They are some of the most recognizable names in the Marvel cinematic universe (even if they aren’t necessarily part of the MCU itself just yet), but the X-Men are now under criticism from Marvel Studios’ new president of Physical, Post Production, VFX, and Animation, Victoria Alonso for having a non-inclusive team moniker.
According to the entertainment outlet, We Got This Covered, Alonso did an interview with the sci-fi and film YouTube program, Nuke the Fridge, where she “hinted that internal thinking is that the name ‘X-Men’ isn’t sufficiently inclusive.”
“I don’t know where the future is going. It’s funny that people call it the X-Men, there’s a lot of female superheroes in that X-Men group, so I think it’s outdated,” she said.
Alonso quickly segued into a discussion of non-movie Marvel universe expansions, but the quote seems to link up with earlier reports that MCU primary, Kevin Feige, wanted to bring the cinematic universe into line with the comic books, which have trended “woke” in recent years. Alonso also seems to be a driving force behind pushing the MCU in a more “woke” direction, recently promoting a decision to make perpetual villain Loki “gender fluid,”
But while Marvel could claim the shift is related to a more “progressive” approach to the characters and the MCU as a whole, it is more likely that a new “woke” X-Men (or X-Persons) would solve issues related to pulling a group of characters who already have a successful movie franchise of their own into a more expansive universe of films.
Disney acquired the rights to the X-Men in 2019 when it acquired 20th Century Fox, and, according to Screen Rant, Marvel Studios has been working on incorporating characters from the X-Men into the larger Marvel universe, pulling from some deeper cuts from the comics.
The Disney+ series, “Wanda-vision” introduced SWORD, the space-based companion organization to SHIELD, familiar to MCU fans and first a part of the X-Men universe. “Falcon and Winter Soldier” showed viewers the criminal-run island of Madripoor, which served, at one point, as a base for the X-Men.
More familiar characters though, like Charles Xavier, Storm, Cyclops, and Wolverine, have will be more difficult to reintroduce, which may be why Marvel Studios is, in fact, appears to be branding their initial X-Men installment as “The Mutants.”
“Following news that the R-rated Deadpool 3 starring Ryan Reynolds as the mutant Merc with a Mouth will be part of the MCU, we are now learning that Marvel Chief Creative Officer, Kevin Feige, will be producing an X-Men reboot, titled The Mutants. Still in the early development stages, it is currently unclear just what the team in the Marvel Studios reboot will look like,” Hypebeast reported back in March.
No details are currently available about the film, and it does not yet appear to have a script or a director attached, and those factors may depend on how the more progressive films in the Marvel universe sell to audiences. Marvel Studios’ most progressive feature yet, “The Eternals,” has a release date that remains “fluid,” per The Direct, as Marvel reviews the performance of “Black Widow” and “Shang-Chi.”