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While Marvel and DC are busy building sprawling cinematic universes, ones with multiple movies per year and internet-shaking announcements, Fox’s X-Men movie franchise is, well, also doing that–you just might not have noticed.
To be fair, the X-franchise is all over the map when compared to Marvel Studios and DC Entertainment’s movie lines. There isn’t just one X-Men film franchise, there are three: the original franchise, the decade-jumping franchise, and, well, Deadpool. And to be honest, all three of those movie lines blur together in ways that make even the most knowledgeable X-fan confused. Seriously, I’d rather explain Psylocke’s origin to my boss than try to untangle the X-movie timeline(s).
There’s also been a sense of finality to the X-Men line over the past few years. 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past sent off the original cast (Famke Janssen, Halle Berry, James Marsden, Anna Paquin, etc.) in a touching coda, X-Men: Apocalypse had a disappointing run at the domestic box office last year, and Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart said goodbye to their characters earlier this year in the visceral Logan. With Wonder Woman and Spider-Man: Homecoming dominating the box office, you’ve probably forgotten about the X-franchise.
Never count the X-Men out! There are a lot of X-Movies on the way, even if they’re buzzless at the moment. Here’s what we know about Fox’s five upcoming X-Movies. Get hyped!
'New Mutants'
Directed By: Josh Boone
Written By: Josh Boone & Kante Gwaltney and Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber
Starring: Maisie Williams (Wolfsbane), Anya Taylor-Joy (Magik), Charlie Heaton (Cannonball), Blu Hunt (Dani Moonstar), Henry Zaga (Sunspot), Alice Braga (Dr. Cecilia Reyes)
Based On: The New Mutants #18-21 (1984) by Chris Claremont and Bill Sienkiewicz
Release Date: April 13, 2018
The next X-Universe film has the potential to be the biggest departure for the franchise since Deadpool. New Mutants (or possibly X-Men: The New Mutants) will focus on an all-new team of teen mutants and the tone is gonna be straight-up Stephen King-style horror. Think Stranger Things meets X-Men: First Class, a comparison helped by the fact that Stranger Things alum Charlie Heaton is playing Kentucky-born good guy Cannonball.
For diehard comic fans, this movie is a big deal. New Mutants was the first official X-Men spinoff comic when it launched in 1983, and the characters have become some of the most beloved B-listers in the Marvel Universe. The young cast also has a crazy awesome pedigree: Game of Thrones (Williams), The VVitch (Taylor-Joy), 13 Reasons Why (Zaga), The Originals (Hunt), and the aforementioned Stranger Things (Heaton). Rounding out the cast is the lovable and weird techno-organic alien Warlock (a CG creation; a voice actor has not yet been announced) and, as some rumors suggest, James McAvoy as Professor X. Filming is currently underway, too; if you want a taste of what this movie will look like, you can see the young cast hanging out on Henry Zaga’s Instagram.
If you’re rolling your eyes at New Mutants similarity to ultra-hot Stranger Things, know that the series has legit ’80s horror cred. The story itself will be inspired by the New Mutants storyline “The Demon Bear Saga,” which was published in 1984, concurrent with all the pop culture that inspired Stranger Things. Tonally, this movie seems on point. You can watch an early animatic for one of the film’s proposed action scenes here.
Behind the camera is Josh Boone, the director of 2014’s The Fault in Our Stars. Boone, a New Mutants superfan, also did the first pass on the script, which was then handed over to Fault screenwriters Neustadter and Weber.
'Deadpool 2'
Directed By: David Leitch
Written By: Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick and Drew Goddard
Starring: Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool), Josh Brolin (Cable), Zazie Beetz (Domino), Morena Baccarin (Vanessa), Leslie Uggams (Blind Al), T.J. Miller (Weasel), Brianna Hildebrand (Negasonic Teenage Warhead), Stefan Kapicic (Colossus), Jack Kesy (Black Tom Cassidy)
Based On: No specific source material has been cited, but based on the new cast additions, 1991’s X-Force: Force To Be Reckoned With by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza and 1994’s Deadpool: The Circle Chase by Mark Waid and Joe Madureira could be worth reading.
Release Date: June 1, 2018
Surprising everyone except for the hardcore Dead-heads, Deadpool–an R-rated action/comedy starring a once obscure antihero–earned $783M on a $60M production budget. You bet Fox greenlit Deadpool 2 ASA-F’in-P. Even the filmmakers knew a sequel was a lock; DP‘s post-credits scene featured Reynolds’ merc with a mouth spilling the beans about the follow-up, confirming that fan favorite X-character Cable would appear in the film.
Deadpool’s post-credits predictions have come to pass and a sequel is coming next summer with Cable (played by Josh Brolin) in tow. Like all the great X-characters, Cable is a big deal and he has a lot going on. A cyborg soldier from a post-apocalyptic and war-torn distant future, Cable traveled to the present day in an attempt to prevent his horrific future from coming to pass. Over the years he’s endured extended team-ups with Wade Wilson, so his inclusion in DP2 is a no-brainer. Cable is also the son of Cyclops and a clone of Jean Grey but, uh, who knows if that will be brought up in the film.
Also joining the cast is Atlanta’s Zazie Beetz as Domino, Cable’s partner-in-gun-fights (and sometimes romance). To sum her up, Domino is basically the X-Men’s Black Widow. She is also a mutant, and her power is luck-based (things tend to fall into place for her).
