4 ways the X-Men could be weaved into the Marvel Cinematic Universe

The Russo brothers give hope about X-Men making an appearing in the MCU. Obviously, they won’t have a cameo in Avengers 4, but we have some theories.

We shouldn’t be surprised by Marvel and Disney’s plot to destroy our free time and reign over our notifications. After all, we’re still not done digesting the second Captain Marvel trailer, and the first trailers for Spider-Man: Far From Home and Avengers 4 are reportedly going to drop later this week. Along with the Marvel’s Avengers Untitled Prelude comic, we’re happily overwhelmed with MCU-related news. Since the Russo brothers recently mentioned that they expect Disney to integrate mutants into the MCU, our typically rampant fan-theorying has increased exponentially.

During an interview with Business Insider’s IGNITION Conference yesterday, directors Joe and Anthony Russo discussed Disney’s reaction to Avengers: Infinity War and the Fox-Disney amalgamation. According to Deadline, Joe said that Disney was “incredibly encouraging of the choices [they] made” regarding the dismal outcome in Infinity War.

When asked about the fate of the X-Men, Fantastic Four, and Deadpool/X-Force characters following Disney’s acquisition of Fox, Joe Russo is hopeful that the Fox characters will mingle in the MCU.

“I’m certain, with [president of Marvel Studios] Kevin Feige, who also has been on a historic run in the business, that he is going to incorporate those characters under the large Marvel umbrella,” Joe said during the IGNITION Conference.

Obviously, we don’t expect to see any Xavier student cameos in the untitled Avengers 4 film, since the merger wasn’t finalized before filming commenced.

And while we don’t have any details beyond Joe’s claims that the X-Men will arrive in the MCU at a vague future date, we do have some thoughts on how Disney can weave Fox’s X-Men characters in the MCU’s Phase 4 and beyond.

Origin stories

Phase 4 can easily explain that the X-Men, and other relevant derivatively titled teams, and Avengers have coexisted in the same universe. The X-Men could have just been blissfully ignoring the Avengers, seeing as we can’t blame them for distancing themselves from a team that fights each other at an airport.

Since the respective X-Men and MCU timelines are a few decades apart, the MCU could introduce a newer generation of mutant origin stories. With The New Mutants debuting in theaters this coming summer, the mutant and Avengers crossover could be imminent.

The MCU might have to backtrack during points of the prolonged crossover, but that won’t be an issue. Given Captain America and Carol Danvers’ origin stories take place before the standard timeline of events in the MCU, cinematic time travel isn’t out of the question.

Potential re-casting

Disney could figuratively and monetarily profit from Wade Wilson’s timeline disrupting hijinks at the end of Deadpool 2. Since Deadpool created a new timeline after Cable brought back Vanessa, a healthy (or unhealthy, depending on your perception) time paradox isn’t completely improbable.

With Wade’s alternative timeline and the potentially impending one from Avengers 4 quantum realm time leaps, Phase 4 could use time disparities to explain new characters and the mutants’ existence in general.

The time paradox route could be an easy out to the overall time difference between the X-Men and Avengers storylines. Some of the residual side effects could also lead to re-casting some of the X-Men characters — particularly fallen characters from the MCU and X-Men movie lore — we were already introduced to, thanks to Fox.

Switching teams

Throughout the multiple X-Men, New X-Men, Avengers, Young Avengers, New Avengers, and related Marvel Comics runs, characters have routinely joined new teams.

Considering the pre-established characters in the X-Men and Deadpool films, Cable, Deadpool, Laura Kinney, Storm, and Hank McCoy have all temporarily joined the Avengers at one point (some, at several points) of their comic book careers. The MCU could play on those instances for inspiration.

After all, the on-screen Avengers have gradually grown from the original six, and Phase 4 could include some former X-Men and X-Force members to its roster.

Introducing a common enemy

Sure, the Russos could take an unpopular approach to Avenger 4 and let Thanos continue to win, but we doubt our favorite original on-screen Avengers won’t win eventually. Ultimately, the Avenger’s will defeat the purple Eternal, and he’ll need to figuratively pass on his villainous gauntlet to the next multi-movie antagonist of the MCU.

There are several villainous comic book characters who’ve grappled with the X-Men, Avengers, and even the Fantastic Four.  We have a short list of villains, who’ve fought at least a couple of the heroic teams in the comics, that we’d biasedly like to see muddle with the MCU in Phase 4.

• Doctor Doom
• Annihilus
• Silver Surfer
• Galactus
• Magnus

Granted, there are several other villains and iniquitous organizations that have threatened the heroes in the MCU and Fox’s various superhero teams. The Fox-Disney merger is still fresh, so the MCU has time to brainstorm how it will intertwine new character narratives and the dynamic between different teams.

Because we still don’t know what state Avengers 4 will leave the original six Avengers in, there’s still time for the original Avengers team to completely dissolve, leaving Phase 4 to focus on a slightly different team entirely.

Do you have a fan theory on how the MCU could integrate the X-Men and various other Fox superhero teams? Or do you have a favorite mutant that you hope to see in Phase 4? Let us know in the comments below.