Marvel Studios has never officially announced that it is developing a new X-Men movie, but with Deadpool and Wolverine premiering this summer, it seems inevitable. Even more evitable: Rachel Zegler, the current darling of Hollywood, being connected to the mutant MCU project.

Credit: Fox
The Walt Disney Company and Marvel Studios acquired the rights to the X-Men (and all related properties, like Deadpool and The New Mutants) in 2019 when it purchased 21st Century Fox for a whopping $71.3 billion. It also got the TV and film rights to other huge properties like the Fantastic Four, The Simpsons, and Family Guy, but comic book fans everywhere were most excited to see how the world’s greatest team of superpowered mutants would be brought to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

In the five years since then, audiences have seen Professor X (Patrick Stewart) appear in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness (2022) and Beast (Kelsey Grammer) pop up in a post-credits scene of The Marvels (2023), but it’s been slow going.
Credit: Marvel Studios
Marvel Studios has been coy about the presumed X-Men reboot, with Kevin Feige saying at San Diego Comic-Con that the Fox purchase simply meant, “That means we have them back, and we are working towards it.” It is expected that Deadpool and Wolverine, which stars Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, will use some kind of Multiverse trickery to introduce the X-Men to the MCU, but there is still no official announcement about a feature film.

Despite that, Deadline has announced that Marvel Studios has locked in on Michael Lesslie, the co-screenwriter (with Michael Arndt) of The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023), the recent reboot prequel of the dystopian science fiction franchise starring Rachel Zegler.
Credit: Lionsgate Films
Michael Lesslie is an interesting choice to script the X-Men film, but not an illogical one. He previously co-wrote the video game adaptation Assassin’s Creed (2016), which starred notable X-Men star Michael Fassbender. He also wrote the BBC One series The Little Drummer Girl, which featured Florence Pugh, who has gone on to an increasingly important role in the MCU.

So he’s already got some connections there. It seems that the successful Hunger Games prequel has given him franchise clout enough for Disney and Marvel Studios to trust him with one of their most important pieces of IP. The connection to Rachel Zegler should also not be underestimated. The actress is starring in the Snow White live-action remake, one of Disney’s most notable upcoming films, and previously starred in the West Side Story (2021) remake, which was distributed by the Fox-owned 20th Century Studios. It can’t be said for certain that Zegler gave Michael Lesslie a referral for the job, but it’s not impossible.

It is also entirely possible that Disney may be looking to transfer the imminent Snow White star into the MCU, keeping her in the Mouse Family, as it were. After portraying Lucy Gray Baird in The Hunger Games, what mutant role could Rachel Zegler play next? There are a lot of X-Men, after all.