As X-Men '97 helps renew interest in Marvel's crew of mutants, Disney is ramping up on development for its upcoming live-action film.
Deadline reports today that the studio may have found its writer for the new X-Men movie, with Michael Lesslie in negotiations to pen the script. Lesslie most recently wrote the screenplay for last year's Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes and has also worked on the 2016 Assassin's Creed adaptation and 2015's Macbeth, as well as the upcoming Now You See Me 3.
Reps for Disney and Lesslie did not immediately respond to IGN's request for comment.
The Deadline report stresses that the X-Men film is still in early development, with no cast or director attached yet, but Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige is on board to produce per usual. Deadline reports that Marvel will now seek to find a director to work with Lesslie and Feige on the project.
We last heard about it back in September 2023, when it was reported that Marvel would start setting up meetings to find a writer shortly after last year's writers' strike was resolved. It was the first news we'd heard about a full-blown new X-Men movie since Disney completed its acquisition of Fox - and all its Marvel rights with it - in 2019.
Today's news, though, comes at a time when the X-Men are decidedly front-of-mind for comic-book fans. X-Men '97 just completed its first season to critical acclaim and, according to a Deadline report earlier today, solid viewership. Season 2 is in the works, although Marvel's head of streaming, Brad Winderbaum, has asked fans to "be patient."
On the film side, one of the summer's most-anticipated releases (and Marvel's only theatrical release of 2024) is Deadpool & Wolverine, which will star Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman as the two titular characters. Marvel's even unveiled ambitious plans for an X-Men relaunch in the comics. With all that in mind, it's little wonder Disney would want to return to the famous mutants as a whole, even as they've vowed to ease up on their film and TV output.
For more on the X-Men, check out our 9/10 Season 1 review of X-Men '97, where IGN's Jesse Schedeen wrote, "X-Men '97 isn't just a fitting continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series, but one of the best adaptations ever of this iconic Marvel franchise."
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
