Marvel’s Kevin Feige: Deadpool & Wolverine Is “Just the Beginning” of Mutants in the MCU

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is officially entering its mutants era. In 2019, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige — whose first credit as an associate producer was 2000’s X-Men under Fox — alluded to his plans for Marvel’s mutants at San Diego Comic-Con‘s Hall H. In the five years since Disney acquired 20th Century Fox and the X-Men film rights, Feige-produced projects including Black Widow, Ms. Marvel, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever, and The Marvels have slowly integrated mutantkind into the MCU.

After soft-launching mutants — confirmation that Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) carries the mutant X-gene, introducing the mutant Namor (Tenoch Huerta Mejía), and crossing over with the Fox X-Men movies for multiverse cameos from mutant telepath Professor X (Patrick Stewart) and the blue-furred Beast (Kelsey Grammer) — Deadpool & Wolverine is hard-launching the live-action X-Men under Marvel Studios.

“It’s just the beginning,” Feige told Marvel Live on the Deadpool & Wolverine world premiere red carpet. “I’ve said that mutants are coming, and it all starts with this movie. I can’t wait for people to see what [Deadpool & Wolverine] has in store and know that this is the beginning of mutants finally, finally arriving into the MCU.”

The MCU’s “mutant era,” as Feige calls it, is a full-circle moment for the Marvel Studios president. Feige serves as producer on Deadpool & Wolverine alongside his former boss, longtime X-Men franchise producer Lauren Shuler Donner.

“I was there for [X-Men] a quarter century ago,” Feige said. “That’s pretty remarkable. I had thought that that part of my film career was behind me. Those first few X-Men movies are really important to me and started me on this journey. But when we started Marvel Studios, we didn’t have the rights. I thought I would just be a fan watching them. And now here, at the premiere with Hugh [Jackman, who plays Wolverine], it’s remarkable.”

Before Feige launched the MCU with Marvel Studios’ self-financed 2008’s Iron Man, Feige served as co-producer on such Fox-made Marvel movies as 2003’s X2 and 2005’s Elektra, and as executive producer on 2005’s Fantastic Four and 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand. Feige, who also produces Marvel Animation’s X-Men ’97, is currently developing the live-action X-Men reboot and The Fantastic Four reboot as part of the upcoming MCU Phase 6.

Marvel Studios’ Deadpool & Wolverine is in theaters Friday.