MCU Speculation: X-Men
The Marvel Cinematic Universe has been expanding for nearly thirteen years at this point. When it first started, it was easy to explain away why any new superhero hadn’t been heard of sooner. The world was small, the heroes existed mostly in their own bubbles, but then they all came together.
Now, whenever the MCU introduces a new hero, they have two options:
1) Their first movie (or show) is when they first become the superhero.
2) They have been acting as a hero for some time, but there is a reason they have flown under the radar.
For an example of each, we can look at Ant-Man. Scott Lang is the first type, where this movie is about him getting the Ant-Man suit and becoming a hero. Hank Pym acts as the second type, having been Ant-Man decades prior to the main events of the movie. They explain Hank Pym’s existence away by having his missions be covert and quitting SHIELD before the time when most of the other movies take place.
We know that mutants are coming to the MCU eventually. And, well, they come with their own unique complications.
Hank Pym was one man. This makes it is easy to explain why he hadn’t been talked about sooner. X-Men comics have been around a long time, leading to various versions and retcons. But regardless of the canon being pulled from, mutants have existed in universe for either a hundred years, or thousands. The mutant population could be a couple hundred, or it could be millions. In short, there are far too many mutants scattered across the planet to pretend they just haven’t been noticed yet.
With all of this said, I am going to discuss four storylines from the comics that could act as inspiration for how mutants could be introduced.
(Spoilers for many MCU works coming up, including WandaVision)
House of M
The Basic Concept
House of M is a story centred on Scarlet Witch. She is suffering from the loss of her children and struggling to control her reality warping powers. She is convinced to change all of reality to grant most characters a wish, so that they can all be happy. When the heroes begin getting their old memories back, they confront Scarlet Witch, leading to her saying “no more mutants”, which takes everyone back to the original world, while also removing the mutant gene from the vast majority of mutants.
An MCU Pitch
The MCU seems primed and ready for this one. After the events of WandaVision, Wanda has lost her two children and seems to be using her powers to try to find a way to get them back. Within the same show, she is first called the Scarlet Witch, and it is implied that the Scarlet Witch is a force of chaos that Wanda has no hope of controlling.
On top of this we have the fact that Doctor Strange plays a major role in the comics, trying to help Wanda with her powers. And, hey, looks like she will be appearing in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness.
With all of this in place, it is very possible that Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness can to some extent focus on Wanda losing control of her powers while trying to bring her children back. We can already look at the events of WandaVision as a smaller scale version of the House of M wish fulfillment reality, so what if Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness has Doctor Strange trying to help Wanda, but her efforts to get her children back start to rip holes in the multiverse. Together the two of them travel from universe to universe, until an eventual climax that pushes Wanda to change their original universe.
Of course, she wouldn’t say “no more mutants”. If the MCU were to use this story to introduce mutants, the line would change to something closer to “more heroes” or “more powers” or something along these lines. The movie could end with the promise that mutants are now just suddenly in the world, and the future of the MCU is free to play around with this.
Pros and Cons
This is the story that most people turn to when they talk about how the mutants could be introduced. I even cited it back in 2018 when I spoke on a podcast speculating as to how Avengers: Endgame could end.
The biggest pro for this idea is that it seems to be already set up to happen. Turning to WandaVision one more time, we’re even given a precedent for Wanda giving someone else powers after she unknowingly did so for Monica Rambeau (though, she is not a mutant in the comics).
In terms of cons, there are two worth pointing out. First is that Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness is a Doctor Strange movie, not a Scarlet Witch movie. To use it primarily as a way to adapt House of M, feels like it takes away the focus from the movie’s actual main character.
If we look at Captain America: Civil War, we can see how they adapted what was a big universe wide event and trimmed it down to put the focus on Captain America. But that story also had the benefit of Captain America being the major driving force in its comic counterpart already.
This isn’t to say that House of M can’t be done in a Doctor Strange movie, but the balancing act of being so Scarlet Witch heavy while keeping Doctor Strange in the forefront could be a challenge. If she is made the movie’s villain, this could help accomplish that balance, but having one of the only female heroes to get a title role in the MCU become a villain in her next appearance because of the loss of her (arguably fake) children would not be a good look for Marvel.
