Marvel Renewing Focus on X-Men Says Deadpool Creator

In light of the pending Disney acquisition of 20th Century Fox, Marvel is already putting more attention and resources into the X-Men, at least according to Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld.

Liefeld was a guest at Wizard World Comic Con in Austin and spoke candidly about Marvel's treatment of its mutant characters in recent years.

"Here's the deal. Since the X-Men movies came out and Disney didn't have them, I don't know if you've ever paid attention, but Marvel kind of turned the volume down on the X-Men for almost 20 years," Liefeld said.

But Disney will soon own the X-Men film franchise, and things are already starting to turn around.

"Now that they have them more, what was told to me was, 'Oh yeah. Our budgets on the X-Men books are back up to what they used to be because now we own them all.'"

The kind of turning the volume down that Liefeld is talking about was evident when the Marvel Universe was given a soft restart following the events of Secret Wars. The 2015 "All-New Marvel" initiative only included three X-Men team books - Uncanny X-Men, Extraordinary X-Men, and All-New X-Men - and two Wolverine solo titles - All-New Wolverine and Old Man Logan. Altogether, that's the smallest the X-Men line has been in decades. In addition, X-Men merchandise and appearances in video games and other media tie-ins had all but ceased entirely.

This level of minimization didn't last for too long. By 2017, Marvel was relaunching the X-Men line again under the ResurrXion banner with twice as many titles, including the two continuing Wolverine titles. In addition, the X-Men came to live-action television in Legion and The Gifted and began appearing in Marvel games and merchandise.

But now, under new group editor Jordan D. White, the X-Men appear to be getting an even bigger push. Uncanny X-Men is making a big return with the "X-Men Disassembled" story. X-Force is also being relaunched. Wolverine is back.

Taken as a whole, it seems like big things are ahead for the X-Men in 2019 and beyond. With Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige likely taking over the X-Men franchise when the Fox deal goes through, that sentiment should apply to the movies as much as to the comics.

What do you make of Marvel's renewed focus on the X-Men? What other X-Men comics, movies and television shows do you hope to see in the near future? Let us know in the comments!

Source: MovieWeb