Longtime X-Men Movie Producer Simon Kinberg Breaks His Silence On The Future Of The Property
Simon Kinberg has been with the "X-Men" franchise since he was a screenwriter for 2006's "X-Men: The Last Stand." Through highs and lows, he's guided the series every step of the way, ultimately creating an interconnected web of characters with the time-traveling "X-Men: Days of Future Past." He'd go on to direct one of the final installments with "X-Men: Dark Phoenix." Now, the characters and plotlines belong to Disney and Marvel Studios, allowing the mutants to enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe to interact with the likes of Thor, Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange, and more.
It's an intriguing development to see how the X-Men will become incorporated into the MCU, especially seeing how there have been so many versions of popular characters and storylines. For example, there have already been two big-screen adaptations of the famous "Dark Phoenix" tale from the comics.
If anyone had an idea of how to make the X-Men fresh, it'd be Kinberg, and when asked by CBR whether he'd return to some capacity to the world of mutants, he remained optimistic. "I adore [Marvel Studios president] Kevin Feige," he explained. "I adore what he's done. I'm such an admirer of what he's done with the MCU. I would always be open to working on it because I love the characters so much." However, he also seems to understand that it may be his time to step away from the series.
Simon Kinberg compares the X-Men to Shakespearean characters
The X-Men entering the MCU is a chance for rebirth. There have been a ton of movies based on these characters, and audiences are all too familiar with Wolverine, Charles Xavier, and Magneto. An MCU introduction could focus on other mutants who haven't gotten as many opportunities to shine at this point, and Kinberg is open to anything at this point.
As he elaborated to CBR, "There's also a part of me that feels like I'm really interested to see what they will do with it, to make it different if I'm not a part of it, or even if I am a part of it, because it's a little bit like — not to sound bombastic, but it's a little bit like Shakespeare, where a million people have played Hamlet." Even if Wolverine returns, it would likely be a far cry from what we've seen out of Hugh Jackman's iteration of the hero.
Ultimately, he's just excited that these toys are in someone else's sandbox, who can do with them as they please. He's keeping his expectations bear because there are simply too many directions the franchise can take moving forward. "I'm excited to see what they do," he concluded. "I don't have any hopes for what they do. I know it's gonna be cool because everything they do is cool and smart and really well-thought-out. As a fan of the comics and as a fan of Marvel movies, I literally can't wait." Marvel Studios and Disney currently don't have any "X-Men" projects on the docket, so it could be a while until we see another "X-Men" film. With Disney at the helm, fans should expect something spectacular.