Draft:Mutant (Marvel Comics) in film

Film adaptations of Marvel Comics featuring mutants date back to as early as 1994, when 20th Century Fox acquired the feature film and television rights to the X-Men team and associated characters from Marvel for $2.6 million USD after several unsuccessful attempts to adapt the property at other film studios and distributors throughout the prior decade. Fox released X-Men in 2000 to critical and commercial success, with the film being credited for rejuvenating mainstream interest in movies featuring and adapting comic book characters alongside other licensed Marvel films released earlier in the decade. X-Men's success allowed the studio to launch a film franchise centered on the team and associated characters which included a trilogy with the initial cast until 2006, four prequel films (2011-19), a trilogy of Wolverine films (2009-2017), two Deadpool films (2016-18) and the spin-off film The New Mutants (2020), which concluded 20th Century Fox's franchise after a two-decade run.

In 2005, Marvel Studios was formed as an independent arm of the company that intended to house the production of various films using Marvel Comics characters, leading to the creation of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) franchise. Marvel was later acquired by The Walt Disney Company in December 2009 for $4 billion USD, but did not regain the film rights to the X-Men comic books due to Fox's existing licensing deal, barring the team and associated characters from appearing in the MCU or other internally-produced Marvel media. In March 2019, Disney completed their acquisition of 21st Century Fox for a final total of $71.3 billion USD in order to secure 20th Century Fox's various entertainment licenses, including the film rights to the X-Men alongside the Fantastic Four and Deadpool. Control over the characters' film appearances was transferred to Marvel Studios, leading to multiple Marvel-based films at Fox to be stalled and subsequently cancelled, with plans to instead integrate the respective properties into the MCU franchise.

Development

Nelvana and Orion Pictures

In 1982, Nelvana optioned the film rights to the X-Men comics from Marvel Entertainment. As early as 1979, Marvel's former vice president of business affairs Alice Donnenfeld Vernoux, had been tasked by former editor-in-chief Stan Lee with attempting to license off various Marvel Comics properties for adaptation in film and television in light of recent blockbuster successes such as Jaws (1975), Star Wars (1977) and Superman (1978). Nelvana founder Michael Hirsh had expressed significant interest in adapting X-Men for live-action film as a fan of the source material, and Nelvana, a studio primarily known for animated television, was similarly transitioning towards theatrical releases with their first animated feature Rock & Rule (1983). The deal between Marvel and Nelvana stipulated that the latter studio would handle production duties on the film, while Marvel would handle responsibilities in merchandising and promotion.

Uncanny X-Men and New Mutants writer Chris Claremont was hired by Hirsh to pen the film's screenplay, ultimately producing two story outlines. Both outlines featured a team roster comprising Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm and Wolverine alongside Professor X and Kitty Pryde as a new member. The first version of the film, tentatively titled Rite of Passage and dated for June 1982, featured Kitty Pryde as the audience surrogate character as she navigated the X-Men's world and came into conflict with her father, who became possessed by the mutant Proteus and exercised his political influence to incite mutant prejudice. Pryde would've helped the X-Men save a captive Xavier and redeem her father by the end of the film. The second outline, dated for 1983, de-emphasized Pryde's significance in favor of a plot that broadly explored the physical and ideological conflict between the X-Men and their adversaries, the Brotherhood of Mutants led by Magneto. Set during the Cold War, the narrative would've depicted Magneto using his powers to, raise an island from the ocean, destroy a Soviet submarine, and set off a volcano as an intimidation tactic. His tactics would've almost resulted in Pryde's death, at which point he saw the errors of his ways and sought redemption by the film's conclusion.

The film's production eventually stalled as Claremont chose to prioritize his work on the X-Men comic books in addition to writing novels. Nelvana then brought on Marvel Comics writers Roy Thomas and Gerry Conway to take over scripting duties, with Conway later admitting he wasn't aware of Claremont's prior involvement. At this point in the project, Nelvana had secured a deal to distribute the film through Orion Pictures, and two producers had boarded the project. Thomas and Conway's first draft combined elements across Claremont's two previous outlines, including Kitty as the primary point-of-view character for the world of mutants and Proteus as the primary antagonist from the first treatment, as well as a battle between the X-Men and Magneto's Brotherhood from the second treatment. According to Conway, the attached producers were dissatisfied with their initial draft and had commissioned a rewrite that notably deviated further from the source material than originally intended, removing elements previously present such as the X-Mansion, the social commentary on mutant injustices, and the omission of any references or terminology related to mutants entirely due to the implicit comparison to monsters which would've made the film harder to market as an allegory for marginalization. Jean Grey's presence in the film was replaced with an original character with the power of transforming materials as a team member, inspired by Japanese New Wave cinema in an attempt to market the film towards Japanese investors. Bernie, another original character, was written into the film as a sidekick for Kitty Pryde in order to pivot the film's focus away from her in favor of capturing more interest from a younger male audience. The film would ultimately cease production due to Orion Pictures' ongoing financial troubles throughout 1985, leading Nelvana to eventually relinquish the character rights to Marvel.

