A few clues in Spider-Man: No Way Home suggest that the X-Men could soon land in the MCU, now that the heroes have rubbed shoulders with the Multiverse… Warning, spoilers.
Warning, spoilers. You are advised to have seen Spider-Man: No Way Home before continuing to read this article.
A box office hit, Spider-Man: No Way Home is an important film for Phase IV of the MCU as it lays the foundation for the Multiverse on the big screen. By appealing to Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) to make his true identity forgotten, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) faces the most devastating dilemma of his life and sees characters from other universes come to titillate him.
Between the big bad guys, like The Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe) and Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), and the other Spider-Man embodied by Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield, the Marvel Cinematic Universe reintroduces characters from the past.
These breaches made in the Multiverse during No Way Home will have consequences in the rest of the MCU and this could result in the return of other Marvel characters, such as the X-Men who now belong to Disney since the firm’s takeover of Fox and its entire franchise catalog.
The X-Men, soon in the MCU?
And it could well be that Spider-Man: No Way Home has teased this potential arrival. It is interesting to note that the final battle between Spider-Man and the villains takes place on the Statue of Liberty, here in full work with the shield of Captain America, which is also mentioned by Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) in the Hawkeye series.
This final sequence with the three Spider-Man and their antagonists is reminiscent of the final battle between the X-Men and the Brotherhood of Mutants in Bryan Singer’s first X-Men (2000) film. This fight is also taking place on and in the Statue of Liberty. This reference is surely far from trivial.
Another New York location turns out to be a nod from Spider-Man: No Way Home to the X-Men movie. When Cyclops reveals the plan of attack to Wolverine to fight Magneto, he indicates that they must pass through the George Washington Bridge before reaching the Statute of Liberty. It is on this same bridge that Doctor Octopus and Tom Holland’s Spider-Man meet for the first time in No Way Home.
Screenshot / 20th Century Fox The clash over the Statue of Liberty in X-Men (2000).
Finally, another interesting detail: Kevin Feige, the boss of Marvel Studios, was at the time associate producer of the film X-Men. For him, it was his very first Marvel film for Fox and the start of his career as a producer.
Kevin Feige may very well have finally made up his mind to want the Mutants to appear in the MCU. Maybe thanks to Wanda aka Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), who is a mutant and Magneto’s daughter in the comics, in the Doctor Strange sequel?
Remember that this is not the first nod to the X-Men in the MCU. The WandaVision series had seen Evan Peters, the Peter Maximoff alias Quicksilver, land in the X-Men franchise! Even if it was only a bad joke, the actor playing in reality a certain Ralph Bohner controlled by Agatha Harkness (Kathryn Hahn), his presence had made its small effect with the fans.
Besides WandaVision, Marvel Studios’ next series on Disney +, Falcon and the Winter Soldier, also referred to the X-Men. In Episode 3, Sam and Bucky travel to Madripoor, an island in Southeast Asia and a true paradise for criminals, where a certain Wolverine has cut his teeth there in the comics.
With all these little winks slipped into recent MCU works, could the Mutants land in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness? It is surely not for nothing that the first trailer of this second installment of the adventures of the character played by Benedict Cumberbatch serves as the second post-credits scene of Spider-Man: No Way Home.
Because it is in this trailer that another clue about the potential arrival of the X-Men in the MCU was hidden. Take a look at the Marvel logo which is split into several pieces. If this effect is reminiscent of the mirror dimension, we see, on closer inspection, that old Marvel logos have slipped into it, in particular that of X-Men: The Final Showdown.
Other logos from older MCU films slip into the trailer, as well as the one from the Fantastic Four films. Will these also appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness?
Marvel Studios 2022. All Rights Reserved.
Even though the film already brings together a lot of characters, such as Scarlet Witch, Wong (Benedict Wong), Christine Palmer (Rachel McAdams), Karl Mordo (Chiwetel Ejiofor) or America Chavez (Xochitl Gomez), reshoots have been carried out for “Have even more fun with the Multiverse”, after having fun bringing back actors from other universes for No Way Home and having different versions of Loki interact in the Disney + series which is dedicated to the God of Malice.
According to Hollywood Reporter, these new shots made it possible to include major new cameos! Are these the X-Men? Answer May 4 for the release of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.