track record (eg). Some of the confusion above is due to what's coming from Tim's source and what's coming from Tim. What I think is that either Tim or his source make guesses based on collector speculation, but also lean on the rumour mill, meaning we have educated speculation mixed with amateur speculation. This creates a weird synthesis of information. What's not clear is if there's insider information here--nothing (yet) definitively says so.

A brief comment on what's coming up from DC. I never liked the idea of doing a detached, one-off film about the Joker. The more I hear (and see) about the film the more it seems like the name is being attached as a marketing ploy for an otherwise run-of-the-mill, award-bait Hollywood drama. The buzz surrounding it doesn't interest me--films like this always generate buzz and there's nothing critics would like more than a comicbook film that's not really a comicbook film (you can find innumerable videos and articles of critics complaining about the dominance the genre has over the industry). I've said it before and I'll say it again: what's fun about comicbook stories is their wider context--the characters inhabit a larger world and aren't drowning in the tedium of our reality. Fictional 'real world' drama, especially these days, is banal--in a world where a reality TV star has become president, what can you glean from something like this? Seeing the film could change my mind of course, but I highly doubt it.

Birds of Prey is a different animal. I hadn't heard much of anything about it since casting was announced last year. I don't know how much I can credit Grace Randolph's claim of extensive reshoots (Randolph's Marvel stuff is garbage, as her hatred for her former employer never fades, but she's better with DC). Nothing I've heard or seen has sounded remotely interesting about the film. The reports have it ripping off Deadpool 2, which is not the film in that series I'd be copying. They made a mistake in having a child actor (Ella Jay Basco) be part of the plot and the casting in general is mystifying (Rosie Perez can't act). None of this means it won't be successful--I suspect it will have a big opening and it might do well, but I'm not interested.

To sum up: the DCEU (or DC at the WB) is still a complete mess. Execs won't put someone in charge and it's creating complete chaos. I think the Snyder-verse was terrible, but at least it was consistent. What we have now is bubblegum films from James Wan (successful), David F. Sandberg (failure), generic award-bait (Todd Phillips), and...whatever Cathy Yan is doing. Comics have a broad range, but this is not how it works--not if you want your audience to follow the brand (both the MCU and DC on the CW have figured that out). A non-comicbook fan who loves the Phillips movie won't see any of the other DC-films--why would they? I think what Wan (and the edit of Suicide Squad) proved is that you can overcome a incoherent plot and mediocre writing with spectacle. Neither of those films made sense, but they made money and Wan's at least left people with a positive feeling--why DC doesn't just make that their brand and push forward is beyond me. As it stands the only project that interests me is the rebooted Batman, although it almost certainly won't follow the Wan model.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)

Revisiting Expectations for the MCU's X-Men

With Disney's purchase of Fox completed months ago, it's time for me to revisit how I think the MCU will adapt the X-Men. Unlike the Fantastic Four, whose prior films (Fox/Roger Corman) have been poor (therefore leaving no content out of bounds), Marvel has to contend with the Fox legacy. As a baseline for the MCU's approach our only hint is confirmation from Kevin Feige of my assumption that it will be very different from what's come before. Comments by Anthony Russo about wanting a Wolverine-film can be seen as suggestive, but not definitive (although the guy with three straight billion dollar films can, I think, write his own ticket).

My Background With the X-Men

My own history with the X-Men (my favourite comic) goes back to the 1980s, when I was introduced to them via the RPG Advanced Marvel Superheroes in 1987. I started buying the comic soon after (the first a much battered copy of #223) and continued to do so until late-1992 (leaving because of a decline in writing, my dislike of Jim Lee and Rob Liefeld's art style, and rising costs). At the time Marvel was fragmenting the popular group into innumerable comics, while also attempting to imitate Wolverine's success by creating characters just like him (or making older characters more like him). Prior to leaving I read the earlier Claremont run and while I was familiar with the Fox cartoon, I didn't care for it. Claremont's characters are my favourites, but his earlier stories are better than his endless mutant catastrophes towards the end. Wolverine and Rogue were my favourite characters.

The Fox Background

It's important to understand just how vital the X-Men were and are to Marvel comics--prior to the MCU they mattered much more than all the other IP besides Spider-Man (and I'd argue they were much bigger than he was in comic-terms). While Fox was never able to fully capitalize on this success (despite booming MCU business), that potential remains and Fox's accomplishments hint at the depths available. Here's what Fox did in twenty years of films (I've compared their performance to contemporary comicbook films of the time; I've also listed the executive in charge):