Carolco Pictures

Following the critical and commercial success of the Warner Bros. Pictures film Batman (1989), Marvel sought to rejuvenate interest in licensing out their comic book properties for film adaptation, with filmmaker James Cameron being approached to produce a live-action X-Men film for Carolco Pictures through his production studio Lightstorm Entertainment. Cameron's then-wife Kathryn Bigelow was expected to direct the film, while Gary Goldman had been attached to write the screenplay. Goldman's script, tentatively titled Wolverine and the X-Men, depicted Logan recruiting Kitty Pryde into the X-Men alongside Jean Grey, Cyclops, Nightcrawler and Mastermind, all of whom are now facilitated at "Exton Academy" as opposed to Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters. The plot would've involved the X-Men's confrontation with a wealthy socialite and preacher Tommy Prince, who would've assembled "The Citizens' Crusade" to incite anti-mutant sympathies from the general public, at which point Mastermind would betray the team to side with his ideologies. Prince would later be revealed to be disguising his own mutant heritage, being depicted as an original take on the Magneto character with similar powers and a motivation to oppress humanity. X-Men writer Chris Claremont later recalled that in attempting to engage James Cameron on the film, the film was immediately de-prioritized as soon as Stan Lee instead inquired him on his interest in adapting Spider-Man to film. Kathryn Bigelow later produced her own treatment for an X-Men film unrelated to Goldman's screenplay, with the intent of casting Bob Hoskins and Angela Bassett as Wolverine and Storm, respectively, but it was immediately dismissed due to Cameron's increased interest in a Spider-Man feature. Cameron's Spider-Man film would similarly never materialize as a result of Carolco becoming embroiled in a dispute over the ownership of the character's film rights between themselves, Marvel and distributor 21st Century Films, before all three entities declared bankruptcy, with both the X-Men and Spider-Man feature film rights reverting to Marvel upon their re-emergence in the late 1990's.

20th Century Fox

Marvel entered early discussions with Columbia Pictures regarding a live-action X-Men film in 1992 just as the studio was also entering development on a Black Panther film, but the movie didn't materialize past these conversations. Instead, 20th Century Fox separately engaged Marvel about acquiring the character rights, having been impressed by the success of X-Men: The Animated Series (1992-97) on their sister network Fox Kids during syndication, and film producer Lauren Shuler Donner successfully acquired the license to develop the film at Fox in 1994. Donner brought on Andrew Kevin Walker to screenwrite the project, with two drafts of the script delivered by the following June. Walker's storyline involved the government initiating the Mutant Registration Act in response to a terrorist attack orchestrated by Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants, which comprised of Toad, Blob, Sabretooth and Juggernaut, who would be broken out of Ryker's Island by the trio and recruited into their ranks. The film would heavily center around the X-Men (Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman and Angel) and their efforts to recruit Wolverine and Jubilee, as well as the human antagonists Bolivar Trask and Henry Peter Gyrich, as the pair construct Sentinels to eliminate mutants. The screenplay also included other elements of the comics such as Department H being Wolverine and Sabretooth's former unit in Canada, the X-Copter, the Danger Room training facility, the Vault as a supermax prison for superhumans, and Magneto establishing a safe haven for mutants conceptually similar to Genosha after taking over Manhattan. Film producer Laeta Kalogridis performed rewrites on Walker's story throughout 1995, and introduced Storm to the team roster, setting up a subplot exploring a potential romantic relationship with Wolverine. Author and Spider-Man 2 (2004) co-screenwriter Michael Chabon submitted his own treatment to Fox in 1996, which featured a team roster of Professor X, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, Nightcrawler and Storm, and omitted the Brotherhood of Mutants as antagonists in favor of setting them up in a potential sequel.

Singer-Ratner trilogy

X-Men (2000)

When a young teen named Rogue goes on the run and crosses paths with cage fighter Logan / Wolverine, the pair are suddenly embroiled in an intense conflict over their fate as mutants, individuals who are born with a unique gene that grants them superhuman abilities and augmentations. They are recruited into the X-Men, a team of mutants who fight for the preservation of mutantkind while upholding their leader Charles Xavier's ideology of peaceful co-existence with humanity, despite facing discrimination and prejudice from them in their efforts to protect them. The X-Men, also comprising field leader Cyclops, telepath Jean Grey and and weather manipulator Storm, face off against the mutant extremist Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants, who threaten to mutate world leaders in an attempt to escalate his plans for supremacy over humans.

X2 (2003)

After a failed assassination attempt on the President of the United States by a brainwashed teleporting mutant named Nightcrawler, anti-mutant military scientist Col. William Stryker is enlisted to stage an attack on Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, kidnapping Cyclops and Charles Xavier alongside several mutant children and encountering Wolverine, revealed to be his former test subject during the Weapon X program. The remaining X-Men form a reluctant alliance with Magneto and his Brotherhood of Mutants in order to infiltrate Stryker's base at Alkali Lake and prevent Stryker from using Cerebro and the captive Xavier to telepathically kill every mutant on Earth, while Logan uncovers more about his shrouded past.

X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

When the United States government manufactures a "cure" for the mutant gene, the mutant population is left divided on its potential benefits and repercussions. Magneto assembles a faction of mutants strongly opposed to its distribution to declare war on humanity, claiming their intent to use the cure as a means of further marginalizing the mutant race. As the X-Men confront Magneto and the morality behind the government's intentions, their formerly deceased team member Jean Grey is resurrected as the Phoenix, a destructive, evil entity within her mind that threatens to destroy both mutants and humanity on a far greater scale. As the vulnerable Grey is torn between her allegiance to the X-Men and Magneto's manipulation, the team prepare for a final battle which will decide her fate, and their own.

Vaughn-Singer series

X-Men: First Class (2011)

During the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962, fresh university graduate and mutant expert Charles Xavier is recruited by the CIA to a top-secret project known as "Division X" as a liason between human officals and the emerging mutant population. He, alongside new colleague Erik Lensherr, who occupies a more exclusivist view of mutant-human relations, are tasked with assembling a strike force comprised of young mutants as a first line of defense against the Hellfire Club, a secret society led by Sebastian Shaw which threatens to provoke a third World War and trigger an ascendancy of the mutant race over a massacred human population.

