MCU’s X-Men Writer Officially Confirms New “Character First” Relaunch

The Multiverse Saga is coming to an end, and attention is turning to the MCU’s Mutant Saga and its X-Men relaunch. Marvel regained the rights to mutants back in 2019, when Disney completed its Fox acquisition, and the studio has been slowly building up their role in the main MCU timeline ever seen. Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars are expected to serve as a Last Hurrah for the Fox movies, ahead of a thrilling relaunch courtesy of Jake Schreier.

Speaking to Deadline, writer Lee Sung Jin stresses Marvel is taking a very different approach to the X-Men this time. “I grew up with X-Men and I think there’s no better set of characters that kind of exemplify feeling othered, feeling different from the world,” Lee said. “We want to continue mining from that theme and it couldn’t be more relevant today in 2026.” According to the Emmy-nominated writer, “They want to go back to character first, which is the type of writing that me and Joanna [Calo] do best.”

“We’re thinking about these characters and what makes them tick. What parts of them feel universally relatable, and leading with that first before we start thinking about plots and world stakes and all that,” he continues. “I think audiences are always hungry for character first. That’s the thing that makes storytelling resonate, that you’re able to see and identify parts of yourself in these people on the big screen.”

Marvel is Taking the Right Approach with the X-Men

As a lifelong X-Men fan, I couldn’t be happier about this approach. At their best, the X-Men comics are the equivalent of superhero soap operas; battles are deeply personal, relationship dynamics are ridiculously convoluted, and everyone has a habit of hooking up with one another. That means everything rests on the characters, on the relationships Marvel choose to develop and the spark between different actors. The Cyclops and Jean romance has be heartwarming (and sometimes tragic), Professor X has to feel wise and terrifying, while Storm has to be a true goddess who’s also so very human.

Notice the number of contradictions I mentioned just then. The X-Men work precisely because the characters are full of contradictions and complexities; their differences rub up against one another in the best possible way, making for some of the most compelling stories in comic book history. Lee Sung Jin is absolutely right that people connect to characters rather than just spectacle, now more-so than ever given the superhero boom appears to be over. If the MCU is to have a future after Doomsday and Secret Wars, it will be because the characters are compelling and their relationships are great.

This is, of course, why Marvel chose Jake Schreier as director. Thunderbolts*‘ box office may have been disappointing, but the film was one of the most character-rich in the MCU to date. It dared to tackle themes of depression, isolation, and PTSD through a superhero lens; and Lee Sung Jin’s comments indicate Marvel recognize the same cultural significance for the X-Men. The X-Men are social outcasts, victims of othering and hate crimes; these themes really do (sadly) feel so very relevant to the world in 2026. If Marvel get this right, then the Mutant Saga could be better than anything we’ve had before.

Marvel will be particularly delighted to see one of their X-Men relaunch writers is involved in an Emmy-nominated show like Beef. The series landed 16 nominations after its second season, three more than the first installment. It’s thrilling to see how viewers connect to stories like Beef, which is noted for a tremendous sense of emotional honesty. What makes Beef striking, though, is the fact the show presents so many diverse voices from the same communities; it eschews stereotypes, presenting what Lee Sung Jin calls “an infinite array of dimensions and layers.” If the X-Men relaunch can do the same, it will be everything I’ve dreamed of.

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