The second con is the ending. Whatever Wanda says to create the mutants, it would presumably happen right at the end of the movie. It is similar kind of moment to the snap from Avengers: Infinity War. With no word yet on a date for any X-Men movies, it means it could be a while before we ever see the consequences of the creation of mutants. This kind of ending could be a cliffhanger that takes an incredibly long time to pay off.
Secret Wars (2015)
The Basic Concept
Secret Wars (2015) had the 616 universe and the 1610 universe collide with each other*. Doctor Strange and Doctor Doom team up to save what they can from both worlds by creating a new one, Battleworld. By the end, the heroes are led by Reed Richards and recreate the original world, combing both 616 and 1610. This was a way for Marvel to do things like add elements from the 1610 universe, like Miles Morales, together in their main universe.
*Marvel’s comics are a multiverse, with each universe having a number designated to them. 616 is the main universe that most people think of when they think of Marvel. 1610 is the Ultimate Universe, a revamped version of the universe that started around 2000 with the aim to modernize (and in many cases, darken) the origins of their heroes.
An MCU Pitch
Once again, the MCU could be nicely set up for an approach like this. Not only are we about to have multiverse shenanigans in Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, but they also have access to an entire universe of X-Men movies that currently have no connection to their main universe.
This would have to work on a smaller scale than its massive comic counterpart, but there is real possibility in characters like Doctor Strange and Wanda shielding themselves as two worlds collide. They wake up in a world that is chaotic and weird. In the comics, the world is split into sections, where sure they have New York, but they also have Spider-Island (where everyone has spider-powers), 2099 (literally a section in the year 2099), Greenland (which is a land filled with Hulks), and so many more.
Because this world is combing the MCU with Fox’s X-Men, the areas could be focused on events from their two timelines, and be inhabited by a lot of mutants. But just like in the comics, the world is too shattered this way and has to be put back. The conflict being that putting them back will doom one universe completely. So, what if Doctor Strange works his magic to combine both worlds together in a seamless way, where on the surface it appears to be the MCU as we’ve always known it, but now it also contains mutants and all the characters from X-Men.
Pros and Cons
It is hard to deny that there is a massive benefit to this approach: Marvel gets to have a built-in history to many new characters, some of whom fans already love the portrayal of, all while not having to explain why the characters never got mentioned before this point. In terms of the two options for introducing characters that was mentioned at the top, well, this is both. This becomes the origin of the X-Men existing for this universe, while also having them already around for years.
But then there are the cons.
Fox’s X-Men universe has a few really great and fun movies when looked at individually, but as a whole there are a lot of… issues. While much of the continuity of the early movies are handwaved away by X-Men: Days of Future Past, the newer movies develop problems of their own.
For the MCU to integrate Fox’s X-Men universe, it would mean taking on the burden of its continuity. While over the years the MCU hasn’t been perfect in maintaining every single detail, the effort really seems to be there, and to explain what is going on with the X-Men might be more than it wants to do.
There is also the fact that Marvel may want to reinvent many of the characters that have already been used in the other X-Men movies, much like they did when they made a deal with Sony to bring Spider-Man into the MCU.
Of course, there is the option to add mutants to the universe in this way without them specifically being Fox’s X-Men, but then it seems to take away the point in using this method at all. The reason behind Secret Wars (2015) was to take beloved characters from two disparate worlds and have them able to exist in the same one instead. It works because the 1610 characters were already known by fans. It would be incredibly hard to do this story without using characters already established, without it feeling unbelievably bloated as they explain mutants, the X-Men, and all the new characters.
One more con is that I would much rather see the original Secret Wars adapted than the 2015 version, and getting one feels like it severely reduces the chance of the other. But, that might be just me.
Ultimate X-Men
The Basic Concept
This one isn’t so much a comic event as it is the run of Ultimate X-Men as a whole. As mentioned before, the Ultimate Universe was one created by Marvel in 2000 to revamp their characters. In Ultimate Origins #1 they explain the origin of the mutant gene in the Ultimate Universe.