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

In a dystopian 2023, mutants are endlessly hunted by the Sentinels, artificially intelligent humanoid machines designed to kill them by instantaneously adapting to their varied powers. In order to reverse this future, a team of surviving X-Men led by Charles Xavier and Magneto send Wolverine back in time to 1973, tasking him with preventing the assassination of the Sentinels' creator, Bolivar Trask by a young Mystique which accelerated the development and mass-production of the weapons systems. In order to succeed, Logan must track down the younger incarnations of Xavier and Magneto in the hopes that their combined presence would help dissuade Mystique from her goals while also averting the cataclysmic future they all face.

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

In 1983, Apocalypse, considered in legend as the world's most ancient mutant, awakens from a deep slumber spanning thousands of years and intends to wage war with the modern world upon being disillusioned with what society had developed towards in his absence. He travels across the world recruiting Storm, Angel, Psylocke and Magneto as his four Horsemen, in order to cleanse all of humanity in favor of a new world order where mutants are dominant. Mystique and Professor X lead a new generation of X-Men in order to prevent Apocalypse's planned destruction of all mankind.

Dark Phoenix (2019)

In 1992, the X-Men are well regarded as superheroes to the public and are constantly sent on missions in order to improve their public image at the behest of Professor X. One fateful mission ends in disarray when Jean Grey accidentally absorbs the Phoenix Force during a space excursion, rendering her abilities heightened and uncontrollable as she develops destructive tendencies under the influence of Vuk, a member of the D'Bari race whose home planet was previously destroyed by the Phoenix Force, who now intends to use Grey's awakened power to enact revenge.

Spin-off films

Generation X (1996)

Rebel teenager Jubilation Lee is rescued and given refuge at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters by its headmasters Sean Cassidy / Banshee and Emma Frost, alongside five other displaced, young mutants who have had their powers manifested in public. They are taught to control, cope with and hone their powers as they simultaneously struggle to process the adversity they now face from humans in the local area, while also forming a team to face a mutant-obssessed mad scientist who seeks out their unique genetics in the hopes of acquiring his own abilities.

Generation X was the first live-action property produced by Fox after acquiring the rights to develop X-Men films, and remains the only made-for-television feature film featuring mutant characters, being initially produced as a television pilot either for an eventual full series, or further films. The movie was originally broadcast on the Fox network as part of their Fox Tuesday Night at the Movies programming block.

Wolverine film trilogy (2009-2017)

X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)

The origin story of James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine. When a young Logan manifests his mutant abilities during puberty and goes on the run with his half-brother Victor Creed, the two involve themselves in the early stages of mutant publicity when they are recruited by Col. William Stryker into an all-mutant black ops unit codenamed "Team X". Years later, the murder of Logan's wife Kayla Silverfox propels him into a quest for revenge that sees him first bonded with adamantium during intense experimentation, making him completely indestructible and more formidable as he prepares to confront his former teammates and face a great adversary.

The Wolverine (2013)

Years after he regretfully killed Jean Grey, a nomadic Logan is living as a recluse when he is brought to Japan for a reunion with Ichiro Yashida, whom he saved during the Nagasaki bombing while serving as a POW in 1945. When his regenerative healing factor is mysteriously stolen, Logan must travel across the country accompanied by Yashida Clan ninja Yukio, to protect family heir Mariko Yashida from local threats such as ninjas and yakuza dispatched from opposing factions, while trying to uncover a plot regarding himself, the empire Yashida built and a plot to prolong their grip on the country for the future.

Logan (2017)

In 2029, an aged, weathered Logan lives on the outskirts of society with Caliban and a dying Charles Xavier, whom he must care for after a telepathic seizure from the former professor eradicated the majority of mutants, including most of the X-Men years earlier. When Logan meets a young girl named Laura and is tasked with escorting her to a safe haven near the Canadian-American Border, they are relentlessly hunted by the Reavers, a group of augmented cyborgs dispatched by the Alkali-Transigen corporation, the biotechnology firm that created Laura to be the former Wolverine's superior.

Deadpool films (2016-18)

Deadpool (2016)

Former Canadian Special Forces affiliate and operating mercenary Wade Wilson is afflicted with a sudden terminal cancer, causing him to pursue and undergo a tortourous experiment that awakens his mutant gene while permanently disfiguring his face. Donning a costume and assuming the alias "Deadpool", Wilson embarks on a journey to hunt down Ajax, the man responsible for triggering his abilities who has since kidnapped his girlfriend Vanessa Carlysle, while X-Men members Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead attempt to dissuade him from going down a path of selfish vengeance.

No Good Deed (2017)

Wade Wilson attempts to save an old man from an oncoming mugger, but fails upon taking too long to change into his costumed persona as Deadpool.

Deadpool 2 (2018)

After losing his girlfriend Vanessa in a botched asssassination attempt, A depressed Wade Wilson is given the opportunity to atone for his mistakes when tasked with protecting a young mutant named Russell Collins, who is fated to become a tyrannical dictator in a far-off, dystopian future, when the time traveler Cable arrives in the present in order to kill him and avert his future. Enlisting the help of his friends Weasel and Dopinder, as well as Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Wilson assembles a team of capable mutants to simultaneously stop Cable and potentially dissuade Collins from going down a dark path.

Once Upon a Deadpool (2018)

Wade Wilson recounts the story of how he successfully redeemed Russell Collins, stopped Cable and found his personal sense of self-worth in the form of a family-friendly bedtime tale read to Fred Savage.

The New Mutants (2020)

Five young mutants--Dani Moonstar, Illyana Rasputina, Roberto da Costa, Rahne Sinclair and Sam Guthrie, find themselves banded together in a psychiatric ward under the watchful eye of supervising doctor Ceciila Reyes, where they question the motives behind their predicament and face their traumatized pasts, which manifest in the form of a bear monster that terrorizes each of them with their worst fears and sins.

