Hey geeks, I’m sure you guys have heard the recent rumours about Disney purchasing FOX or striking a deal with FOX. Of course, as you could imagine, Marvel fans went nuts over this idea. Why, you might ask? X-Men of course, more specifically, X-Men in the MCU. There are a few glaring problems with this idea though, things that just don’t make sense within the MCU. That’s what I’ll be looking at in this essay. The problems that the MCU will face if they decide to implement the X-Men into the MCU. So without further ado, flame on!!

X-Men Debacle

The biggest problem by far. The X-Men themself have so many members that unanticipatedly introducing them to the MCU will feel off. Why? Well, as you know the MCU has been going on for almost a decade and within that time, Marvel Studios have created a believable, intricate universe. They’ve introduced fan-favourite characters such as Iron Man, Rocket Raccoon and most recently, Spider-Man. Then the X-Men just come out of nowhere? They were under S.H.I.E.L.D’s radar this whole time? It just doesn’t sense within this deeply established universe. I asked people on the Comic Black Book discord server and they said a variety of things, the screenshots will show up on screen:

The Hide-Out Idea

One of the ideas that popped up in my conversaation with members of the Comic Black Book discord server was that the X-Men were hiding out, they were part of a secret civilization this whole time! There’s a few problems with this idea. First of all, as you saw one of the members bring up; S.H.I.E.L.D would have probably found out about the X-Men by now, there are tons of X-Men, over 95, I believe! You’re saying that the X-Men wouldn’t have been found out by S.H.I.E.L.D? Now, now, I know that Marvel Studios won’t use ALL the X-Men but, even then, if they use the team from the FOX movies, that’s a sizeable amount of superheroes. I highly, HIGHLY doubt that they could have been under S.H.I.E.L.D’s radar for this long.

The Doctor Strange Portal Idea

I like this idea, it works. It’s been established before that Doctor Strange can create portals to other universes or dimensions so we can just say that everything that happened in the previous X-Men movies happened in another universe, we’ll all be happy then, right? We’ll get the cast from the previous X-Men movies and the X-Men movies will be part of continuity. Everyone’s happy! Besides two men named Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart. You see, if they were to get the X-Men from the “FOX universe,” it would be ideal to get the same cast as before so audiences know that they’re the same X-Men. Problem is, Hugh Jackman has stated that he didn’t want to play Wolverine anymore unless the X-Men crossed over with the Avengers. I know you’re probably thinking to yourself “but isn’t that the whole idea of the X-Men coming to the MCU to meet members of the Avengers?” Well, yes, sort of but in the past, Marvel Studios have given these teams their own spotlight before a crossover. Look at the Guardians of the Galaxy: they got two stand-alone movies before they even met any members of the Avengers. Anyway, there’s still the Patrick Stewart dilemma, he has stated he doesn’t want to star in any more X-Men films, no exceptations. I’ve actually thought of a way around this though: Professor X is an old man and all people die of old age, they could have a whole storyline about Professor X being dead and the X-Men having no “leader” so they’re just lost, then Doctor Strange opens a portal and the X-Men join the Avengers. Seems like the last two issues have just been fixed, there’s probably a few of you thinking “now he’s just scrambling for anything that is against the X-Men partaking in the MCU.” Well, I have one more point, one more thing that disproves everything I just said about dimension travelling. That problem is: casuals.

The “Casual” Dilemma

It goes without saying that a sizeable amount of people that consume Marvel movies or TV shows are there to see the one movie. They don’t want the X-Men to appear out of nowhere and then they’re out of the loop because they haven’t seen the previous X-Men movies. Marvel Studios knows about this and creates media that can be enjoyed as a standalone experience but at the same time contributes to the wider MCU plotline. Whatever movie that the X-Men show up in, will confuse people. (Keep in mind I’m referring to if they go with the Doctor Strange idea.) This wouldn’t be a problem if this happened in a standalone movie and the portal segement happened near the end but then, what will they do throughout this 2 hour and 30 minute movie? Professor X is dead (he has to be since there will be no other believable explanation for Patrick Stewart’s absence) so what will the X-Men do in this stand-alone movie, huh? Will we have a Breakfast Club-type movie where the X-Men just talk for th length of a feature film? I seriously can’t think of any premise for this movie. If you have any ideas, then please, tell me.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I think the X-Men could join the MCU but the writers are going to have to think hard about how they’ll implement them.

Anyway, thanks for reading this essay. Remember, this is my opinion and if you have any ideas on how Marvel Studios could implement the X-Men then please, tell me! Also, if you’re reading this on my blog then be sure to check out Comic Black Book. Tons of articles, essays etc. are posted to that site by fans of the comic book medium. If you’re reading this on Comic Black Book then please, check out my blog. I post articles, essays etc. about videogames, movies and all other things geeky! Thanks for reading and have a great day!