Marvel: Too much nostalgia and no fresh wind – the MCU has an “X-Men” problem

• The mutants are slowly filling the MCU, but Marvel seem to have two different plans here.
• Characters from Fox’s “X-Men” films keep coming back.
• With this, Marvel is tripping itself up, because too much nostalgia can’t lead to a restart that is so urgently needed.

The Marvel Universe has numerous teams, but we’ve only seen a few of these hero factions in the MCU. Of course there are the Avengers and we also know the Eternals, but you won’t find the X-Men and the Fantastic Four.

Of course, this is because the film rights to both teams were held by 20th Century Fox until 2019, before Disney took over the studio and since then has had the opportunity to have the mutants and the crew around Reed Richards appear in films. However, since plans for the Marvel Cinematic Universe are often set several years in advance, it took quite a while for things to happen in this regard.

A film about the “Fantastic Four” is already being planned, but nothing is known about the cast yet. Although John Krasinski appeared as Mr. Fantastic in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness”, he died immediately and as a character from the multiverse he is not the Mr. Fantastic who will await us later in the MCU.

With the X-Men, things are a little different – and a lot more complicated. So far only the animated series “X-Men ’97” has been announced for the X-Men, but when and how they will actively appear in the MCU is not yet clear. However, there have been several appearances and allusions to X-Men in recent months, as well as well-known characters who are suddenly considered mutants in the MCU.

Nostalgia instead of a new start

With a total of 7 “X-Men” films and three Fox Wolverine spin-offs, the public’s image of the mutant hero troupe is quite clearly defined. In the MCU, you not only need new cast members, but also a new approach to avoid comparisons and to show viewers directly that you are dealing with new X-Men.

It has often been speculated that Marvel would be based on the “House of X” comics, which present familiar and new mutants in a new look and in a new environment. But so far the MCU is going in a different and confusing direction in this regard.

It has already been confirmed that Kamala Khan aka Ms. Marvel and Namor from “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” are mutants in the MCU. That wasn’t the case in the comics, so it looks like the MCU X-Men could be made up of completely different characters than we’re used to.

However, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” brought Patrick Stewart back as Charles Xavier and with it the Fox X-Men into the MCU. Hugh Jackman will also return as Wolverine in the upcoming Deadpool movie after he actually quit the role after Logan.

This is where the MCU relies heavily on nostalgia, with Stewart and Jackman’s return only meaningful if audiences recognize them from past films. But what do you do when both actors finally rule out their return?

The MCU future is only secured with new ideas

With the return of some of Fox’s X-Men, the MCU is making it unnecessarily difficult to reintroduce well-known characters. Who wants to be the next Wolverine when Hugh Jackman just got his famous claws out again?

With Ms. Marvel and Namor as mutants who could one day become part of a new X-Men faction, the MCU takes an unexpected, but creative direction. With the guest appearances of former “X-Men” stars, on the other hand, the fans are briefly delighted, but then quickly confused.

In terms of action, of course, everything can now be explained with the multiverse, so there could theoretically be 5 different Wolverines, but after “Avengers: Endgame” the MCU would actually need more unique heroes that would remain part of the MCU stories permanently.

With cameos and countless multiversal copies that die and return immediately afterward in slightly modified form, the audience lacks an emotional connection. Hopefully Marvel can turn around here, or at least do better with the Fantastic Four.