• X-Men (2000, Tom Rothman) 296.3 - Blade (1998) 131.2 (+155.1)
• X2: X-Men United (2003, Tom Rothman) 407.7 - Spider-Man (2002) 821.0 (-413.3)
• X-Men: The Last Stand (2006, Tom Rothman) 459.4 - Batman Begins (2005) 375.2 (+84.2)
• X-Men Origins: The Wolverine (2009, Tom Rothman) 373.1 - Iron Man (2008) 585.2 (-212.1)
• X-Men: First Class (2011, Tom Rothman) 353.6 - Thor (2011) 449.3 (-95.7)
• The Wolverine (2013, Jim Gianopulos) 414.8 - Iron Man 3 (2013) 1.215 (-800.2)
• X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014, Jim Gianopulos) 747.9 - Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) 773.3 (-25.4)
• X-Men: Apocalypse (2016, Jim Gianopulos) 543.9 - Captain America: Civil War (2016) 1.153 (-609.1)
• Logan (2017, Jim Gianopulos) 619.0 - Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017) 880.2 (-216.2)
• Dark Phoenix (2019, Jim Gianopulos) 252.4 - Spider-Man: Far From Home (2019)  1.124 (-871.6)

We can argue that the first four films were made in a different era, but as comicbook movies evolved Fox could not keep up--stubbornly sticking with old ideas (to the point of letting Simon Kinberg run the franchise into the ground twice). Outside of Days of Future Past and Logan, none of the second generation efforts performed well and the quality was wildly inconsistent despite (generally) excellent casts. In my opinion there are no great X-films, only good ones, but they are matched by truly awful movies.

On the executive side, even though Gianopulos replaced the fired Rothman (now at Sony, replacing the fired Amy Pascal, who is now at Universal), they were partners beforehand and thus the hand on the tiller didn't meaningfully change (Gianopulos, also fired, is now head of Paramount--executives rarely suffer due to failure). The one thing that changed after Rothman was there was less direct interference with the films, which is probably why those made after his departure are more varied (Rothman is the one who notoriously had Ryan Reynold's mouth sewn shut in Wolverine, as well as prevented his Deadpool from being made).

Character Screen Time (excluding Dark Phoenix)

One of the important things about both the comic and the cartoon versions of the X-Men is that they are an ensemble--it's not just one or two lead characters with a supporting cast, but a fully fleshed out group. This approach is something Fox never followed, deciding to focus on leads--largely Wolverine in the early films, then a trifecta of sorts subsequently. To illustrate the point I've listed the screen time for various characters below--there are a lot of names, so to make them stand out I've colour-coded the top-five characters of each era to make it clearer visually and for their transition between one phase and another to stand out (splitting the original trilogy from what came later). This is important as I believe it will factor into how the MCU approaches the property going forward (I've included a comparison of the second iteration to the first three team-up films from the MCU, The Avengers, Age of Ultron, and Civil War).

First Iteration (2000-06; Singer, Singer, Ratner)
Wolverine 81:15
Jean Grey 38:00

Magneto 37:45

Professor X 34:45

Rogue 29:15

Storm 28:45

Mystique 20:15

Cyclops 20:00

Iceman 16:45
Nightcrawler 9:30

Beast 7:45

Kitty Pryde 5:45
Colossus 3:00
Angel 2:45
Multiple Man 0:45
Psylocke 0:45

Second Iteration (2011-17; Vaughan, Singer, Singer)
Professor X 85:30 - Iron Man 96:45

Magneto 73:15 - Captain America 88:15

Mystique 51:45 - Black Widow 54:45
Beast 38:15 - Hulk 45:15
Wolverine 30:30 - Hawkeye 32:00

Havok 15:45 - Thor 31:15

Quicksilver 15:00 - Scarlet Witch 22:45

Jean Grey 15:00 - Bucky 22:00
Cyclops 12:45 - Loki 21:30

Storm 9:45 - Nick Fury 21:15

Banshee 8:15 - Vision 13:30

Nightcrawler 8:00 - Black Panther 11:30
Psylocke 6:00 - Falcon 11:00
Angel 6:00 - War Machine 9:45

Kitty Pryde 4:45 - Spider-Man 8:30

Iceman 3:00 - Ant-Man 5:30
Colossus 1:30
Sunspot 1:30

Combined (minimum 10 minutes)

Professor X 115:15

Wolverine 111:45

Magneto 111:00

Mystique 72:00

Jean Grey 53:00

Beast 46:00

Storm 38:30

Cyclops 32:45

Rogue 29:15

Iceman 19:45

Nightcrawler 17:30

Havok 15:45

Quicksilver 15:00

Kitty Pryde 10:30

This doesn't include 190:15 of screen time for Wolverine in his solo films (the third of which adds significantly to Professor X), the Deadpool-franchise (which always seemed very separate, but adds to a very different Colossus), or the screen time from Dark Phoenix (whose numbers I don't have yet, but would add much more to Jean Grey). The focus above is clear and despite six films most of the X-characters are left with little to no development. Even a character like Rogue, who was prominent early, is more of a composite including elements of Kitty Pryde and Jubilee.

