Marvel's X-Men Reboot Gets a 'Very, Very Exciting' Update from its Director

The X-Men film franchise is on track for a reset in the Marvel Cinematic Universe as the planned reboot centered around the titular mutant supergroup takes shape. Director Jake Schreier offers a "very exciting" update about the reboot as anticipation ramps up.

Speaking with Empire Magazine, Schreier confirmed that work on the X-Men remake is underway, though he remained tight-lipped about story details. “I can’t say anything about it, but we’ve started work on X-Men, and that’s obviously very, very exciting,” he said. Schreier's confirmation comes a month after he was revealed as the helmer of the X-Men reboot.

Schreier heads into development of the X-Men reboot off the back of his work on the MCU's Phase Five finale, Thunderbolts*, which was well-received (88% critical rating, 93% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes) despite generating underwhelming box-office returns. According to Schreier, Thunderbolts* prepared him for what to expect when making a Marvel ensemble, and his lessons from that experience will serve him well for the MCU's take on the X-Men. “The biggest learning curve for me was the proportion of the action to the more emotional, character-driven scenes, and how, even though it’s more shooting days than I’ve ever had, they get eaten up quite quickly by the action stuff. By the time we got to the end of it, it felt like, ‘Oh, now I feel like we get how to do this a little bit better,’” he said.

The X-Men reboot will usher in the MCU's mutant era and lead a reset of Marvel's longstanding cinematic universe after Avengers: Secret Wars. Though details about the reboot are being kept close to the vest, Marvel president Kevin Feige offered a significant hint about what to expect, claiming the movie is a "youth-focused" one, suggesting several X-Men characters from the 20th Century Fox era will be recast. Feige recently told CBR that the movie will target a "younger demographic," mirroring the character interactions and dynamics shown in Thunderbolts*. The Marvel boss stated Schreier "tapped into that in a that I think is important. It was important for Thunderbolts*, (and will be) much more important for X-Men, because X-Men, as it was in the comics, will be a very youth-oriented, focused and cast movie."

This isn't the first time the X-Men franchise has been rebooted. At 20th Century Fox, the studio opted to tell a story chronicling younger characters with X-Men: First Class, following the original movie trilogy and the polarizing prequel, X-Men Origins: Wolverine. While First Class and its sequel, Days of Future Past, earned rave reviews, follow-ups like Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix were widely panned by critics and fans.

The Original Fox X-Men Will Be in Avengers: Doomsday

Before the reboot film, the original X-Men will be prominent fixtures in the upcoming superhero blockbuster, Avengers: Doomsday. The original mutant group will take on the new MCU big bad Victor Von Doom/Doctor Doom (Robert Downey Jr.) while crossing paths with other groups looking to take down the supervillain, including the Thunderbolts/New Avengers, Captain America's rebuilt Avengers, the Wakandans and The Fantastic Four.

Among the original X-Men franchise characters featured in Avengers: Doomsday are Professor X (Patrick Stewart), Magneto (Ian McKellen), Nightcrawler (Alan Cumming), Cyclops (James Marsden) and Mystique (Rebecca Romijn). Meanwhile, Channing Tatum's Gambit, who made his MCU debut in Deadpool & Wolverine, will also feature. Doomsday is in production in the U.K. and is set to be shot concurrently with Secret Wars.

There is no production or release window confirmed for the X-Men reboot.