Marvel Studios

In 2004, Marvel Enterprises announced plans to restructure their operations to accomodate their intent for transitioning towards self-financing theatrical films using their characters as opposed to retaining a licensing-only model with other production studios. Newly formed as Marvel Entertainment, the company established Marvel Studios in 2005 and entered a nonrecourse debt arrangement with investment firm Merill Lynch, that granted them $525 million in budgeting to produce a 10-film slate around a selection of properties for which they still possessed the film rights. After initially approaching Universal Pictures as a distribution partner for their films due to their existing possession of the Hulk and Namor film rights, they began negotiations with Paramount Pictures, who would end up securing the final deal to distribute the ten projects under the agreement with Merill Lynch. The first film produced by Marvel Studios, Iron Man (2008) was both a critical and financial success, while The Incredible Hulk, released in partnership with Universal the same year, enjoyed comparatively lesser but decent reactions, with both films launching Marvel's long-term plan for individual character films that comprised what would become the first phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), culminating in the crossover film The Avengers (2012). During the production of the first set of MCU films, The Walt Disney Company entered an agreement to acquire Marvel in its entirety in August 2009, with said transaction completing that December. Disney secured the rights to over 5,000 Marvel Comics characters at the time in licensing, merchandising, publishing and film production, which included all distribution rights to future Marvel Studios and MCU films after the company's existing deals with Paramount Pictures lapsed, beginning with The Avengers in 2012. However, the acquisition did not secure Disney any feature film rights pertaining to the X-Men due to the pre-existing arrangement with 20th Century Fox from 1994.

The lack of access to the X-Men license, which covered the various iterations of the team, various terminology, characters and organizations related to mutants in the Marvel Universe, as well as other associated characters primarily featured in X-Men comics, meant that Marvel Studios was initially barred from integrating these elements into the MCU franchise during The Infinity Saga arc (2008-2019), and that concessions would have to be made in order to adapt characters or scenarios adjacent to mutants in their films where applicable. The original version of Iron Man's post-credits scene was intended to depict Nick Fury alluding to the existence of mutants alongside Spider-Man and the Hulk when discussing the bigger world that Tony Stark / Iron Man had just become a part of, but the final scene would remove said references due to Fox and Sony Pictures' respective ownership of the X-Men and Spider-Man film rights. In The Incredible Hulk, General Thaddeus "Thunderbolt" Ross extracts an experimental replica of the Super Soldier Serum to use on Emil Blonsky, from a storage lab container that references its origins in "Weapon Plus", a clandestine program dedicated to enhancing humans that was introduced by Grant Morrison and Igor Kordey in New X-Men #128 (August 2002), beginning with the Super Soldier initiative that created Steve Rogers / Captain America and Korean War veteran Isaiah Bradley, and later spun off into the Weapon X program for recruiting or capturing various mutants and turning them into agents serving national government interests, with its most notable subjects being Wolverine, Sabretooth and Deadpool among others. The origin of Steve Rogers / Captain America, retroactively established in Morrison's New X-Men run as "Weapon I", would be depicted in Captain America: The First Avenger (2011). The film Thor (2011) originally featured an alternate ending that depicted Erik Selvig, Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis running a series of tests to establish communication between Earth and Asgard, with Selvig referencing a database belonging to the organization S.W.O.R.D.. This ending was believed to have been omitted partially due to complications with the organization's film rights, as despite its origins as a cosmic-focused branch of S.H.I.E.L.D., the organization also held strong ties to mutant characters such as Abigail Brand and often comprised a rotating roster of other mutants affiliated with the X-Men and adjacent teams, being created for the 2004-08 run on Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday.

In May 2013, Whedon, who had previously directed and co-written The Avengers, announced his intentions to introduce the characters Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver in the film's sequel, later titled Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015), remarking on the characters' potential to represent "the part of the world that wouldn't necessarily agree with The Avengers", in addition to establishing a unique "brother/sister duo" dynamic that distinguished them from the other protagonists. Ownership over the character rights was a subject of dispute between Marvel and 20th Century Fox, as both characters were conceived in The X-Men #4 (March 1964) as mutant adversaries who were affiliated with the Brotherhood of Mutants that opposed the X-Men, and they were subsequently revealed to be the offspring of Erik Lensherr / Magneto, leading to Fox claiming complete control over their film adaptations. Likewise, Marvel and Disney asserted ownership due to their broader editorial history tying the pair narratively closer to the Avengers mythos than X-Men comics, with both characters joining the team's second incarnation led by Captain America in The Avengers #16 (March 1965), and subsequently becoming affiliated with spun off teams such as the West Coast Avengers, the female-oriented A-Force and the Uncanny Avengers, in addition to Wanda Maximoff playing a central role in the "Avengers Disassembled" storyline which saw the traditional team roster completely dissolved, the "House of M" crossover event where the Avengers and X-Men witnessed the depowering of virtually the entire mutant population by her reality warping abilities, and her return to the team during "Avengers: The Children's Crusade." Both studios eventually reached terms that allowed them to co-opt the film rights to the Maximoff twins, on the stipulation that Marvel Studios could not depict them as mutants or reference their familial heritage towards Magneto, while Fox could not adapt stories featuring the characters working alongside the Avengers. A reimagined version of Quicksilver named Peter Maximoff would debut in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) portrayed by Evan Peters, and would subsequently appear in its sequels X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) and Dark Phoenix (2019) in addition to a cameo appearance in Deadpool 2 (2018). Allusions to his sibling relationship towards Wanda Maximoff were cut from Days of Future Past before being restored in film's extended "Rogue Cut" release, and she ultimately went unused by Fox for the remainder of the X-Men films. Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson were respectively cast as Wanda Maximoff and Pietro Maximoff for the MCU franchise in late 2013, and made their first appearances as the characters in the post-credits scene of Captain America: The Winter Soldier (2014) to set up their roles in Age of Ultron. In the MCU, the Maximoffs are depicted as humans who were given their respective psionic and super-speed abilities through a series of experiments conducted by Hydra. While Taylor-Johnson's Quicksilver is killed during the events of Age of Ultron, Wanda's role is expanded through her subsequent appearances in Captain America: Civil War (2016), Avengers: Infinity War (2018) and Avengers: Endgame (2019). The Disney+ miniseries WandaVision (2021) fully explores the origins and breadth of Wanda's powers in an attempt to bridge the character closer towards her comic book counterpart, such as addressing her history of mental illness and notably officially introducing the Scarlet Witch moniker in the MCU after prior appearances had refrained from addressing the character by that identity. The series also establishes Wanda as possessing chaos magic abilities from birth as a natural sorceress as opposed to it being sourced from a latent mutant gene, and that the "Scarlet Witch" title referred to a legend of those capable of reality-warping and creating destructive magic that runs spontaneously, of which Wanda was identified as one such individual. The film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) also depicts her being capable of harnessing magic from the corrupted Darkhold, such as "dream walking" by possessing her alternate counterparts, power absorption and physical augmentation.