This radical departure from the source material is something I think the MCU will avoid (as mentioned above, Feige has confirmed his version will be very different). It's also apparent, putting aside that most of the MCU characters were in other films prior to the team-ups, how much more effort was spent giving screen time to the supporting actors to let them breath (Ant-Man has a cameo in Civil War, but he carries with him the weight of his own movie, giving it depth--it also informs the events of his sequel). With that said, what does 'very different' mean? To discern that, let's look at what Fox gave us in terms of stories.

The Fox Stories

I take Feige's comments to mean we either won't see the stories used below or, if we do, they will be done very differently. Let's go through them chronologically:

• X-Men (David Hayter/Tom DeSanto/Bryan Singer) - largely an original story, although it borrows elements from the comics (including Stan Lee's original)--in a way it's the most distinctive Fox film ever made, but it's also the most easily ignored by the MCU (it serves primarily as a Fox origin for Wolverine, one they largely abandoned with his solo films--the Fox continuity being an unmitigated disaster)
• X2 (David Hayter/Zak Penn/Bryan Singer/Michael Dougherty/Dan Harris) - based on both God Loves, Man Kills (Claremont) and Return to Weapon X (Mark Millar's Ultimate X-Men run); the Claremont book was a non-canonical one-shot for two decades before its popularity convinced Marvel to integrate it into the canon--as such, it's pretty easy to ignore; Millar's Ultimate run isn't highly regarded and, as such, likely not fodder for the MCU despite Feige's general use of the Ulimates (eg Spider-Man)
• X-Men: The Last Stand (Simon Kinberg/Zak Penn) - based on both The Dark Phoenix Saga (Claremont) and Gifted (Whedon), the film is a sorry mess and didn't sully the legacy of either story--Whedon's idea isn't dependent on his comic run, so I don't think it (a mutant cure) is necessarily excluded because of the film, but it would be a scenario for much, much later
• X-Men Origins: Wolverine (David Benioff/Skip Woods/David Ayer [uncredited]) - Benioff was influenced by the 1982 Wolverine (Claremont) limited series, the laughable Weapon X (Windsor-Smith), and equally ridiculous Origins (Jemas, Quesada, and Jenkins)--hopefully the use of the latter two means we're safe from both regarding Wolverine (Marvel produced far too many explanations for his past, rather than sticking with Claremont's much more straightforward, but still mysterious, beginnings)
• X-Men: First Class (Ashley Edward Miller/Zack Stentz/Jane Goldman/Matthew Vaughn/Sheldon Turner/Bryan Singer) - loosely based on First Class (Parker); I'd like to think the adaptation ensures we'll never see the original X-Men as that team in the MCU or an origin set in the past
• The Wolverine (Mark Bomback/Scott Frank) - based on the 1982 Wolverine (Claremont) limited series (again!), this may eliminate the Mariko love story (or, at least, it coming about this way); I always thought Wolverine worked best out of a relationship (as a father figure to Kitty Pryde or wannabe lover of Jean Grey)
• X-Men: Days of Future Past (Simon Kinberg/Jane Goldman/Matthew Vaughn) - loosely based on Days of Future Past (Claremont/Byrne), but it may mean the MCU will avoid doing it (or, at least, in this way)
• X-Men: Apocalypse (Simon Kinberg/Bryan Singer/Michael Dougherty/Dan Harris) - loosely based on the Marvel crossover event Age of Apocalypse (nine writers), but enough so that I think we're mercifully saved from seeing this in the MCU
• Logan (Scott Frank/James Mangold/Michael Green) - inspired by Old Man Logan (Millar/McNiven); I don't think the MCU will ever get to this point--if it was ever used it would be What If? fodder
• Dark Phoenix (Simon Kinberg) - based loosely on The Dark Phoenix Saga (Claremont); despite the fact that both Dark Phoenix adaptations borrow very little from the source material, I think it removes it from the MCU for the conceivable future

What, ultimately, does this mean? At minimum none of the Singer aesthetic will appear (the black jumpsuits); no Old Man Logan or (hopefully) the overdeveloped Wolverine origin material. The following stories are likely out of bounds: The Dark Phoenix Saga; God Loves, Man Kills; Days of Future Past; First Class; and Age of Apocalypse. Two of the Claremont stories were either non-canon for a long time or an alternative history that never happened, so losing them isn't particularly impactful. Losing Dark Phoenix has much broader implications (see below), but fits with losing First Class. The 90s crossover that was Age of Apocalypse wasn't likely something Marvel would have done anyway (or, at least, in that fashion--not until Jonathan Hickman fixes it anyway, ala Infinity War).

Incidentally, there are some familiar names among the Fox writers to note: Zak Penn wrote the lamentable The Incredible Hulk as well as the script Joss Whedon threw away for The Avengers; Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz were writers on Thor; and David Hayter is notable simply because his 2004 Black Widow script was mistakenly taken as the current Black Widow script by a number of scoopers (Charles Murphy, Jeremy Conrad, and many others).