How this happened was back in World War 2, after the creation of Captain America, a group in Canada was trying to recreate Project Rebirth, aka, the super soldier serum. Wolverine, back when he was just James, was a soldier in the war. He was captured and brought to Canada where he is experimented on. It is through these experiments that the mutant gene is created, and Wolverine becomes the world’s first mutant. The gene is spread, and after a while, the mutant popular begins to grow.
An MCU Pitch
This is the easier one to have the MCU just jump right into an X-Men movie. Avengers: Endgame leaves the MCU without a Captain America, this is already going to the be the conflict that drives The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Either parallel to the events of Falcon and the Winter Soldier, or after it (depending on what happens in it), they could have an organization trying to create a new Captain America and accidentally creating mutants instead.
Another possibility is that this began sooner. Probably not all the way back in World War 2 like in the comics, but maybe during the five-year blip. This possibility would mean that the gene will have had more time to spread, and more mutants are coming into their powers, all while keeping it incredibly new to have it make sense that we haven’t heard of mutants before this.
Pros and Cons
What is nice with this idea is that it gives an explanation why mutants exist at this point but were never heard of before. It is the origin of the whole concept of mutants, and after this point can be referred back to again and again without whole explanations for why they have powers.
This concept was too perfect to pass up talking about (because it is a literal origin to the mutant gene in the comics), but it also feels the least likely. The biggest con here is that giving the mutant gene such an origin can start to feel like over-explaining things that don’t need that much explanation, just like the midi-chlorian problem in Star Wars. The more important factor to introducing mutants isn’t why the mutant gene exists, but why we haven’t heard of them yet.
As a quick aside, it’s also worth pointing out that mutants in Marvel are often used as a metaphor to tell racial or LGBTQ+ stories, and to have the mutant gene be man made could be a very questionable choice through this lens.
It could also feel repetitive. As mentioned already, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier appears to be all about the loss of Captain America, with Sam proving he is up to taking on the mantel. Not only this, but The Incredible Hulk uses the idea of the government attempting to recreate Project Rebirth as the origin of both Hulk and Abomination. While it is possible to use this same motivation again (just look at how often Tony Stark’s actions become the motivation for bad guys in the movies), it might be nicer to have something that feels a little more fresh.
There is an argument to be made that another con to this idea is that it removes Magneto’s motivation. Magneto is a holocaust survivor, and much of his characterization is built around being a part of two marginalized groups and living through an attempt to that was made by humans to wipe out one of them.
And this is a fair problem and one that the MCU will probably have to face regardless of how they introduce mutants. Magneto is one of X-Men’s biggest characters. Ultimate X-Men handles this by instead having his parents be involved in the work that creates the mutant gene, making him linked to their invention and being motivated to help his kind because of this.
As real-world time gets further from World War 2, this original origin makes less sense regardless, as Magnetto would need to be nearing 100 years old now. Though it could be possible for them to keep Magneto’s motivation by having the MCU equivalent have a grandfather who was a holocaust survivor, maybe he’s even raised by his Grandfather. He could see the parallels between mutants in the present and the treatment of Jewish people in the past. But this is all a digression from the topic at hand…
One final con I want to bring up here, is that unlike the other three concepts brought up here, this one is an origin with no implied story. This could explain mutants in a way that happens off screen in a way that has no effect on a movie or show other than setting the scene. Maybe a movie could be about solving the mystery of where mutants come from, but that might be a stretch (and again, weird for the X-Men’s usual metaphors).
House of X
The Basic Concept
House of X is the newest comic getting talked about here, coming out less than two years ago in the Summer of 2019. The story of House of X is one in which every mutant in the world is invited to live together on the Krakoa (a sentient island). Professor Xavier broadcasts his thoughts to every person on Earth to inform them that all mutants are now citizens of Krakoa. Because of this, any mutant that commits a crime is to be treated with diplomatic immunity and put on trial by other mutants when returned to Krakoa.
In order to make the countries of the world agree to this, as well as to leverage for a position in the United Nations, Xavier offers a miracle drug that is made from a plant grown only in Krakoa. This drug can extend human life, is the perfect antibiotic, and can even cure “diseases of the mind”, but it only affects humans and does nothing for mutants.
