If This Rumor Is True, I’m Convinced Marvel Is Making the Right Choice with the X-Men

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The X-Men are officially coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe–and the latest rumor should give fans hope that the franchise will get the iconic superhero team right. The MCU has been slowly building up to the introduction of the X-Men since Disney bought 20th Century Fox in 2019, officially obtaining the film rights to the mutants from Marvel Comics. Over the last six years, various mutants have been introduced to the franchise, including Namor, Ms. Marvel, Deadpool, and Wolverine. However, there has still been no official confirmation as to how the MCU plans to integrate the X-Men team into the larger franchise. Now, a new rumor may finally reveal the answer.

A recent report suggests that Marvel Studios is developing an X-Men series for the MCU. This would potentially take the form of a long-form, multi-season Disney+ series that charts the exploits of Marvel’s signature mutant team. While unconfirmed, this series could take the place of a potential movie reboot, which is what many fans were expecting when it was announced that the X-Men would be joining the MCU. Despite the lackluster quality of certain MCU Disney+ series in recent years, I’m convinced that this is the best way to reboot the X-Men. Not only is it a perfect way to introduce the team to the MCU, but it also allows Marvel to fix some of the biggest mistakes made in the original Fox franchise.

Why an X-Men Series Works Better Than Movies

An X-Men Disney+ Series Can Do What the Fox Movie Franchise Never Could

I’m more excited about the MCU’s X-Men reboot being a television series than a movie franchise. Perhaps one of my biggest complaints with the X-Men films was that they almost always focused on the same heroes. Characters like Wolverine, Professor X, and Jean Grey all played significant roles in almost every movie in Fox’s franchise. While this makes sense given these characters’ popularity, it also left less room for other characters to shine. Even major X-Men like Cyclops and Storm were often relegated to the background, giving them very few cool moments to stand out in viewers’ minds. This left other, more periphery characters from the comics even less time to stand out. While the comics feature hundreds upon hundreds of mutants, the movies only ever focused on a handful. The increased runtime of a television series negates this problem, giving the MCU way more time to explore the many different mutants who make up the X-Men. Characters other than Wolverine, Professor X, and the like will finally have their chance to shine across multiple seasons of television.

This also opens the door for the MCU to explore forgotten X-Men villains as antagonists. A hallmark problem of superhero movie franchises is that villains are often undercut in one-off appearances. In the comics, certain villains plague their superhero nemeses over the years, returning again and again to sow chaos throughout the world. Because of the limited nature of a movie, most great supervillains only ever appear once or, if they’re lucky, twice. While the X-Men franchise defied this standard with characters like Magneto and Mystique, the tradeoff was that the movies had little time to explore other villains. A television series, on the other hand, offers opportunities to explore new “villains of the week” with each new episode, helping flesh out the X-Men’s rogues gallery far beyond what a movie franchise could ever do. While significant villains like Magneto should get an abundance of screen time, a television format allows for other villains to make their play at the X-Men as well.

A Disney+ series would also have more time to adapt classic X-Men stories in all their glory. Fox’s X-Men franchise made attempts at adapting classic comic stories like “Days of Future Past” and “Dark Phoenix” to varying degrees of success. However, it has also proven incredibly difficult for superhero movies to properly adapt comic storylines. Comics have the benefit of running storylines over months or even years, whereas movies are generally confined to two hours. A television series, however, is much better suited to adapting a full storyline. X-Men: The Animated Series and X-Men ’97 are perfect examples of why a television format works better for the mutant team than movies. Classic storylines from the comics have time to breathe over multiple-episode arcs, allowing for more creative freedom and a more faithful adaptation.

The X-Men movies had great moments, but they could never fully do justice to Marvel’s most iconic superhero team. While we all want to see the X-Men shine on the big screen with the Avengers and the Fantastic Four, it makes more sense for their main adventures to take the form of a Disney+ series. With room for more heroes, villains, and classic storylines, an X-Men series sounds far better to me than yet another franchise full of the same old characters and rushed storylines. The MCU’s X-Men reboot can’t just be a rehash of Fox’s franchise–it needs to be better. A television series can do what the movies never could.

What an X-Men Series Needs to Learn From Other MCU Disney+ Shows

Marvel Is Finally Fixing Its Disney+ Problem

While an X-Men series sounds great, it also runs the risk of falling into the same pitfalls as the MCU’s other recent Disney+ series. Marvel’s expansion into streaming series in Phase 4 was met with mixed reviews. While shows like WandaVision and Loki have been widely praised, others have fallen well short of fans’ expectations. Some shows, like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law and Secret Invasion, are widely considered to be among the worst projects in the MCU, giving the franchise’s television offerings a reputation of being very hit-or-miss. Thankfully, Marvel Studios seems to be learning from its recent troubles, pivoting its television projects in a whole new direction. A common complaint about its early streaming series was that they were strangely paced due to their limited series format. Now, Marvel is dedicated to producing multi-season television shows like Daredevil: Born Again, which have the opportunity to tell many stories and pick up a large following over many years. The X-Men can’t be subject to the original Marvel television treatment of a single six-episode season that rushes to a hasty conclusion. This is a team that needs the chance to breathe, growing learning, and accomplish great things together for many seasons.

The X-Men can be the MCU’s best superhero team if handled properly. A multi-season series focusing on the exploits of the X-Men over many years is the perfect format with which to introduce them to the MCU. A series leaves room for a more expansive cast, including fresh villains besides the same ones who pop up in almost every movie adaptation. Furthermore, a multi-season arc gives the show plenty of time to explore iconic storylines and adapt them properly (who knows, maybe we’d finally get a satisfying live-action “Dark Phoenix” adaptation!). While I understand the tendency to put Marvel’s most iconic characters on the big screen, I think the studio would be wise to let their adventures play out on Disney+.

X-Men

Since their debut in 1963, Marvel’s X-Men have been more than just another superhero team. While the team really hit its stride as the All New, All Different X-Men in 1975, Marvel’s heroic mutants have always operated as super-outcasts, protecting a world that hates and fears them for their powers.

Key members of the X-Men include Professor X, Jean Grey, Cyclops, Wolverine, Iceman, Beast, Rogue, and Storm. Often framed as the world’s second strongest superheroes, after the Avengers, they are nonetheless one of Marvel’s most popular and important franchises.

“}]] A new rumor supposedly reveals Marvel’s plans for rebooting the X-Men in the MCU. If true, I’m convinced fans will be happy with the outcome.  Read More