Choosing the Team

Lee/Kirby original (Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Angel)
The MCU has largely turned away from original iterations of characters beyond their aesthetic--they make homages to them, but that's about it (Guardians and Captain Marvel are the most obvious examples of this). Feige has always leaned on modern interpretations, while hearkening back to the older aesthetic. Added to these tendencies is that the original version of the X-Men were never particularly popular, requiring a reboot in the 70s to achieve the reverence they have now. For these reasons, and the fact that I think First Class and the whole Phoenix Saga is off the board, there's no chance we ever see this particular composition (unless there's an X-Factor film or show down the line). Beyond that, it should be pointed out that Beast, Iceman, and Angel weren't part of the X-Men team for most of their iconic stories--they are disconnected from the character development of key characters outside of Cyclops and Jean Grey. It should also be pointed out that the Phoenix Saga isn't dependent on the pair being original X-Men--the story would work just as well if they arrived to the group later.

I strongly believe what we will get is some version of Chris Claremont's characters (see below). Most of the most iconic X-Men stories and character development occurred during Claremont's run (also below) and those served as stepping stones to all later stories (as well being the basis of the popular cartoon). Given that, I think it's important to go through his various iterations of the team and consider them. For this process I'll ignore instances of characters who briefly join or leave, instead focusing on who the core members were. Beyond that I've taken a look at the cartoon and a few other teams that might hint at what's to come (Jonathan Hickman's current reboot isn't settled enough for me to include it).

Claremont's Original (1975-80; Cyclops, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Banshee)
Jumping off from Wein's introduction, this is the team that pushed the X-Men to the forefront of Marvel. While Banshee has remained a peripheral character since, all the others are iconic and continue to have relevance today. All of have appeared in the Fox productions, but the latter four received limited to negligible focus.

Second Iteration (1980-86; Wolverine, Storm, Colossus, Nightcrawler, Kitty Pryde; Rogue added in '83, Rachel Summers in '84)
The first version of Claremont's team that fully shed their Lee/Kirby holdovers (Jean Grey was dead for a time with both moving over to Bob Layton's X-Factor in 1986). With the possible exception of Rachel Summers (derived from Days of Future Past), the new additions are also iconic characters and received limited attention from Fox.

Third Iteration (1986; Wolverine, Storm, Rogue, Psylocke, Dazzler, Longshot)
It's at this time that Claremont was preparing for his spinoff series Excalibur (1988), a comic that would borrow Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler, and Rachel Summers from the X-Men. While both Dazzler and (to a lesser extent) Longshot have their fans (the former has already been dumped into the animated hell of the Jeph Loeb ghetto), only Psylocke became iconic, but that was after the later's transformation (Jim Lee turned her into scantily clad Wolverine-clone in 1989). The explosive popularity of the X-Men meant continued splintering of characters and during that time I think there's only one other important Claremont addition: Gambit (1990), yet another Wolverine-clone who nevertheless would develop a fan-important romance with Rogue (as well as appearing in the cartoon, see below).

The notable comic development in the 90s was the evolution of Emma Frost from villain to (sort of) hero (an arc fully explored by Whedon later); I don't think the MCU will ever touch her because of her outfit and sexual nature (Fox's two bungled attempts with her notwithstanding); beyond that was the appearance of the animated cartoon (1992-97), whose team was comprised of: Cyclops, Wolverine, Rogue, Jean Grey, Storm, Beast, Gambit, and Jubilee (introduced by Claremont in '89 as a Kitty Pryde replacement--I never thought much of her and she doesn't register very highly in fan favourite lists). The team was based on the 'Blue Team' of the early 90s (as in, the 1991 launched X-Men started by Claremont--after he left the dialogue was taken over by Byrne/Lobdell). The cartoon did a lot to popularize Gambit.

After a long decline in the 90s, lauded talents Grant Morrison (2001-04), Joss Whedon (2004-08), and Warren Ellis (2008-10) worked on the comic prior to Marvel Entertainment owner Ike Perlmutter ordering the team to be de-emphasized (furious that Fox was making money from the IP). The run is notable as much for the consistency of its roster as its substance: Cyclops, Emma Frost, Wolverine, Beast, Kitty Pryde, Colossus, and Armor (Ellis would trim it down and add Storm). I go more into the resonance of the stories below--none of the characters invented since Claremont seem to have impacted the public much--they don't appear on popularity lists.

While there's a lot of character variation above, much of the core team stays the same and I believe from it we can look at those most likely to form our MCU-team. I have put a star (*) next to those featured in the animated series; those in green I feel sure will appear, those in red will not.