On December 14, 2017, The Walt Disney Company announced their intentions to acquire 21st Century Fox for a starting bid of $52.4 billion USD in stock, in an effort to secure 20th Century Fox's various film and television studios in addition to its entertainment licenses, which included the film rights to the X-Men alongside the Fantastic Four and Deadpool. In September 2018, Disney CEO Bob Iger stated that the aforementioned Marvel Comics characters owned by Fox were to be fully integrated into the MCU franchise following the acquisition, feeling strongly that Marvel should retain supervision over all its franchises. Following a brief bidding war with Comcast, the merger was finalized and closed on March 20, 2019 at a final total of $71.3 billion USD. X-Men film series producer Lauren Shuler Donner announced in February that Disney had put Fox's various Marvel-based projects in development "on hold", and that she wished for the franchise to go in a new direction under the leadership of Marvel Studios producer Kevin Feige, who previously collaborated with her on the original X-Men film trilogy. By mid-2019, all of Fox's Marvel IP films had been canceled as control over the characters had been completely transferred to Marvel Studios. During their Hall H panel at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2019, Kevin Feige announced that the mutant race was slated to be introduced in the MCU in the future. In a post-panel interview conducted that same day, Feige was inquired regarding his reference to mutants as opposed to explicitly identifying the X-Men team, responding that he considered the terms 'mutants' and 'X-Men' interchangeable, and that Marvel's approach to the characters would differ from their depiction in Fox's film series. In January 2021, Feige again reiterated that positive discussions were taking place regarding integrating mutant characters in the MCU, and that they had a good idea of when they could begin exploring the characters and mythos. While promoting Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania in February 2023, Feige clarified that Marvel Studios now had a solidified plan to introduce mutants in the franchise following the introductions of Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel and Namor as among the MCU's earliest identfied mutants, stating that they had been working on timing how and when they'd feature the race more prominently for years. At the world premiere of Deadpool & Wolverine in July 2024, Feige officially confirmed that the film marked the beginning of the MCU's "mutant era", with mutants set to appear more prominently in projects within the franchise going forward. Since 2022, mutants have featured in various Marvel Cinematic Universe films.

Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022)

An alternate variant of Professor Charles Xavier appears in the film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness portrayed by Patrick Stewart, reprising the character he previously played in 20th Century Fox's X-Men films. This version of the character originated on Earth-838 within the MCU's multiverse, where he served as a member of the Illuminati, a council assembled by his world's Stephen Strange / Doctor Strange that was responsible for monitoring potential threats to their timeline and the wider multiverse. He is summoned to oversee the trial of Earth-616's Doctor Strange, who is deemed as a signficant threat to the multiverse by the majority of the council for wielding the potential of causing an incursion event on their world. He later changes his view on both Strange and his companion America Chavez, directing them to acquire the Book of Vishanti they previously used to stop their world's Thanos in order to defeat Earth-616's Wanda Maximoff / Scarlet Witch, who had possessed the body of her Earth-838 counterpart and infiltrated the Illuminati's headquarters to capture Chavez, eventually killing numerous other members of the council. Xavier used his telepathy to breach 838-Wanda's mind and free her from 616-Wanda's control, but failed as a projection of the dominant Wanda appeared before Xavier and snapped his neck, psychically killing him.

Despite his appearance in the film, the movie refrains from directly referencing his mutant background or affiliation with the X-Men, with screenwriter Michael Waldron feeling as if the movie was an inappropriate place to allude to or introduce the mythos behind the characters. Professor Xavier from Earth-838 is depicted with a yellow hoverchair and similar apparel to the character's animated appearance in X-Men: The Animated Series (1992-97) and X-Men '97 (2024-present). His introduction in the film is accompanied by a brief arrangement of The Animated Series' medley by Ron Wasserman and Shuki Levy, credited in the film as "X-Men '97 Theme", and Stewart also references a line from X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014). The Savage Land, a major recurring location in Marvel Comics stories involving mutants and X-Men, appears as one of multiple alternate universes briefly traversed by Strange and Chavez during the film.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

The film Black Panther: Wakanda Forever introduces the character Namor portrayed by Tenoch Huerta, who is the first officially identified mutant to appear in an MCU film. Namor originates as the ruler of the underwater kingdom of Talokan who was conceived in 1517, shortly after his mother and their Mayan tribe ingested vibranium-infused herbs not dissimilar from the heart-shaped herb native to Wakanda. The tribe at large developed gills and various physical attributes that caused them to relocate underwater, yet Namor was additionally mutated from birth as a result of the mother consuming the herb during pregnancy; he acquired winged feet, pointed ears, greatly increased longevity, and the unique trait of being able to simultaneously breathe air and water, all of which distinguished him from the other Talokanii. Namor's mutation garners him a godlike status, being worshipped by his people as "K'uk'ulkan", the feathered-serpent god.

