Movie · Phase 7

The X-Men

2028

CONFIRMED: Marvel has an untitled tentpole dated 15 December 2028, and Kevin Feige has confirmed a Marvel Studios X-Men film is in active development with Jake Schreier directing and Michael Lesslie…

Post-Multiverse SagaAnnounced
The X-Men poster art

The story

CONFIRMED: Marvel has an untitled tentpole dated 15 December 2028, and Kevin Feige has confirmed a Marvel Studios X-Men film is in active development with Jake Schreier directing and Michael Lesslie writing. Schreier was hired off Thunderbolts*, and Feige has publicly confirmed the plan is to build the team around largely unknown young actors rather than established stars — a deliberate reset separate from the Fox-era cast returning in Avengers: Doomsday.

REPORTED, NOT CONFIRMED: The attachment of the X-Men title specifically to the 15 December 2028 slot is reported rather than formally announced by Marvel. No cast has been named. Schreier has publicly and repeatedly shut down the viral casting rumours that circulate every few weeks, and insider claims about which three roles are being cast first, or a 2027 filming start, remain unverified. Treat every named actor you see attached to this film as speculation until Marvel says otherwise.

Key facts

Release date
15 Dec 2028
Status
Announced
Phase
Phase 7
Saga
Post-Multiverse Saga
Director
Jake Schreier
Writers
Michael Lesslie
Timeline placement
Expected after Avengers: Secret Wars, launching the post-reset MCU

Cast

ActorRole
To be announcedNo casting announced by Marvel Studios as of July 2026

Characters

Easter eggs

  • Adamantium was quietly introduced into the main MCU timeline by Captain America: Brave New World in 2025, via Celestial Island — groundwork for Wolverine's skeleton with no X-Men film in sight.
  • Ms. Marvel's 2022 finale used the word 'mutation' and played the X-Men: The Animated Series theme, the first canonical mutant reference in the main timeline.
  • The Marvels' post-credits scene put Monica Rambeau in a universe with an established X-Men, including Kelsey Grammer's Beast.
  • Namor is described in Wakanda Forever as a mutant, making him the MCU's first character explicitly labelled one on screen.
  • Jake Schreier's hiring directly off Thunderbolts* mirrors Marvel's pattern of promoting directors who delivered character-driven ensembles.
  • Marvel's stated intent to cast unknowns echoes the original 2000 X-Men, which built its cast around one established name and a room of newcomers.

Trivia

  • Jake Schreier was attached before Thunderbolts* even opened in cinemas.
  • Michael Lesslie, who wrote Assassin's Creed and the Y: The Last Man pilot, is writing the screenplay.
  • Kevin Feige has confirmed the intention to cast largely unknown young actors, meaning the Fox-era stars returning for Doomsday are not the reboot team.
  • Marvel and Disney announced release dates across 2028 and 2029 without attaching titles, a strategy the studio has used since the Phase 5 schedule collapsed.
  • Schreier has publicly addressed and dismissed multiple viral fan-cast rumours, saying nothing has been decided.
  • This will be the first X-Men film produced by Marvel Studios since Disney completed its acquisition of 20th Century Fox in 2019.

Reviews

The MarvelGossips verdict

Unmade and unreleased. The single most important film on Marvel's board: the franchise's post-Secret Wars future is widely understood to run through mutants, and Marvel has one chance to introduce a team the audience has already seen played by beloved actors for two decades. Schreier is a strong pick. Everything else about it is currently a rumour.

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Frequently asked

When is the MCU X-Men movie released?
Marvel has a dated tentpole slot on 15 December 2028 that is widely reported to be the X-Men film. Marvel has confirmed the film is in development with Jake Schreier directing, but has not formally attached the title to that date.
Has any X-Men casting been announced?
No. As of July 2026 not a single role has been cast publicly. Jake Schreier has repeatedly dismissed the viral casting rumours, and Kevin Feige has confirmed the plan is to build the team from largely unknown young actors.
Are the Doomsday X-Men the same team?
No. Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, James Marsden and the others in Avengers: Doomsday are Fox-era actors playing variants from another universe. The 2028 film is a separate reboot with a new cast.
How has the MCU set up mutants already?
Through several deliberate seeds: Ms. Marvel's mutation reveal in 2022, Namor being called a mutant in Wakanda Forever, Beast's appearance in The Marvels' post-credits scene, and the introduction of adamantium in Captain America: Brave New World.
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