An MCU Pitch
Taking a page from Black Panther, the idea that mutants already live on the secret island of Krakoa can work as a great explanation for why mutants have never been mentioned before. Moments like the Sokovia accords could even come up as why the mutants have refused to come out of hiding a little sooner.
One big difference between mutants and the people of Wakanda is that mutants can pop up anywhere in the world and aren’t born only in this new country. To explain why mutants have never been talked about before now, the MCU would need to explain how the X-Men bring mutants to Krakoa without anyone knowing. This is where Xavier’s powers really come in handy, as he can wipe the memory of anyone who sees proof of mutants existing.
A key element of House of X in the comics is set up for the future, especially on the question of the ethics of what Xavier and his group are doing to make this country work. A movie that begins with Xavier announcing that mutants have existed all along and wish to be treated with the respect of a nation, only to have the X-Men question Xavier’s motivations themselves could be incredibly interesting. There is even potential to have Xavier be, if not the outright villain, at least a major antagonist in the end. To do something like this could really set the MCU’s X-Men apart.
Pros and Cons
Once again this creates a real explanation for why mutants have never been heard of in the MCU before, while giving them time to really develop as their own culture. If Xavier has been messing with peoples minds for maybe decades, it could even leave them open to having Wanda and Pietro revealed to be Magneto’s children. The parents seen in WandaVision could have had memories implanted in them by Xavier to make this work.
There is also a huge plus in terms of setting. Krakoa is a very fantastical looking place. Where Wakanda takes African influence and mixes it with scifi, Krakoa would have more of a lush island influence mixed fantasy. It can be a brand-new kind of environment we have never seen before in the MCU, especially not on Earth.
In terms of cons, the biggest one comes down the mutant villains losing their impact. A huge part of House of X is that all mutants are welcome. This means that the X-Men are living together with many of their enemies, including Magneto, Mystique, Apocalypse, Mr. Sinister, etc. In the comics we have seen what these characters are capable of, but to toss them on the island in the first movie of a series, the dramatic weight of them being present is entirely gone.
There is also some stuff in the comics that gets into how mutants are brought back from the dead that would be best left out of a movie. It isn’t that this idea is bad or doesn’t work in the comic, but in a first movie this might be a bit much and take away a degree of stakes.
It’s also worth noting that using Krakoa and the House of X concept to introduce mutants shifts them into a position that feels closer to the Inhumans with their hidden city of Attilan. But the way Inhumans were used in Agents of SHIELD made them feel closer to mutants anyway, so, fair trade maybe?
Full disclosure, ever since reading House of X, this has been the concept I have been most rooting for. It has the most potential to see something new out of the X-Men, while simultaneously explaining how they have remained hidden for so long.
Conclusion
The most important point to using any of these stories to introduce the mutants to the Marvel Cinematic Universe is that they could work incredibly well if used as inspiration, but now as direct adaptions. Looking at them in a surface level way, of these four comic stories, only one of them actually acts as the origin of mutants, so that should be enough to make this point.
And with all of this in mind, there is also the possibility of having mutants just beginning to appear suddenly. The mutant gene kicks off just because it was time for evolution to take place, not because of any major event. If mutants are being introduced as first appearing now, it might be more interesting to just leave the timing as a “just because” explanation rather than go too deeply into it (or maybe use the Thanos’s snap as somehow kicking off evolution).
Looking at what Marvel has done since sharing custody of Spider-Man for both Spider-Man: Homecoming and Spider-Man: Far From Home, one thing that stands out is that they have tried to give us something new. They have given him villains that had yet to be shown in live action, they’ve kept him in high school, and they’ve brought him to the suburbs, to Washington, and even to Europe. They have been true to the character while giving us something different than what the other Spider-Man movies had to offer.
Regardless of how the X-Men are finally introduced, I think the best choice that Marvel can make is to show us something new. If they give us another movie about Professor Xavier running a school for mutants, with the same core group of characters, trying to stop Magneto again, it will feel too repetitive. And with a series that has had a roster of hundreds of characters, this shouldn’t be too hard to accomplish.
Marvel should continue the trend of what they gave us when introducing Spider-Man to the MCU. They can take what has been done before and show us a different side to the world of mutants. It is with that kind of thinking that they could give us X-Men that are truly Uncanny, Astonishing, and All New.