The Marvels (2023)

The Marvels, a sequel to the film Captain Marvel and continuation of the Disney+ miniseries WandaVision (2021) and Ms. Marvel (2022), features Kamala Khan / Ms. Marvel, who became the first confirmed active mutant in the primary MCU "Sacred Timeline" at the conclusion of the latter series. She allies herself with Carol Danvers / Captain Marvel and Monica Rambeau / Photon after discovering that the Kree radical Dar-Benn was seeking her half of the Quantum Bands to abuse their power and create "jump points" to de-stabilize other worlds out of a desire to restore Hala, which was destroyed after decades of war. Kelsey Grammer makes an uncredited cameo appearance in the film's mid-credits scene, as an alternate version of Henry "Hank" McCoy / Beast, reprising the role he played in the 20th Century Fox films X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) and X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014). He recovers Monica Rambeau after she surfaces in his universe, having sacrificed herself to close a jump point torn open by Dar-Benn during the film's climax. He theorizes that disruptions in space-time were causing anomalies from adjacent worlds to appear in other universes across the wider multiverse. He then informs Monica, alongside his world's variant of her mother Maria Rambeau / Binary, that he would return to examine them after providing a status report to his world's Charles Xavier. Beast's appearance in the film resembles both his counterpart in the comics as well as X-Men: The Animated Series and X-Men '97, as opposed to the iteration in the original X-Men film trilogy. Despite this, a portion of John Ottman's fanfare used in X2 (2003), Days of Future Past and X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) was used during his appearance in the post-credits scene.

Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

Deadpool & Wolverine is the MCU's first mutant-focused film, serving as a sequel to 20th Century Fox's X-Men films Deadpool (2016) and Deadpool 2 (2018). Taking place six years after the events of the previous film, it involves Wade Wilson being forced out of retirement after being captured by the Time Variance Authority (TVA). An agent of theirs, Paradox offers Wade the opportunity to join the "Sacred Timeline" and live among established MCU characters such as the Avengers, but reveals that his original timeline, designated as "Earth-10005", is deteriorating as a result of the demise of James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine during the events of the film Logan (2017) in 2029. Realizing that Paradox planned to accelerate his universe's decay with his "Time Ripper" due to its perceived obsolescence, Wilson steals his TemPad and travels across the multiverse to recruit an alternate, disheveled variant of Wolverine to have him act as his timeline's "anchor being". Paradox sends the pair to the Void where they are forced to team up and escape to their respective worlds while coming into conflict with Cassandra Nova and her accomplices.

The cast comprises numerous returning characters from previous 20th Century Fox X-Men films among other Marvel Comics-based films outside the MCU. In addition to the titular protagonists, the film features appearances from Piotr Rasputin / Colossus, Ellie Phimster / Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Yukio, and Rusty / Shatterstar all of whom appeared in the previous Deadpool films. Versions of mutants from the X-Men films also make appearances as members of Cassandra Nova's alliance within the Void. John Allerdyce / Pyro from X2 and X-Men: The Last Stand makes a supporting appearance as an enforcer of Nova's, but is revealed to be a double agent of the TVA sent to monitor her and ensure her containment within the Void. The original incarnation of Victor Creed / Sabretooth from X-Men (2000) is also depicted as one of Nova's compatriots, while stand-in actors are used to represent the mutants Mortimer Toynbee / Toad from X-Men, Yuriko Oyama / Lady Deathstrike from X2, Callisto, Quill and Cain Marko / Juggernaut from The Last Stand, Frederick Dukes / Blob from X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), Azazel from X-Men: First Class (2011), and Betsy Braddock / Psylocke from X-Men: Apocalypse, among others. Laura / X-23 as previously depicted in Logan and reprised by Dafne Keen appears as the leader of the "Others", a faction of heroes from across the multiverse who desire to rise against the TVA for placing them in the Void against their will, with Laura being taken from Earth-10005 following the events of the aforementioned film before being returned to her timeline per Deadpool's personal request to the TVA, where she reunited with Wilson and Logan, who decided to stay in and help preserve their universe. Recurring X-Men member Remy LeBeau / Gambit appears in the film as a member of the resistance group led by Laura, portrayed by Channing Tatum as a referential homage to the actor's planned appearance as the character in an unproduced standalone film within the X-Men film series prior to Disney's acquisition of 21st Century Fox. In addition, numerous alternate variants of Wolverine appear in a montage sequence where Deadpool attempts to find a suitable candidate for replacing his timeline's counterpart, including an amputated counterpart inspired by the character's depiction in the X-Men comic book event "Age of Apocalypse" (1995-96), a version inspired by Logan's alternate alias "Patch", a "comic-accurate" Wolverine who is depicted at the character's 5'3 height in the source material; a "crucified" variant homaging Uncanny X-Men #251 (July 1989), an "Old Man Logan"-inspired variant, and a version nicknamed "Cavillrine" by Deadpool after his visual resemblance to actor Henry Cavill. Alternate versions of Deadpool himself also appear most prominently as members of the Deadpool Corps; named variants of Wilson include Dogpool, Lady Deadpool, Kidpool, Babypool, Headpool, Cowboypool, Welshpool, Deadpool 2099, Zenpool, Watari / The Fool, Haroldpool, Golden Age Deadpool and Piratepool. Ryan Reynolds himself portrays an alternate, handsome variant of Deadpool nicknamed "Nicepool" who acted as the previous dog owner of Dogpool.

