"We want to do two things," Feige began (via machine translation). "First, to bring some storylines to a close, those that started long before Iron Man, including the original X-Men characters. Second, to simultaneously set the stage for the future.
"Avengers: Endgame was truly an end, and since then, we've tried and experimented with many new things. But [Secret Wars] is a beginning. It will establish a streamlined, simplified, single universe that audiences can keep up with. Some things will be familiar, but many, many things will be entirely new."
Feige said that the new don't-call-it-a-reboot post-Secret Wars MCU will hopefully attract a "new generation of audiences" to Marvel, something that tallies with past comments by Feige that, one day, the franchise will eventually bring in new versions of existing heroes such as Iron Man. For now, though, Marvel seems to have one major brand in mind to lead the next saga: the X-Men.
"Fundamentally, the X-Men will be at its core," Feige said. "Acquiring the X-Men rights isn't just about... for example, Wolverine is an outstanding character, and we were able to team him up with Deadpool, which is great. But the X-Men are far more than just Wolverine, far more than the original team; fundamentally, it's a universe, a multi-stage saga. Much of that is what we're working towards."
In other words, don't expect Jake Schreier's upcoming X-Men movie to be a one-and-done affair (although, honestly, this always seemed a remote possibility). Instead, the X-Men sound like they'll form the bedrock of Marvel's storytelling in the post-Secret Wars era, which seems fitting, since the next phase will be known as the Mutant Saga.
"We were just in a Marvel Studios meeting room, planning movies all the way up to 2042," Feige revealed. "Whether we can make it to 2042? Who knows? Will it be those movies? Who knows? But this is how we approach and plan the vast amount of potential stories in the comics. We're constantly changing, constantly evolving, but having some guidance helps us act more purposefully… especially with X-Men — it's already had 10 movies, some very, very good, some I think haven't lived up to expectations — how do we plan the Mutant Saga in a very grand way?"
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