Wolverine*
We know he has a spot at the table (and not just because of the Russo's comments above), albeit with a new actor in the role (50-year old Hugh Jackman is done). Despite his heavy use by Fox, he's far too popular and important to ignore (and leads to things like X-23). Because of how he was used by Fox, I think we can expect him to have a lighter tone (early Claremont being the template) and steer clear of the origin stories Fox used--we can hope for the comic-accurate Alpha Flight origin. It's not clear if the MCU would begin with a solo film before he joins the X-Men (I'd favour a gradual build-up to the team-up). He has more than enough substance for an arc that begins with the Weapon X program, transitions to Alpha Flight, his encounter with the Hulk, and then becoming a (somewhat reluctant) X-Men. While Fox featured the Weapon X stuff, they used later material and for the MCU that can simply be background (indeed, I think showing it too much would be a mistake). He could debut in someone else's film as an antagonist (ala Winter Soldier), have his own origin film featuring Alpha Flight, and then join an X-Men film--I'd love that, but don't believe it will happen.

Storm*
The most iconic black female character in Marvel comics, who was both a leader of the X-Men and later develops an important relationship with Black Panther, she's an automatic inclusion--easily introduced in Black Panther 2 (if Ryan Coogler wants to go there). It's helpful that Fox never did anything with her (both Halle Barry and Alexandra Shipp's versions are forgettable). My guess is we'll see the more mature version of her (mid-Claremont) rather than her playful beginnings (by doing so she could easily replace Cyclops as the initial team leader, see below). The X-franchise has no shortage of female characters, but it is light on persons of colour (despite Marvel's furious efforts over the last 15-years), so Storm helps round that out. If they decide to hold back on the T'Challa romance (I would to start) then they might play into her relationship with Forge.

Cyclops* & Jean Grey*
I think they come as a pair so they'll be considered together. On the positive side of the equation both are iconic (they and their relationship), and they play key roles in one of the most beloved X-Men storylines (the now twice-ruined Dark Phoenix Saga). However, because of the Fox failures and that Feige doesn't like repeating what's come before, I don't expect to see it. Without that saga they lose their value for the team, so I believe the two will be put on hold or filtered off to X-Factor (if I'm wrong and they are included, both will be on the team).

Colossus
He's a key part of Claremont's best run on the franchise, a beloved character, has an important relationship with Kitty Pryde, and his sister Magik is an important mutant. Why am I excluding him? He's part of the Deadpool franchise and if that remains intact, it's far too confusing to have a different Colossus be part of the MCU (even if the Deadpool supporting cast is jettisoned, I think Feige would prefer to wait on the character). It doesn't help that his sister is being used in the derided New Mutants film, which Disney is still set on releasing. One way to slow burn the character is introduce him with the (new) Black Widow (ie, Black Widow 2).

Nightcrawler
Another important player in Claremont's better stories who was later flipped over to Excalibur, Fox left a lot of his material untouched. With that said, he doesn't specifically tick any boxes for Marvel (despite a fun power and distinct personality--if used I think they would emphasize his swashbuckling side in contrast to Fox's more morose, religious approach). He's not guaranteed a spot at the table, but as an easy race swap, remains a possibility.

Banshee
One of the early departures in Claremont's run; he has an interesting relationship with Moira MacTaggert (whom Hickman is giving prominence), along with a criminal past. Fox didn't do much with him, but even more so than Nightcrawler, he doesn't fit any particular niche and is thus easily left out. He would make for decent supporting fodder in a Disney+ show, however.

Kitty Pryde
One of the secondary characters who remained popular despite being shunted off to Excalibur for a decade; she remains an important member on the modern X-Men, with a key relationship with Wolverine as well as a romance with Colossus (both elements ignored by Fox). She's a virtual guarantee to appear, although I doubt she'll be as young as she was in Claremont (13). Of the various X-Men she's the most difficult to drop into someone else's IP as an intro, as her origins are very much tied into Xavier's mission.

Rogue*
Claremont took her villainous beginnings and turned her into an interesting character who remains popular today; she has an important relationships with Gambit and Mystique, as well as a key history with Carol Danvers (should they choose to use it--if they do she could appear in the Captain Marvel sequel). Fox did nothing with her background elements, so I think the odds of her appearing are very high. In the comics she originally comes to the X-Men for help (essentially suffering from PTSD) and I can imagine that element being retained. To open with her villainous past would help push the idea of the Mutant Menace (if the MCU wants to go that way), especially if Wolverine is also beginning that way.

Rachel Summers (Prestige/Phoenix)
Unless her origin is changed she requires Jean Grey to exist and as such she's almost certain to be ignored (it's too bad as I quite like the character). The only alternative would be to skip that origin, give her the Prestige identity, and move forward--I just wonder if Feige would be concerned with fan confusion over someone who looks like Jean Grey and has her power set. I like the character (struggling with her past and fitting into a new world and reality), but she seems likes an unfortunate casualty of circumstance.