Captain America: Brave New World (2025)

The character Ruth Bat-Seraph / Sabra, a mutant in the comics, will appear in the upcoming film Captain America: Brave New World (2025) portrayed by Shira Haas. This version of the character is reimagined as a former Black Widow and high ranking U.S. government operative in order to divorce the character from her comics origin as an agent for the Israeli intelligence group Mossad. Adamantium, a major recurring element of X-Men and Wolverine comics, is also set to be introduced in the film as a valuable mineral mined from the remains of the frozen Celestial Tiamut which gives way to conflict among world powers over who claims possession over its resources.

Untitled X-Men film

A new X-Men film produced by Marvel Studios, which is expected to reboot the franchise and formally introduce the team in the MCU, entered the early stages of development in September 2023.

Unrealized projects

See also: List of unproduced X-Men film series projects and List of unproduced 20th Century Fox projects based on Marvel Comics

In June 2017, 20th Century Fox set release dates for six untitled film projects based on Marvel Comics properties, which were expected to largely comprise future installments of their X-Men film series. The films included two scheduled for 2019, three for 2020, and one for 2021. Following the completion of the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney in March 2019, the aforementioned films and various other Marvel Comics films at various stages of development were stalled and eventually canceled altogether as control over the characters reverted to Marvel Studios.

X-Men Origins: Magneto

In December 2004, Fox hired producer and screenwriter Sheldon Turner to script an X-Men spin-off film, which he decided to center around Magneto's origin story. He likened it to "The Pianist meets X-Men". The screenplay he had written took place from 1939 to 1955, following Erik Lensherr's attempts to survive and eventually escape Auschwitz, and tracking his first encounter with Charles Xavier, who would've assisted with the camp's liberation as a young soldier. Erik would've also attempted to hunt down his Nazi oppressors, and his thirst for revenge would've culminated in his friendship with Xavier being broken. The movie's plot would've been primarily conveyed through flashback sequences with younger versions of the characters depicted in their twenties, while being framed by the appearance and narration of the present Magneto (Ian McKellen). The film was in development in tandem with X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), with Blade trilogy and Batman Begins (2005) writer David S. Goyer being hired to direct in April 2007. By 2008, the film was planned to shoot in Australia and was seeking approval to film in Washington, D.C. for a 2009 release, while the story had been reworked to be set in the 1960's with a young Magneto and Xavier teaming up to fight a major antagonist. The following year, McKellen stated he would no longer reprise his role in the film due to his age, while producer Lauren Shuler Donner implied the film had been de-prioritized by the studio due to Origins: Wolverine's reception. Elements of the film's narrative were later reconfigured and used for X-Men: First Class, with Sheldon Turner ultimately receiving a story credit by the Writers Guild of America. In May 2019, First Class writer Zack Stentz confirmed that Mister Sinister would've served as Magneto's main villain, with his role being repurposed with Sebastian Shaw when transitioning towards the First Class screenplay.

Bryan Singer's X-Men 3

Although X-Men and X2 director Bryan Singer declined to return for a third film in favor of pursuing the DC Comics film Superman Returns (2006) for Warner Bros. Pictures, he had nevertheless produced a brief, rough treatment for where he had intended to take the storyline with X2 screenwriters Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris, who would also join Singer in eventually boarding Superman Returns as writers. Like The Last Stand, the film was intended to be an adaptation of "The Dark Phoenix Saga" focused around the resurrection of Jean Grey after X2's cliffhanger ending, but did not involve the subplot around the creation of a "cure" for the mutant gene, inspired by the Astonishing X-Men (2004-08) storyline "Gifted". The film would've depicted Jean using her newly awakened status and enhanced powers to liberate mutants by destroying man-made mutant convoys, with Dougherty pitching a sequence involving the destruction of mutant prisons in The Atlantic. Singer's film would've introduced Emma Frost to the film series, with Sigourney Weaver initially being eyed for the role. Frost would've been portrayed as masquerading as an empath who'd use her telepathy to manipulate Jean's emotional state while Magneto would've similarly recognized her powers' destructive potential and desired to control her. Jean would've sacrificed herself in an attempt to destroy the Phoenix Force and re-emerge as a god-like entity, which was likened by Dougherty to the "star child" in 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968). Following Jean's presumed death at the end of X2, Singer envisioned that Scott Summers / Cyclops would've stepped up in X3 to fully assume his duties as leader of the X-Men and occupy a more significant role in the film, constructing the Danger Room to train future generations of the team and other mutants at being a more efficient unit. In 2014, concept art and storyboards for Bryan Singer's version of X-Men 3 were uploaded online, primarily comprising visual exploration pieces for Jean Grey in her corrupted Dark Phoenix form.

Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class sequel

In May 2019, X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn revealed in an interview he was initially signed to helm a trilogy of films starring the principal cast and characters introduced in the aforementioned film, with X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) originally intended to be the third and concluding entry of his story arc as opposed to its direct sequel. His original plan for a First Class sequel was to develop a storyline that expanded the roles of supporting X-Men members such as Hank McCoy / Beast, Sean Cassidy / Banshee and Emma Frost, all of whom were envisioned as carrying the more optimistic and playful tone of First Class and its period piece setting when contrasted with the original X-Men film trilogy. Vaughn's sequel was similarly set in the 1970's, and was also set to feature a younger James "Logan" Howlett / Wolverine, with Tom Hardy being named by Vaughn as someone he'd ideally cast in the role. The filmmaker was originally hired to screenwrite and direct Days of Future Past and revealed that a positive response from Fox executives over his finished screenplay draft convinced them to prioritize said film over his envisioned First Class sequel. This decision would contribute to Vaughn's departure from Days of Future Past as its director in October 2012 alongside his desire to focus on Kingsman: The Secret Service (2014). Bryan Singer was hired by Fox to replace him days later, returning to the franchise for the first time since X2. Days of Future Past in its theatrically released form would additionally retcon First Class as a prequel to the original X-Men as opposed to a franchise reboot as originally planned.

