Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige recently confirmed that the upcoming X-Men movie would be a “very youth-oriented” reboot (yet another one), but it was more than just a casting note. It was a statement of intent, signaling that the reboot will focus on a younger, more diverse cast of gifted youngsters who “feel like they don’t belong,” aligning more with the core themes of the X-Men comics. Feige’s new direction suggests a fresh approach to the franchise, moving away from the older, established characters that were previously depicted.
However, Feige’s fresh approach isn’t exactly novel from the perspective of comic book enthusiasts. Despite being the biggest cinematic franchise in history, the MCU is also the largest adaptation, and Marvel fans realize that the creatives at Marvel and Disney are often following a previously set blueprint. If Feige’s goal is to truly focus on young people, their struggles, and their sense of displacement, a blueprint for such a narrative already exists in one of the franchise’s earlier adaptations: the early-2000s animated series X-Men: Evolution.
The X-Men comics were, and continue to be, a metaphor for real-world discrimination, regardless of whether it’s based on race, religion, sexuality, or any other difference. Our mutant heroes are powerful, and the powers they use for good make them extraordinary, but also feared and hated by the society they protect. X-Men: Evolution took this message but reimagined the narrative in which the mutant team isn’t a group of seasoned heroes but high school students learning to navigate adolescence in a world that fears them, while also addressing their typical teenage issues and occasional angst in the background.
Basically, the series didn’t immediately toss the protagonists into global conflicts and multiversal threats. Instead, it grounded the characters in the familiar pressures of high school, all with friendships, rivalries, crushes, and the awkward processes of figuring out who they are. What’s most interesting about that particular framework is that it didn’t dilute the core message X-Men conveyed. If anything, it sharpened the message, as themes of prejudice, isolation, and identity always feel more urgent when you’re a teenager looking to figure out your place under the sun.Â
And this is exactly the kind of emotional territory Feige described in his recent press rounds, calling the X-Men comics a place to tell stories about young people who feel different, and who feel like they don’t belong. This will do two things: it will differentiate the MCU’s take on the franchise from Fox films that came before, and it will introduce younger actors to portray rising heroes. Okay, we can understand the former; while there are some great Fox-made X-Men movies, the run ended with Dark Phoenix, which was panned for weak storytelling, rushed character arcs, and franchise fatigue.
Not to mention 2020’s The New Mutants, which landed with little cultural impact, further contributing to timeline confusion and continuity contradictions on top of franchise fatigue. The new franchise “refresh” under Feige could use the MCU’s multiverse to lay the legacy iterations to rest while introducing new ones. Professor X already made his appearance in Doctor Strange 2, and Hugh Jackman returned as Wolverine in Deadpool & Wolverine (which also put an end to Chris Evans’ Human Torch), so it’s pretty reasonable to expect the rest of the cast to appear in upcoming MCU films.
Considering that Patrick Stewart‘s Professor X, Ian McKellen’s Magneto, Famke Janssen’s Jean Grey, and James Marsden’s Cyclops are slated to appear in Avengers: Doomsday, there’s a possibility that we’ll be saying our goodbyes to the old guard pretty soon. This will effectively wipe the slate clean for Feige and the creative team at the MCU to build something new. Plus, many actors are close to aging out of their respective X-Men roles, so introducing fresh faces is a good way to go forward. Perhaps we’ll get our Cavillrine, after all. Â
The casting of younger actors is also pragmatic, especially now that MCU movies aren’t automatically hitting the billion-dollar mark. In other words, the push for fresh faces could also be coming from the desire to keep the costs down. Adapting the X-Men: Evolution animated series into live-action could help Feige and the MCU accomplish everything narratively by focusing on younger, less-established characters, which not only creates more space for character growth over the course of several movies but also lowers the barrier to entry for new audiences.
Plus, a cast of twenty-somethings could feasibly carry the franchise for a decade or more. This could be a recipe for franchise success, especially since X-Men: Evolution’s fan base, many of whom were teens themselves, are now adults, ready to bring their own kids into the MCU fold and the wonderful world of Marvel Comics. Marvel did the same thing with Tom Holland’s Spider-Man movie series, and it’s probably the closest the MCU has come to the Evolution formula.
So, by drawing inspiration from X-Men: Evolution, Marvel Studios has the opportunity to craft a narrative that resonates with younger audiences, while staying true to the essence of the X-Men and the franchise’s core messaging. In the end, perhaps the direction Feige envisions for the MCU’s X-Men isn’t just a coincidence, after all.