Psylocke
There are a lot of interesting things you can do with the character: she's Captain Britain's sister, has a connection to the Mandarin, and is the most popular pseudo-Asian mutant character available (I suspect Marvel will keep her Asian despite the comics changing her back recently--they could maintain her sibling relationship if she's a half-sister). I find the transformed version of her incredibly dull (yet another Wolverine-clone), but that doesn't mean she couldn't be spruced up; there's a decent chance she'll appear to help diversity on the team (because of when Shang-Chi was written--before the Fox sale was complete--she won't appear there). Her ephemeral appearance in Apocalypse won't hurt her chances (the old Jim Lee custom was never going to appear under Feige regardless--it's quite similar to the old Ms. Marvel costume he was dismissive of). In my world we'd get the original Betsy Braddock, but I've long come to terms with that never happening.

Gambit*
I've never cared for the character (yet another bad boy who struggles to work with others), but he is part of an iconic romance with Rogue. Other than that romance he's not ticking many boxes, so I think his appearance depends a lot on Rogue and what they want to do with her, meaning it's very unlikely he appears early in the franchise (I don't believe the aborted Channing Tatum project, or the character's appearance in Wolverine, will impact what Feige does with him).

Jubilee*
A poorly made Kitty Pryde-clone when she debuted, I'm not sure how much of that has changed over time (she doesn't register very highly in fan surveys I've seen); while she ticks the box for representation, as a character she's not particularly interesting; I think her appearance is unlikely unless there's no Kitty Pryde or it's an older version of that character. She could appear in a Disney+ show.

Emma Frost
As I mentioned above I don't think Feige is willing to use a character who embraces her sexuality like she does--everything needs to be family friendly--so she might be jettisoned to the Jeph Loeb ghetto. The only element in her favour is she's popular and LGBT, so we could get a PG-version of her, but I'm not sure how well that would work.

Beast*
An entertaining character, but outside of the cartoon he's not involved in the iconic X-stories (he wound up at X-Factor, the home of the Kirby/Lee X-Men in the 80s, having spent time on a number of different non-mutant teams beforehand); he was given a lot of focus by Fox, making him even less likely to appear.

Bishop
Invented by Byrne in 1991, he appeared briefly in Days of Future Past, but he's never been a core X-Men character. Other than the diversity angle he doesn't seem like a fit. I found him pretty generic, but he does have an interesting look.

Armor
A Whedon character that offers some Asian representation; I'm unfamiliar with her and she doesn't show up on favourites lists, making it unlikely (but not impossible) that she appears.

Others
Characters like Husk, Pixie, Warpath, M, and others are all possibilities, having appeared in the newer incarnations of the team, but none push the popular needle and would be more a matter of a director/writer wanting their inclusion than appealing to a general audience. They seem more like Disney+ fodder than holding up the films. I didn't include Sunfire or Thunderbird above, as neither were X-Men for very long, but they would hit the representation mark (I like both characters).

I think the normal race swaps from the MCU are unlikely here, because the established versions of the iconic characters are deeply embedded with merchandising (lesser known or secondary characters remain fair game). Given how many prominent female characters there are, we likely won't have gender swaps either.

The Team

In my original speculation article (link above) the MCU team was Storm (leader), Wolverine, Rogue, Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler, plus one diverse character with Professor X as the mentor (assuming it would be a team of six, given that the MCU seems to like that number initially--The Eternals' bloated cast is an exception I believe). I'm uncertain about Nightcrawler's inclusion now, although his personality would be a good ingredient given the other members.

I don't think we'll have five female members to start with, but four is possible. An Asian Psylocke is the most likely female addition if there is one (representation as well as popular). As for male characters, Iceman is LGBT and was used marginally on Fox, making him a possibility (however dull I find him). Forge is also a possibility (even though I don't think his power set is particularly interesting, nor is he popular). I'd like to see either Sunfire or Thunderbird on the team (preferring the latter), but Fox used him in The Gifted, making him unlikely.

To sum up, my current expectation is: Storm (leader), Wolverine, Rogue, Kitty Pryde, Psylocke (Asian-version), and Iceman with Professor X as the mentor. This provides two characters of colour as well as LGBT representation. Given how heavily we saw Xavier in the Fox films there may be a push to pick a different mentor (a family-friendly Emma Frost, or Moira MacTaggert, etc), but at this stage I'll stick with the obvious choice.

As for my ideal team, it's hard to cut it down to just six, but it starts off the same core: Storm (leader), Wolverine, Rogue, and Kitty Pryde; from there I'd add Thunderbird, old school Psylocke, and have Emma Frost in the Professor X role. There's some overlap in the kind of people Wolverine and Thunderbird are, but I think there's a lot they could explore with the latter and Native Americans are an ignored minority. The original Betsy Braddock differs considerably from her transformed version and would add an interesting slant to the group (in some ways she's like the Civil War version of Scarlet Witch, but without the anger). The first four are on both lists and are, I think, locks for any team we see. My list also hits the same diversity marks (Frost fills out the LGBT quotient), although that's simply serendipity.

While I believe the team will be young (as they were in the comics), I doubt they'll make them teenagers as they (mostly) were in the comics. The youth decision would provide a visual contrast to the much older Avengers characters.