X-Force

In July 2013, 20th Century Fox tapped Jeff Wadlow to write and direct a film centered around the X-Force team, which was set to be co-produced by Lauren Shuler Donner and Matthew Vaughn, who directed First Class and co-wrote Days of Future Past. Deadpool and Cable co-creator Rob Liefeld revealed in December that both characters were slated to appear in the film and that it would be released in 2017. In 2015, concept art was released online depicting Cable alongside Domino, Warpath, Cannonball and Feral comprising the team roster, though Fox declined to share whether the art had any relation to plans for the film. In 2016, the project became of interest to actor-producer Ryan Reynolds, who had just appeared as a rebooted iteration of Wade Wilson / Deadpool in the character's standalone film and felt as if he could reprise the role in said movie. Series producer Simon Kinberg felt the film had the potential to be R-rated like Deadpool in order to tonally distinguish it from the main X-Men films. Bryan Singer later stated he had pitched Fox on depicting the character Laura Kinney / X-23 appearing in the film as the new Wolverine as she debuted recently in the comics at the time. The character Betsy Braddock / Psylocke, who was slated to also appear in Singer's X-Men: Apocalypse as portrayed by Olivia Munn, was rumored to appear in the film due to the character's recurring depictions as a member of the team in the comic books; Munn herself never addressed said rumors. In February 2017, Ryan Reynolds was reported to have boarded the project to produce and co-write with Joe Carnahan, as the team was now slated to be set up in the then-forthcoming Deadpool 2 (2018), with a potential appearance in Deadpool 3 also being planned by Fox. In September 2017, Drew Goddard was hired to direct X-Force for Fox; Goddard was coincidentally attached to helm a conceptually similar anti-hero focused film centered around the Spider-Man villain ensemble The Sinister Six for Sony Pictures. Filming was originally scheduled to begin in October 2018 before X-Force, alongside other Marvel IP films in development at Fox, were stalled after the announcement of the acquisition of 21st Century Fox by Disney, which completed in March 2019 and resulted in the film's final cancellation. A variation of an X-Force team ultimately appeared in Deadpool 2, comprising Domino, Bedlam, Shatterstar, Zeitgeist, Vanisher and Peter W.

Gambit

Main article: Gambit (unproduced film)

Tim Miller's Deadpool 2

In April 2016 during that year's CinemaCon, 20th Century Fox officially announced development on Deadpool 2 (2018) had commenced with Reynolds returning to star as the eponymous character, and Tim Miller reprising his directorial duties from the first film. Miller would eventually clash with Reynolds over several creative aspects of the film's production, leading to his eventual departure from the project that October, although the split was still reported to be on amicable terms. Miller would open up on his decision to leave the film in 2019, including discussion on the differences in his vision for the film and where he found himself creatively disagreeing with Reynolds. This principally included Miller and Reynolds having different criteria for who would be cast as the character Cable after his appearance in the sequel was set up by the first film's post-credits scene. Miller intended to seek a taller actor who met the visual resemblance for the character's 6 foot-7 inches height in the comics, with Kyle Chandler reported to be the director's frontrunner for the role while Josh Brolin would ultimately be cast as the character under Reynolds' direction. Miller also screen tested numerous white actresses for the role of Domino such as Lizzy Caplan, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Sienna Miller and Ruby Rose among others, despite the producers and Reynolds preferring a Black or Latina actress being cast, as Zazie Beetz secured the role following Miller's departure. Miller's version of the film also refrained from killing off Vanessa Carlysle and had instead planned to depict her transformation into the mutant Copycat as in the comics, which was expected to expand on her romantic relationship with Wade Wilson and provide her with more direct agency over the plot than the finished film. Miller's version of Deadpool 2 also involved a supporting appearance from the Fantastic Four, with plans for Miles Teller, Michael B. Jordan, Kate Mara and Jamie Bell to reprise their respective roles from the 2015 film in an attempt to establish the characters in a shared universe with the X-Men as in the comics. Although the character Juggernaut appeared in the final film, Miller's version was intended to have him play a more significant role in the film's climax, where he would've featured in a major fight scene between against Fantastic Four member Ben Grimm / Thing. Miller would explain that Reynolds' more direct influence over Deadpool 2's production and more favored creative influence led to his decision to depart the film, ultimately concluding that "Ryan’s the face of the franchise, and he was the most important component of that, by far. So if he decides he wants to control it, then he’s going to control it."

Laura

In October 2017 following the release of Logan, the film's director and co-writer James Mangold confirmed that Fox was actively developing a spin-off film around Laura Kinney / X-23 as portrayed by Dafne Keen after the studio had been impressed by the critical and commercial success of the Warner Bros. Pictures film Wonder Woman (2017), which was considered a breakthrough for comic book films led by female protagonists. Writer Craig Kyle, who co-created the X-23 character for the animated series X-Men: Evolution (2000-03), was also revealed to be creatively involved in the project alongside Mangold himself, which was revealed to be tentatively titled Laura. In June 2023 during the press tour for Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny (2023), Mangold confirmed that while he had produced a rough story outline, the film was among the X-Men projects halted and canceled by Disney following their acquisition of 21st Century Fox, and that they had no intention of reviving the film or anything in relation to Fox's film series.

Multiple Man film

In November 2017, a film based on the mutant character Jamie Madrox / Multiple Man was revealed to be in development at 20th Century Fox. James Franco was reported to be starring as the character in addition to co-producing alongside X-Men producer Simon Kinberg, while Allan Heinberg had boarded the film as a screenwriter.

Kitty Pryde film

In January 2018, Brian Michael Bendis was reported to be attached to a standalone film focused on X-Men member Kitty Pryde as a screenwriter, with Tim Miller being hired to direct after previously working with Fox on Deadpool (2016).