The X-Men are finally clawing their way into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) with Avengers: Doomsday, and it won’t be their last outing in the same world. Jake Schreier, the director of Thunderbolts* (otherwise billed as The New Avengers), has been tapped to helm the next X-Men feature for Marvel Studios, which is currently undergoing some draft revisions.
Speaking to Collider, the filmmaker revealed that Beef creator Lee Sung Jin and The Bear writer/co-writer Joanna Calo are working on — or rather, rewriting — the script for the upcoming film previously penned by Michael Lesslie (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes).
“We’re still developing. You know, one of the exciting things that’s tying into Beef is that Sonny [Lee] and Joanna both worked on this season. Obviously, I mean, Beef is Sonny’s show, and Joanna worked on the season as well, and we worked together on Season 1 of Beef and on Thunderbolts*. They have come in and are working on a draft right now, which is really exciting to be able to put that group of people together again,” said Schreier.
“When you go back and read X-Men [comics], there’s ideology but also interpersonal drama, almost of a soap opera quality. Having writers who understand both how to drive ideology from personal stakes, if we get that right, that’s what will feel most honest to what X-Men can be.”
This comes after Lesslie himself reworked an earlier script by Aaron Rabin and Zach Dean, with story details kept under lock and key. However, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige previously shared that the reborn X-Men team will go in a “very youth-oriented” direction that “may be reflected in mutant castings [and] be felt in the tone and perspective of the film”.
No cast has been announced yet, but Stranger Things star Sadie Sink’s role in Spider-Man: Brand New Day — marking her MCU debut — is largely believed to be Jean Grey. Whoever she plays, one thing’s for certain: the character will return in Avengers: Secret Wars, the follow-up to Doomsday set to hit cinemas in 2027.
Si Jia is a casual geek at heart – or as casual as someone with Sephiroth’s theme on her Spotify playlist can get. A fan of movies, games, and Japanese culture, Si Jia’s greatest weakness is the Steam Summer Sale. Or any Steam sale, really.
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