Dark Phoenix Director Has High Hopes For Marvel Studios' X-Men Movies

Simon Kinberg, who directed 2019's Dark Phoenix, has high hopes for Marvel Studios' future X-Men movies. The group of mutants created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby have a long history on the silver screen, with 2000's X-Men helping to kick off the 21st century's obsession with superhero movies. The film franchise from 20th Century Fox lasted for two decades, with Kinberg's Dark Phoenix and 2020's The New Mutants being the final installments.

Kinberg first joined the franchise as a writer on X-Men: The Last Stand, and would go on to either write or produce many of the entries that followed. The series reached impressive heights during his tenure, including the highly praised crossover X-Men: Days of Future Past and the Oscar-nominated Logan, though Dark Phoenix proved to be an unfortunate time for him to make his directorial debut. While the film was still being made, Disney began its process of acquiring Fox, which paved the way for the X-Men's eventual inclusion in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and left Dark Phoenix's continuity dead in the water.

In an interview with Inverse, Kinberg is described as having accepted his departure from the X-Men universe, but says he has "high hopes" when it comes to Marvel Studios' future projects. He reminds Marvel fans that he's known MCU architect Kevin Feige since The Last Stand, which Feige produced, and trusts him to do the mutants justice. In fact, Kinberg describes himself as an avid watcher of the Marvel movies, which helps him learn as a filmmaker:

[Feige] and Avi Arad were the ones that hired me. He’s a friend and we’ve remained in touch. The guy does not miss. The Marvel movies I've watched with my sons, and I’ve watched them to study them. I’m excited about what that could mean for the X-Men because they’re my favorite.

Wanda and Pietro on Halloween in WandaVision

Ever since then-Disney CEO Bob Iger announced in 2019 that any future X-Men projects would fall under the MCU umbrella, fans have been eagerly anticipating the first mutant's appearance, sometimes to their detriment. One recent example includes the fan theories surrounding the Disney+ series WandaVision, which features a character in Scarlett Witch with both mutant and Avengers ties, but who had the former excised for her Marvel Studios version. When Evan Peters appeared as her brother Quicksilver after having played the character in the X-Men films, viewers interpreted it to mean the two universes were colliding, only to then learn he was actually an imposter, with the show's creative team only intending to make a fun nod to Peters' previous role.

While Kinberg's endorsement of Feige and Co. should be comforting for fans of the X-Men franchise, many likely already share his opinion of Marvel Studios, after witnessing Spider-Man find new life on-screen by teaming up with Iron Man in Captain America: Civil War. Fox's run yielded a few movies that are surely in the superhero canon, and since Feige himself was a crucial part of that initial trilogy, the expectation is that he'll know how to handle them once the X-Men make their MCU debut. Though no one yet knows when that could be, given the controversy that surrounded WandaVision, it's probably best not to look for mutants around every corner.

Next: Marvel Just Secretly Introduced An X-Men Location Into The MCU

Source: Inverse