The Marvel Cinematic Universe is the world’s most profitable franchise. They recently crossed Avatar as the world’s highest-grossing movie under their belt with Avengers: Endgame. The world is looking at the new Box Office Champions. And the new Box office Champions are looking at new sources of entertainment to keep their fans busy and at the edge of their seats. The Fox-Disney merger has opened up new opportunities for the Marvel Overlords. New superheroes that were once exiled from the House of Disney and Marvel are coming into town – chief amongst them being the Fantastic Four and the X-Men. While Marvel’s first family has already been announced as a projecting the fourth phase of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the X-Men are yet to be given a formal announcement for their debut into the theatres. And when that happens (which we all know will), we have some ways how they could make that happen. Presenting – All the ways MCU Phase 5 could introduce the X-Men into Marvel movies!
There was once a time when the X-Men and the rest of mutant-kind had a level of popularity the rest of the superheroes of Marvel comics could only dream of. The X-Men were once the most sought after superhero franchises after the early 2000s saw the rise of the mutant superhero team under the Fox Studios banner. But the times have changed. The X-Men now are a marginalized and rather trolled movie franchise that could use some help beefing up and regaining their former glory. The X-Men need to come to Marvel and fight alongside the Avengers. But how does that happen in the first place?
The number of ways that this could happen is many and countless. But the number of ways that might seem believable and plausible enough is very less. The reasons might range from trivial to herculean. We bring you all of them in this one.
1. The Blip
You must remember one thing before you dive into this – there already are superheroes that are the result of exposure to the Infinity Stones. Scarlet Witch aka Wanda Maximoff and Quicksilver aka Pietro Maximoff are the wonder twins that got their powers due to exposure to the Infinity Stones. Why not let that be the reason for the rise of the Mutant Kind? In Spider-Man: Far From Home, we realize the aftereffect of the Blip on society and governments the world over. Why stop there? This is a huge opportunity that cannot be missed.
When the Infinity Gauntlet destroyed half of all life in the universe, there was a huge release of energy. Whenever the Infinity Gauntlet, with all the six Infinity Stones, was used, it is common knowledge that it released a lot of energy. The people that were killed by the Snap and brought back by the same Snap were continuously exposed to a lot of cosmic energy. And as we all know, exposure to enough radiation can turn anyone into a superhero in the comic books. This will be a quick and easy way for the X-Men to enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
2. The Quantum Realm
Yes, we are still not done with the Quantum Realm. The mysterious nexus of all dimensions that was the prima facie of Ant-Man and the Wasp and played a pivotal role the Time Heist saga of Avengers: Endgame still holds deep, dark secret amongst its midst. The Quantum Realm could introduce the X-Men in a number of ways. There have been already so many theories on how the Quantum Realm could be responsible for the X-Men but we have segregated the best of the lot.
We saw the images of a secret city lying within the confines of the Quantum Realm in Ant-Man and the Wasp. We never got to know how it got there. But this city, many theorize, could be MCU’s version of Genosha – a country from Marvel Comics that was built and ruled over by Magneto for Mutants. If something like the Thanos Snap and the Iron Man Snap happens that changes the very dimensions of space and time, the Mutants may come in to investigate. Or the other option would be that the Quantum Realm is not something that is that much of a well-kept secret. People have been experimenting on it since time immemorial and some have managed to change their as well as other people’s physiology and biology due to continued exposure to the Realm’s energies, just like how Janet Van Dyne gained superpowers after staying in the realm for far too long.
3. They just come out of nowhere
It is not like Marvel has not used this card before! We just want you to be reminded of the fact that Black Panther and Wakanda, the Celestials, the Elders of the Universe, the Kree, the Inhumans, the Eternals – all of them were important elements that the movies do not bother explaining. They never get an origin story. They are just there. They always have been. That is Marvel Studios’ official explanation. They reason that most of them were far too secluded or isolated for formulating an origin story – which is understandable.
And the X-Men could also fall in line with this approach. In the comics, we know that the Mutants are one of the most persecuted and discriminated people on planet Earth. If Professor Charles Xavier wanted to start a safe place for mutants to learn more about their powers, he would most certainly want everyone to be unaware of it. He would use his telepathic powers to erase his and his School’s memories from everything and everyone. Maybe that is how they have stayed hidden for so long.
4. Enter the House of M
The House of M is one of the most celebrated and acclaimed Marvel Story arcs that completely changed the fate of the planet, with its population going through a major reshuffling. In that reality, Wanda Maximoff aka Scarlet Witch, who was grief-stricken by the loss of her two children, became so emotionally vulnerable that she used her vast reality-altering powers to rewrite the entire timeline. In this new timeline called the House of M, the mutants were the majority and the humans were the hunted minority. That was a grim reality where mutants reigned supreme.
From what we have seen in the MCU movies featuring Scarlet Witch so far, we have come to realize that the woman has faced some serious losses in all these years. She lost her parents, then her brother and now her one true love, all right in front of her eyes. She has also started gaining tremendous control over her powers, showing she just might be one of the strongest superheroes to ever exist. If WandaVision and Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness featuring her are of any indication, we believe that Marvel has grand plans for the Scarlet Witch.
5. Celestial Experimentation
The Eternals are a race of superhuman immortals that were the result of the Celestials, a race of cosmic giants, experimenting on the primitive human race. But the X-Men could also be a part of that experiment. The story could go something like this – the experimentation on Humans was a grand success. The Eternals were created as a superhuman offshoot of humanity living on another planet.
But what about the test subject left behind. They wandered the Earth, hooked up a lot and procreated with other human beings. The superhuman gene or the X-gene they carried remained dormant in them and was activated in their great, great descendants’ right after the Thanos Snap and the Blip events.
6. The Multi-Verse
Doctor Strange will travel to another universe in the sequel to Doctor Strange titled Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Strange will now be a partaker in the matters of not just one but multiple realities and universes. He will be journeying to different planes of existence. One of those universes will have their own version of superheroes that could be mutants.
If the story for the Doctor Strange Sequel involves people from the two realities working together to stop a common threat, then the end of the movie could show some of the superheroes from another universe being stranded on this one. And those displaced superheroes from another plane of reality will form the X-Men of this universe.
