After Disney's acquisition of Fox in 2019, the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Deadpool officially joined the ranks of Marvel Studios. Mutants will therefore arrive en masse in the MCU in the coming years, starting with the return of several of them in Avengers: Doomsday—including the former Cyclops and Magneto. As for this announcement from Kevin Feige, it will delight fans of the superhero team led by Professor Charles Xavier.
The X-Men will succeed the Avengers
Last year, Kevin Feige, the director of Marvel Studios and head of the MCU, revealed that the X-Men would be at the center of this fictional universe starting with the theatrical release of Avengers Secret Wars. The sixth installment of the franchise will conclude the Multiverse Saga, and introduce mutants as the MCU's most important superheroes. And their reign will be long! In an article in the Wall Street Journal, it is reported that the producer has "told colleagues that he has a 10-year plan for the[X-Men]." This not only confirms that the Avengers will gradually give way to their mutant brethren, but also that the next Saga could be as long and airy as the first. Indeed, the Infinity Saga spanned from the release of Iron Man in 2008 to that of Spider-Man: Far From Home in 2019, comprising 23 films. As for the Multiverse Saga, it began with WandaVision in 2021, and is expected to conclude in 2027. It should include 18 films and 17 series.
A "Mutant Saga", for a return to a lighter formula?
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is designed by Phases, themselves grouped into Sagas, each of which has a different theme - the Infinity Stones, the Multiverse and its timelines. Over the years, and faced with the growing success of the MCU, Disney has tasked Kevin Feige, the studios' big boss, with meeting public demand with ever more new films and new series. This is how the Infinity Saga spanned eleven years, with only films (23), while the Multiverse Saga will span barely six years, with both films and series (the counter should show 35 at the end of the race). A program considered too full by the public, who consider many projects to be botched or useless. Kevin Feige has acknowledged that the schedule has become unmanageable for fans, and his 10-year X-Men plan could indicate that the "Mutant Saga" will be as long as the Infinity Saga, and hopefully as digestible.
A Third Saga Still Uncertain
The next MCU Saga has not yet been confirmed, and it is unclear whether it will focus on a specific group of characters—the mutants—or if it will follow a thematic lineage in the previous ones. It is also unclear whether Kevin Feige will decide to continue dividing the next Saga into 3 Phases, or whether it will be two Sagas reduced by two Phases each. It is possible that on one side there will be the Mutant Saga, and on the other a Cosmic Saga, with superheroes like Captain Marvel, the Guardians of the Galaxy (whose sequel we still hope for) or even Nova and Thor. The third Saga could also serve to complete a trilogy, composed of three Phases, with the key being the end of the MCU as we know it, and a new MCU serving as a soft reboot.
In any case, even if the X-Men will be at the heart of future Phases of the MCU, the other superheroes of this universe will not be erased with the snap of a finger!
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