MCU Introductions

There are three possible ways to start the IP:

• An X-Men film
• Introductions in other IP leading to a film
• A series of solo/duo films leading to an X-Men film (like the lead-in to the Avengers--I see this as highly unlikely).

Let's tackle the slow-build (second) possibility, since it's the most dynamic and therefore the most fun to speculate about.

We can be reasonably sure none of the X-Men will appear in Black Widow, The Eternals, and Shang-Chi, because all were written prior to the completion of the sale to Disney. Given that, it seems like Black Panther 2 is the most likely first time for any of them to appear (we may get the mutant origins in Doctor Strange 2 or The Eternals, but I'm speaking in terms of actual character appearances). I think we'll get Storm in that film--what version of her, how prominently, and whether they make her Wakandan instead of Kenyan I don't know (it would be nice to not have all African characters be from one place). Rogue could show up in Captain Marvel 2 (echoing her comicbook origin--that could play into an X-Men vs Avengers idea if Feige wants to go there). In addition, we could have a Wolverine film (possibly including Kitty Pryde), but for the other characters they seemingly would be introduced in the X-Men film proper.

The First X-Men Storyline - Background

What story might they use (the Chuck Austen inclusion above is a joke, as he's considered the worst writer the team ever had)? One place to find ideas is to look at the top-rated stories. I grabbed five lists (Newsarama, Polygon, Screenrant, CBR, and IGN) as a baseline, along with a site that has fan votes (here) to establish a rough hierarchy to mitigate my own bias. Here's the list in order of how often a storyline was included (those adapted on film are in bold; to make the writers a bit clearer I've colour-coded some of them: Claremont is in green, Morrison in red, Whedon in blue, Millar in yellow, and Pak in purple; I also included the year/s they came out):

• "Days of Future Past" (1981; Claremont) x6
• "Dark Phoenix Saga" (1980; Claremont) x5
• "God Loves, Man Kills" (1982; Claremont) x4
• "Age of Apocalypse" (1995-96; Various) x4
• "E is for Extinction" (2001; Morrison) x4
• "Mutant Genesis" (2002; Claremont) x3
• "Mutant Massacre" (1986; Claremont) x3
• "All New, All Different X-Men" (1975; Wein) x3
• "X-Men: Season One" (2011; Hopeless) x3
• "Fatal Attractions" (1993; Various) x3
• "Lifedeath I & II" (1984/1985; Claremont) x2
• "X-Men: First Class" (2006-07; Parker) x2
• "House of M/Decimation" (2005; Bendis) x2
• "Astonishing X-Men" (2004-07; Whedon) x2
• "Gifted" (2004; Whedon) x2
• "Wounded Wolf" (1986; Claremont)
• "Inferno" (1988-89; Claremont)
• "X-Tinction Agenda" (1990-91; Claremont)
• "Muir Island Saga" (1991; Claremont)
• "Fall of the Mutants" (1988; Claremont)
• "Divided He Stands" (2008; Various)
• "Wolverine's Wedding" (1983; Claremont)
• "Broodfall" (1988; Claremont)
• "The Asgardian Wars" (1985-86; Claremont)
• "Wolverine vs the Reavers" (1989-90; Claremont)
• "The Phoenix Saga" (1976-77; Claremont)
• "Rogue Joins the X-Men" (1983; Various, but including Claremont)
• "Return of the King" (2003; Millar)
• "The Tomorrow People" (2001; Millar)
• "Phoenix: Endsong" (2005; Pak)
• "Magento: Testament" (2009; Pak)
• "Days of Future Yet to Come" (1993; Davis)
• "Magneto" (2014; Bunn etc)
• "Deadly Genesis" (2005-06; Brubaker)
• "Onslaught" (1996; Various)
• "Operation: Zero Tolerance" (1997; Various)
• "Messiah Complex/Second Coming" (2007-2008/2010; Various)
• "X-Cutioner's Song" (1992-93; Various)
• "Phalanx Covenant" (1994; Various)

What stands out is how dominant Claremont is (Wein can be lumped in with him). No matter how you want to count it (number of stories, 18 of 39), or mentions (37 vs 72), Claremont dominates all the others. Whedon, Millar, and Pak are the only other authors who have more than one story above, but of them only Whedon gets multiple salutes per title, yet appears only 4 times (the same as Morrison's only entry). To sum it up, despite many lauded writers, Claremont is the X-Men (which isn't to say his run is all of the same high quality). Most of the works by other authors are heavily dependent on the groundwork Claremont provided and the strength of those characters is likely why it's so hard to find ones after his tenure that have endured. For those unfamiliar, Morrison's run was controversial, as was Millar's in the Ultimates (almost none of the latter's work was integrated into the 616). One thing Claremont did better than any other writer was give each character space to grow and have substantial arcs of their own--he was enormously patient with his early storylines. Subsequent writers have shrunk the cast and focused on a few favourites (or villains), which echoes Fox's approach.

