Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and The Marvels.

The X-Men have officially set to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but who will be joining the ranks of the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy is still the biggest question on fans' minds. Several X-Men characters have been featured, such as fan favorite Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. The roster has changed significantly since the first X-Men film in 2000. The 2011 prequel X-Men: First Class saw a younger, all-new cast inhabit the characters audiences had already gotten to know. All of these films were made under 20th Century Fox and for years, were separate from MCU.

When Disney bought 20th Century Fox in 2019, they gained the rights to the X-Men franchise as well and fans were excited about the X-Men finally joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It would be an entirely new take on the merry band of mutants. Yet that isn't what happened. In Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Patrick Stewart’s Professor X appeared on-screen in an alternate universe. It begged the question: will the old X-Men return as their respective characters?

With a surprise X-Men cameo in The Marvels, it seems the answer is...maybe. Combine that with confirmation that Hugh Jackman will reprise his role as Wolverine in Deadpool 3, which has been confirmed as a part of the MCU, and it appears that the X-Men will be in the Multiverse Saga, but it will be the classic film versions.

Despite these teases to the original cast, it still seems likely the X-Men will eventually return as a reboot in the MCU but not for the foreseeable future. Some long-time fans may want to see the same actors playing the characters, as some have become synonymous with their respective X-Men. However, here's why none of the old X-Men cast should return permanently to the MCU.

Update November 12, 2023: This article has been updated following the release of The Marvels and the recent delays to Deadpool 3.

It Should Be a New Story

The X-Men deserve new stories. While the prospect of seeing the classic film versions of the mutants audiences have known for years is a fun prospect, that can only carry them so far. The Fox X-Men movie's continuity is a mess, and even keeping it in another dimension separate from the MCU only means that the X-Men stories have to follow the previous template.

The X-Men deserve a new take on their material. Part of the fun of bringing in the characters now into a fully formed MCU is finding out how mutants fit into this world. Have they always been around but in hiding? Is it a new phenomenon? If they are being introduced in the MCU, do they start with the bold new Krokan era to separate themselves from the classic school for gifted youngsters? There are so many fresh new story ideas that present themselves if the X-Men start fresh.

Keeping X-Men and MCU Separate Hurts the Theme of Mutants

A common critique of bringing the X-Men into the Marvel Cinematic Universe has always been why the public would distrust mutants while they praise superheroes like the Avengers. In many ways, making the X-Men heroes from another dimension where there are no superheroes seems to clear that up pretty quickly. It is an easy solution, but one that does damage to the X-Men brand.

Keeping the mutants separate robs their story of some meaning. Part of including the X-Men and mutants in a world full of superheroes highlights the hypocrisy of prejudice. It would highlight how there is no rational to fear someone like Storm or Nightcrawler while publically embracing Hulk or Doctor Strange. This is an angle that the X-Men can now do in the MCU.

Embrace The New

Fans have a difficult time accepting recasting, and supposedly so does Marvel Studios as they struggle to figure out what to do with Kang the Conqueror. While fans love many of the original X-Men actors including heavy hitters like Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Jennifer Lawerence, James McAvoy, and Michael Fassbender, Marvel needs to embrace the new.

Embracing new things can be scary, but it can also work out. Audiences accepted Tom Holland as Spider-Man. By that point, Spider-Man had been played by two great actors. There is nothing to say that the same can't be true of the X-Men. They found two great previous Professor X's and Magneto's, but that is not to suggest there is not a third one out there. While it might be difficult to accept anyone else as Wolverine, that would be robbing audiences of a chance to maybe see fan favorites like Daniel Radcliffe or Keanu Reeves take on the role.

Sarah Finn has been the casting director for the MCU since the first Iron Man and has done every major project except The Incredible Hulk. Her casting track record speaks for itself, as she has cast some incredible actors in roles they have made iconic. The chance for her to help find the next new X-Men could be one of the most exciting casting calls in history.

Imagine the fun pairings that could happen if there were new X-Men. Of course, we know what it would be like to have Kelsey Grammer as Beast, but what if it was Bill Hader alongside Orlando Bloom as Angel? Or casting a person of color as Professor X and recontextualizing the racial metaphor and making it more prominent? There are so many exciting possibilities that they would be denying themselves if they just did the same old same old again.

What We Know So Far

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige has stated that they already know when and how they'll introduce the X-Men into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but they are playing it close to their chest and not revealing anything. Their introduction of mutants has been slow, with only Kamala Khan and Namor being confirmed mutants on Earth-616. There was also a minor reference to Wolverine in a newspaper article in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law but that could just be a joke.

Meanwhile the multiverse is filled with mutants. Professor X pops up in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, and recently the mid-credit scene of The Marvels. That scene seemed to be the imminent arrival Kevin Feige teased. It features Monica Rambeau, having repaired a tear in space-time by staying on the other end of another universe, waking up in a hospital, and a doctor appears, but not just any doctor. It's Kelsey Grammer's Beast from X-Men: The Last Stand.

This seems to be teeing up Deadpool 3, which seems to be set in a post-apocalyptic version of the 20th Century Fox Marvel films that will include not only Wolverine but also Jennifer Garner's Elektra. There is a chance Deadpool 3 will be the final swan song for the Fox X-Men movies, possibly leading into Avengers: The Kang Dynasty and Avengers: Secret Wars where multiverses will collide and the X-Men of the 20th Century Fox films and the heroes of the MCU will unite in one major crossover movie before a reset.

While the MCU has been teasing mutants in the MCU, they might not get their proper introduction until after the Multiverse Saga. The Marvels mid-credit scene seems to imply that the franchise will double down on the original Fox X-Men characters for the foreseeable future, and with Deadpool 3 now the only MCU movie scheduled for 2024 this might be how the franchise raises its profile after some disappointing entries. The promise of fan-favorite mutants returning can be good in the short term, but it is not a long-term plan for success.