20th Century Fox Halle, Hugh, Robert — it's been a honor, but all good things must come to an end. Following 2027'sAvengers: Secret Wars, several key characters in the MCU will be recast, including Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and the full team ofX-Men,Marvel StudiospresidentKevin Feigeannounced during a Friday press event,Varietyreported. Feige said the company is "utilizing"Secret Wars"not just to round out the stories we've been telling post-Endgame, just as importantly — and you can look at the at theSecret Warscomics for where that takes you — it very, very much sets us up for the future...Endgame, literally, was about endings.Secret Warsis about is about beginnings." Marvel has slowed the pace of MCU releases from the franchise's point of greatest saturation, the mid-to-late 2010s, in which three, even four films were released per year. The company released only one film in 2024,Deadpool & Wolverine, and though three are slated for this year —Captain America: Brave New WorldandThunderbolts*, both previously released, andThe Fantastic Four: First Steps, coming next weekend — there's just one film apiece pegged to 2026 and 2027:Avengers: DoomsdayandAvengers: Secret Wars. Secret Warsrepresents a critical reorienting juncture for the franchise, Feige indicated, but hesitated to call it a reboot. "'Reboot' is a scary word... Reboot can mean a lot of things to a lot of people," he explained, describing the film instead as a "reset" for the MCU. "Reset, singular timeline — we're thinking along those lines." Zade Rosenthal/Walt Disney Pictures/courtesy Everett "X-Men is where that will happen next," he added. It's no surprise that Feige is is pegging a "reset" to the X-Men, given the company's years-long effort tobuy the characters backfrom 21st Century Fox, which finally came to fruition in 2019 when Disney, Marvel's parent company,acquired Fox. In 2024, Feige teased "a new age of mutantsand of the X-Men," and this past March, Marvel finally announced that after a smattering of X-Men teases in MCU films — the original films' starKelsey Grammerappeared as Beast inThe Marvels, whilePatrick Stewart's Professor X showed up inDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness—Avengers: Doomsdaywill officially mark the MCU'sfirst full showing of X-Men characters. Want more movie news? Sign up forEntertainment Weekly's free newsletterto get the latest trailers, celebrity interviews, film reviews, and more. Stewart,Ian McKellen,Alan Cumming,Rebecca Romijn, andJames Marsdenhave all been confirmed to reprise their roles in the MCU.Channing Tatum, who finally brought X-Men fan-favorite character Gambit to the big screen inDeadpool & Wolverine, will also join them. "There've been more X-Men movies than there were Spidey movies or Fantastic Four movies, so a lot has been done," Feige noted, while speaking at a recentFantastic Fourroundtable,ScreenRant reported. "But again, because it's almost a comic legacy unto itself, there's so much more to tap into it and there's so many sagas within sagas for X-Men." 20th Century Fox The last time theX-Menfranchise saw a major cast overhaul was for 2011 prequel filmX-Men First Class. The new cast includedJames McAvoyas Professor X,Michael Fassbenderas Magneto,Jennifer Lawrenceas Mystique, andNicholas Houltas Beast. Old then met new in 2014'sX-Men: Days of Future Past, in whichHugh Jackman's Wolverine from the original films goes back in time to collaborate with the prequel films' stars, while the film cuts between the two timelines and their different casts, includingHalle Berryas Storm,Anna Paquinas Rogue,Famke Janssenas Jean Grey, among other stars of the original films. X-Men: Apocalypsein 2016 andDark Phoenixin 2019 also starred the McAvoy- and Fassbender-led prequels cast, though the later films did not enjoy the same enthusiastic critical reception the first two films featuring the prequel cast did. Read the original article onEntertainment Weekly
