The MCU Must Die For The X-Men Movies To Live
Ever since Disney bought out 20th Century Fox, fans of the MCU have been anxiously awaiting some new X-Men movies. Of course, that brings up a very logical question: how can characters with decades of history and world-changing powers be properly introduced to a cinematic universe that only recently began using the word “mutant?” The answer is simple: Marvel is almost certainly going to reboot their beloved cinematic universe after Avengers: Secret Wars, allowing for a rebooted MCU that will include the X-Men and even the Fantastic Four.
Already Some X-Men
Obviously, the MCU has already received some X-Men love: for example, the post-credits scene of The Marvels (don’t tell me you didn’t go see this rousing box office hit!) revealed that superhero Monica Rambeau ended up in a different universe that contains these marvelous mutants.
She receives care from Beast, and the fact that he is once again played by Kelsey Grammar implies she ended up in the universe of 20th Century Fox’s X-Men films.
Most recently, of course, Deadpool & Wolverine extensively featured a Hugh Jackman Logan from yet another universe, and that film had cameos from other familiar mutants, both good and bad.
A Reboot
For as fun as these appearances are, though, it’s clear that the MCU has been mostly teasing us with the X-Men. That’s because all of these very prominent mutant moments have involved alternate realities and dimension-hopping shenanigans.
But the Marvel Cinematic Universe does have its own timeline (a sacred one, no less!), and there has been no real explanation of how mutants with world-changing powers and years of complex lore could suddenly be dumped into these films when nobody has so much as heard of them.
The answer is simple, if stark (no relation to Tony): the MCU as we know it has to die in order for the X-Men and their movies to live. That may sound extreme, but all signs point to Marvel getting ready to do this by rebooting this cinematic universe.
If it takes after the comic it is named for, Avengers: Secret Wars will give Marvel an excuse to reboot their universe by incorporating multiple alternate realities into one timeline.
Secret Wars
While there have been several comic stories named “Secret Wars,” all signs point to the MCU adapting the 2015 comic of the same name. In this story, the various multiverses have been destroyed to create a single dimension known as Battleworld, one that contains elements of each dead dimension inside the equivalent of pocket universes.
An evil Doctor Doom presides over all of this, and when Mr. Fantastic defeats him, the 616 universe is restored, albeit with changes like Miles Morales, once limited to the Ultimates comics universe, now being part of the main timeline.
The Reboot Will Bring Everyone Together
You can probably see where I’m going with this: the MCU already has Robert Downey Jr. to play Doom in this major event, and Battleworld will be a good excuse to bring back Wolverine and introduce the other X-Men.
When the smoke clears and we have a rebooted universe, Marvel can now have fan-favorite characters like Deadpool more easily appear alongside the Avengers (if only to make Thor cry).
And since the Fantastic Four movie is also set in its own universe, it’s a sure bet that this reboot will bring them into the main timeline as well.
Good And Bad
Regarding the MCU rebooting itself, I have mixed feelings—on the one hand, I’ll take almost any plot development that leads to new X-Men movies. On the other hand, Deadpool & Wolverine is proof that the MCU as it is still has a few interesting stories left to tell.
However, a reboot is ultimately the perfect excuse to throw out what doesn’t work and go all-in on what does work, and as an added bonus, it might finally make multiverses and annoying Variants (a terrible crutch in the hands of bad writers) a thing of the past.
