Kevin Feige Reveals When X-Men Join the MCU

Kevin Feige just pulled back the curtain on a question that’s nagged Marvel fans for years: when will the X-Men finally step into the MCU spotlight? The short answer is patience. The long answer has a clear roadmap now.

Disney’s 2019 acquisition of 20th Century Fox promised a reunion between the cinematic X-Men and Marvel Studios, but concrete timing has been elusive ever since. A few glimpses arrived — most recently Deadpool & Wolverine’s brief taste of mutant mayhem — yet a standalone X-Men film remained the one missing piece. That changes after Feige’s appearance at BilibiliWorld in Shanghai, where he sketched the sequence that will bring mutants fully into the fold.

Feige explained the rollout plainly: first comes Avengers: Doomsday, then Avengers: Secret Wars, and only after those tentpoles will the X-Men take center stage. He framed it as a personal milestone. “I started my career with X-Men,” he said, “and to bring a fresh version of them into the MCU has been a dream for years.”

Short version: don’t expect the standalone X-Men film before 2028.

Why 2028? Avengers: Secret Wars is slated for December 2027, which pushes the earliest realistic slot for Jake Schreier’s X-Men project into 2028 or later. Marvel hasn’t announced an official release date, but the timing aligns neatly with the MCU’s twentieth anniversary — a milestone the studio will likely mark with something big.

Some facts are already set behind the scenes. Schreier is attached to direct, and Oscar-nominated writer Michael Lesslie is penning the script, which is still being written. Deadpool & Wolverine and the upcoming Doomsday entry will help set narrative pieces in place, and the multiverse and big-event structure of Secret Wars appear designed to make room for a proper mutant introduction.

One small but telling detail from Feige’s remarks: he heaped praise on the female members of the X-Men. That offhand compliment instantly fueled speculation about a women-forward team or a spotlight on characters like Kitty Pryde. Rumors about Kitty Pryde and other names circulating online remain unconfirmed, so take casting whispers with the usual grain of salt until Marvel makes official announcements.

For now the path looks clearer than it has at any point since the Fox buyout: build the foundations with major Avengers set pieces, open the door with cameos and connective tissue, then unveil the X-Men as a full-fledged MCU team. It’s a slow burn. But when it lands, it could reshape the next era of Marvel storytelling — and nobody likes a cliffhanger more than a fan with a long memory and a sharper imagination.