Warning: This article contains spoilers for Spider-Man: Brand New Day.The MCU has already provided what appears to be its best preview of what to expect from the story and overall execution of the upcoming X-Men movie all the way back in 2025 now. Though the X-Men and Marvel’s mutant characters were missing from much of the franchise’s early days, the MCU timeline has steadily incorporated more and more of this side of the lore into its landscape, eventually even having the Fox X-Men universe becoming a part of the MCU multiverse as per releases like The Marvels and Deadpool & Wolverine.
With an MCU X-Men movie on the horizon, the spotlight is back on this corner of Marvel’s comic lore on-screen again in a big way, and animated alternate universe X-Men series X-Men ’97 has shown just how much the team’s stories can resonate with fans if executed just right.
Now curiosity is ebbing ever higher for the future of the franchise and the X-Men’s first dedicated MCU movie, it’s all the more interesting to note that one of the MCU’s most relatively recent releases appears to have done a sterling job of teasing what to expect from the impending MCU X-Men movie, and a little of what its actual story might delve into as well.
Thunderbolts* Already Looks Like A Perfect Preview Of What The MCU’s X-Men Movie Will Look Like
With Thunderbolts* director Jake Schrier set to direct the MCU’s X-Men movie as well, there’s one readily apparent way the two films will have parallels, since they will share a sense of artistic vision given the same person is overseeing both projects. The positive reviews of Thunderbolts* make this seem like a promising concept, given the praise leveled at the 2025 film’s ability to balance all its central characters, and its ability to be a film that evokes much emotion and makes the formation of the new MCU team throughout the movie’s story feel earned and natural.
With these faucets of the film all being things people are also hoping will be true for the MCU’s X-Men movie, the fact the two films have the same main architect bodes well to say the least. That said, Thunderbolts* also appears to pave the way for the X-Men movie in some other exciting ways too.
Thunderbolts* is the most recent MCU team movie to show internal conflicts between its central group, who have a range of different ideologies, moral compasses, and perspectives on what it means to be a hero – and indeed, whether they want to be a hero in the first place. While the X-Men are oftentimes more staunchly heroic figures, this works well as a sort of preliminary look at the kinds of divisions and conflicts that are rife in the team in the comics, and that it seems will be a part of the MCU given its depiction of Jean Grey.
Jean Grey’s MCU Debut Supports The Idea Of The X-Men Movie Being Similar To Thunderbolts* In Many Ways
Spider-Man: Brand New Day‘s depiction of Jean Grey helps provide an interesting picture of what the MCU seems set to do with the X-Men themselves in the franchise. Jean serves as a central antagonist for much of the movie’s story, with it only being revealed in the film’s final act that she is more of an antihero of sorts, having been searching for her kidnapped sister who was previously being tortured by the Department of Damage Control because of her powers.
Naturally, this sets up the MCU’s X-Men to have at least one antihero within it, and a figure who no doubt will clash with the more idealistic heroes within the eventual lineup, adding more parallels with Thunderbolts* itself.
Similarly, Brand New Day‘s story with Jean Grey makes sure to emphasize the ways in which mutant characters are being mistreated actively within the MCU in the universe’s present day. This is an early sign the franchise’s X-Men will have to navigate the prejudices that their comic counterparts face too, inevitably setting up differences in how the MCU’s various mutant heroes feel about these matters – once again giving them a sense of agency, and ensuring that the group keeps the vibrancy and distinct personalities that made Thunderbolts* and its team so interesting.
- Movie(s)
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X-Men (2000), X2, X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), X-Men: First Class (2011), The Wolverine (2013), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), Deadpool (2016), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Logan (2017), Deadpool 2 (2018), Dark Phoenix (2019), The New Mutants, Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)
- TV Show(s)
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X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men, X-Men (1992), X-Men: Evolution (2000), Wolverine and the X-Men (2008), Marvel Anime: Wolverine, Marvel Anime: X-Men, Legion (2017), The Gifted (2017), X-Men ’97 (2024)