Thunderbolts* director in early talks to helm X-Men movie for Marvel (2025)

According to Deadline, Marvel Studios is in early talks with Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier to helm the upcoming X-Men movie. Nothing is official now, but insiders say Schreier is looking like the top choice after a successful meeting last week. Michael Lesslie (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) wrote the script for the X-Men movie, with Kevin Feige producing.

Since Disney officially acquired 20th Century Fox more than five years ago, Marvel fans have been eager for the inevitable day when the X-Men will finally join the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The franchise took small steps, with a few mentions of mutants, but it slowly led to appearances from Patrick Stewart as Professor X in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Kelsey Grammer as Beast in The Marvels, and, of course, Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman as the titular characters of Deadpool & Wolverine.

A number of X-Men characters will also be appearing in Avengers: Doomsday, with the officially announced cast including Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier, Ian McKellen as Erik Lehnsherr, Alan Cumming as Kurt Wagner, Rebecca Romijn as Raven Darkhölme, James Marsden as Scott Summers, and Channing Tatum as Remy LeBeau. Other X-Men characters were included in a recent rumoured cast list, but it remains to be seen if it’s accurate. When it comes time for a proper X-Men movie, Marvel will almost certainly be introducing a new cast, but we should have a better idea of their plans after Avengers: Doomsday/Avengers: Secret Wars.

It was also recently revealed that Ryan Reynolds is actively developing ideas for a new Deadpool movie featuring several X-Men characters.

Thunderbolts* has been earning some decent reviews (the best since Spider-Man: No Way Home), but the box office has been disappointing. Our own Chris Bumbray said the film is a “significant step-up” from Captain America: Brave New World, but he cautioned that “it’s not the game-changer some of the breathless early junket reviews suggest.” However, Bumbray did enjoy the movie, saying he “had a better time with Thunderbolts than any other Marvel movie (outside Deadpool & Wolverine) in recent memory.” You can check out the rest of his review right here, and don’t forget to let us know what you thought of the film as well!

Do you think Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier would be a good fit for X-Men?