None of the original Lee/Kirby stories make these lists and, outside of crossover events, neither do the 90s authors (despite an abundance of X-books at that time). Surprisingly, none of Warren Ellis' (or Matt Fraction's) work appears either (despite a wide sampling--the oldest list goes back to 2011, just after Ellis stopped writing the series).

The MCU Story

Moving beyond analyzing, Wein is the only one who provides a true team introduction. Wein's plot has Xavier assembling a new team to rescue the old, which while technically doable is not where I expect the MCU to go. Wein's plot leads into one of two options I think we'll see.

Option One
An event or incident prompts Xavier (or Frost or Storm or even Moira MacTaggert--there are many mentor options, with only Magneto out of bounds due to his heavy use by Fox) to gather the X-Men. It's less important what that threat is (a tangible danger, the threat of mutant registration, etc), than its purpose to bring the team together. My guess is this would follow one of two branches: an antagonist (or group of antagonists) must be defeated, or the team has to prove itself (either innocent or to the world)--I'd lean towards the first of these options. What I'm not clear on is how heavily the MCU will play into Xavier's school--it's a staple of the Fox films, meaning we might get a very different version of it in Marvel. Here the team gathering would occur just over the early parts of the film (ala the first Avengers).

Option Two
The slow burn approach very similar to Fox's First Class, with the film focusing on the process of needing and then recruiting the team rather than the antagonist at the end. Because this was used by Fox it's less likely in MCU, but the general idea isn't completely out of the question and could be done with enough changes that the parallel's aren't as obvious. What's out of the question, I believe, is a pre-existing school ala both X-Men: Apocalypse (where the young X-characters are introduced) and the original X-Men. This isn't to say we won't have a School for Gifted Youngsters, but I don't believe it will already have a substantial set of mutants running around within it.

My conclusion? I think we'll get an inciting incident that requires some (or all) the team to be recruited (by who is up in the air--in a way it doesn't matter). If the goal is to lead-up to an Avengers vs X-Men film, then this incident would either be about the X-Men overcoming an antagonist (a core X-villain, perhaps), which might be connected to calming down concerns over the mutant menace. The classic Claremont result would be for them to be denied the credit for succeeding. That's what I'm expecting from the MCU (which wasn't something Fox played into)--they'll do heroic deeds, but get none of the glory and often the blame. It's a great way to play up the mutant anxiety within the Marvel universe--providing motivation for those who decide getting along with humanity just isn't worth it.

Epilogue - Spinoffs/Other Mutant-IP

Original X-Factor: Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Angel
Peter David's X-Factor: Havok, Polaris, Multiple Man, Strong Guy, Wolfsbane, Quicksilver
There are two versions of X-Factor to consider. The first is the original group, which were the Lee/Kirby X-Men in their own book. This was never very popular (essentially a less-interesting version than the actual X-Men) and after a few years the team's characters were sent off to various X-Men books. The other is a short run by Peter David which I'm very fond of--David took peripheral mutants and created an immensely entertaining group with them. Neither of these teams is necessarily film-worthy (although I'd love to see the latter depicted), but would make for interesting Disney+ shows.

New Mutants: Cannonball, Karma, Mirage, Sunspot, Wolfsbane, Magik, Cypher, Warlock, Magma
The oldest X-Men spinoff, the Fox film dead letters the IP from the near future for the MCU. This would come well down the line and almost certainly as a Disney+ show.

Excalibur: Captain Britain, Meggan, Phoenix (aka Prestige), Shadowcat/Kitty Pryde, Nightcrawler
Originally a Claremont book based in England which ran for a very long time. Quirky, it's very distinct both from the X-Men and other X-books. Because of how weird it is, it's unlikely to be film-fodder, but could find life as a Disney+ show.

X-Force: Cable, Domino, Shatterstar, Boom Boom, Cannonball, Feral, Warpath, Siryn
Rob Liefeld transformed the New Mutants into X-Force (the terrible art above is his). The book was popular in the early 90s, but has never found sustained success since. Given that Deadpool 2 has used key characters from it already I think it's unlikely to see the light of day. Like the above properties, however, if it does appear it's less likely to be on film (so Disney+).

Alpha Flight: Guardian, Vindicator, Northstar, Aurora, Marrina, Puck, Talisman, Snowbird, Sasquatch
As a Canadian team I think there's no hope whatsoever they would get either a film or a show. Marvel has never been able to make the team achieve even the limited success it had in the 80s--given that, why include them? Two reasons: they play an important role in Wolverine's origins and they have a modern connection to Captain Marvel. I quite like the eclectic team and would love to see it, but I'm dubious that it will happen.

There have been other iterations of heroic X-groups, but none with the historical anchor these do nor, as far as I can tell, the same level of popularity.

This article is written by Peter Levi (@eyeonthesens)