Pretty much everyone else from Deadpool is back for more, including Wade’s GF Vanessa, his BFF Weasel, his roomie Blind Al, and his X-Frenemies Colossus and Negasonic Teenage Warhead. Jack Kesy (The Strain) has been cast in an unrevealed villain role, although rumors have him pegged as the Irish baddie Black Tom Cassidy. He channels bio-blasts through his special shillelagh, so, uh, get ready for a lot of shillelagh-themed innuendo.
The sequel has hit a few speed bumps, though. Deadpool director Tim Miller walked away from the project and was replaced by John Wick and Atomic Blonde helmer David Leitch. Considering his action cred, it looks like Deadpool 2 is in good and bloody hands.
'X-Men: Dark Phoenix'
Directed By: Simon Kinberg
Written By: Simon Kinberg
Starring: Sophie Turner (Jean Grey), Tye Sheridan (Cyclops), Alexandra Shipp (Storm), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Nightcrawler), James McAvoy (Professor X), Evan Peters (Quicksilver), Nicholas Hoult (Beast), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), Michael Fassbender (Magneto), Lamar Johnson
Based On: X-Men #129-137 (1980) by Chris Claremont and John Byrne
Release Date: November 2, 2018
2018 will close with a third X-movie, the official follow-up to 2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse. As with the previous big, X-Men team movies (2011’s First Class, 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, and last year’s Apocalypse), this one’s jumping ahead in time to the 1990s. You’ll get to see the X-Men team established at the end of Apocalypse (Jean Grey, Cyclops, Storm, Nightcrawler, Quicksilver, with Beast, Xavier, and Mystique as mentors) dropped into the middle of what many consider to be the greatest, most tragic X-Men story ever told–and this isn’t its first time being adapted.
Simon Kinberg is getting a second chance at adapting “The Dark Phoenix Saga” for film. He admits that he botched it with 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, a film that traded the comic storyline’s space opera flavor for a low-stakes Earthbound skirmish. Thanks to the timeline reset in Days of Future Past, Kinberg has another chance to tell the tale of Jean Grey’s dangerous ascension to mutant godhood. This time around he’s going all-in on the outer space stuff, too; Jessica Chastain is reportedly in talks to play Majestrix Lilandra Neramani of the Shi’ar Empire, an alien empress determined to destroy the Phoenix (a.k.a. Jean Grey) to save the galaxy.
Kinberg, who has written or produced nearly every X/Deadpool/Wolverine movie since The Last Stand, will make his directorial debut with Dark Phoenix. Additionally, Lamar Johnson (The Next Step) has been cast in an unrevealed role and the mutant pop star/superhero Dazzler is expected to appear.
'X-Force'
Directed By: Joe Carnahan (rumored)
Written By: Joe Carnahan & Ryan Reynolds (rumored)
Starring: Ryan Reynolds (Deadpool)
Based On: Too far out to tell, but when it comes to X-Force and Deadpool, you can’t go wrong with 1991’s X-Force: Force To Be Reckoned With by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza.
Release Date: TBA
Past 2018, X-movies get very “TBA”-y. X-Force, a movie starring the X-Men’s paramilitary action-oriented spinoff team, has been in the works since 2013. Originally Kick-Ass 2 director Jeff Wadlow was attached, but that iteration of X-Force (whatever it was) has since dissolved. Since then, Deadpool happened and now X-Force is hitched to DP’s wagon.
Ryan Reynolds made it clear during Deadpool’s February 2016 press tour that getting an X-Force film made was a high priority. Reynolds is rumored to star, produce, and co-write the film; The Grey director Joe Carnahan is also rumored to be onboard as director and co-writer.
Screenwriter Rhett Reese has said that Deadpool 2 is being used to set up X-Force. That makes sense considering that X-Force stalwarts Domino and Cable are being introduced in Deadpool 2. Spinning them off into their own team, with Deadpool along for the ride as either an ally or annoyance, makes sense.
There’s still one big question: will next year’s New Mutants have anything to do with the X-Force movie spinning out of Deadpool 2? In the comics, the New Mutants and X-Force are almost the same team; the New Mutants title was relaunched as X-Force in 1991, and the team rosters have a lot of overlap. Sunspot, Cannonball, Wolfsbane, and Dani Moonstar have all been members of an iteration of X-Force, but it’s not yet known if any of them will appear in the X-Force movie.
'Gambit'
Directed By: TBA
Written By: Chris Claremont and Josh Zetumer and Reid Carolin
Starring: Channing Tatum (Gambit)
Based On: Again, too early to tell, but the film’s treatment was written by Gambit creator Chris Claremont. Gambit’s debut under Claremont in 1990’s Uncanny X-Men #266-267 may be worth checking out.
Release Date: TBA
Poor Gambit.
The X-Men’s Ragin’ Cajun has been trying to charm his way into theaters for years. Tatum spent the White House Down press tour doing his best Cajun accent in an attempt to get a Gambit film off the ground. His gambit worked and a film starring the card-throwin’ scoundrel was announced with Tatum attached as star and producer. Gambit was supposed to open in October 2016. Remember Tatum’s crazy hair at the 2016 Golden Globes? That was most likely for Gambit! Obviously things didn’t go according to plan, because there is still no Gambit movie. Original director Rupert Wyatt left the project, and his replacement Doug Liman split almost a year later. Gambit’s release date kept getting pushed back, until it was finally taken off the calendar.
X-producer Simon Kinberg still has hope that it will happen, though; he said Tatum’s devotion to Gambit is similar to what Reynolds felt for Deadpool, and we know how that turned out. When last Kinberg talked about the project, he said he hoped it would go into production in early 2018. Tatum even talked about the project yesterday, saying that it’s still very much in the cards and that the success of distinct and unique movies like Deadpool and Logan, which both opened while Gambit was in limbo, has changed their approach to the film.
