Marvel Studios will soon be introducing the X-Men into the MCU, but the upcoming release of another X-Men project may throw a spanner in the works.

Marvel Studios’ upcoming X-Men reboot will bring the mutant superhero team into the MCU for the first time, but this project might already be facing a major problem. Shortly after Disney’s acquisition of 20th Century Fox was finalized in 2019, Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige confirmed that mutants would be integrated into the MCU. This process started with Ms. Marvel’s Kamala Khan and Black Panther: Wakanda Forever’s Namor, and the appearance of a Professor X variant in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness proved the X-Men exist in the MCU’s multiverse, but this will soon be kicked into overdrive.

Back in September 2023, Deadline reported that Marvel Studios was on the hunt for writers for the MCU’s official X-Men movie, but news has been scarce on the highly-anticipated project since then. Even so, Phase 5’s upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine is set to bring mutants into the MCU en masse, particularly those from Fox’s dissolved X-Men franchise, such as Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. This means that the MCU’s X-Men team is on the horizon, but the group could be facing a huge problem even before joining the MCU, thanks to the upcoming release of another X-Men project.

The MCU’s X-Men & X-Men ’97 Can’t Avoid Comparison

While Marvel Studios is preparing to put the MCU’s X-Men reboot into production, Marvel Studios Animation is releasing X-Men ’97 on Disney+ on March 20, 2024. X-Men ’97 is a continuation of X-Men: The Animated Series, which ran for five seasons between 1992 and 1997, with the new series picking up where the last one left off, exploring the absence of Professor X and new adventures for the remaining X-Men team. While both of these projects are exciting for fans of Marvel Comics’ mutant superhero team, it is impossible for them both to release without being compared to one another.

Two X-Men Franchises Running Simultaneously Could Spell Bad News For Both

No two major X-Men franchises have been released simultaneously before, which creates a major problem for Marvel Studios when delivering the MCU’s live-action X-Men projects alongside the popular animated X-Men ’97. X-Men: The Animated Series came to an end three years before 20th Century Fox released its first live-action X-Men project in 2000, allowing separation between the two iterations of the team, and providing breathing room before notable storylines were repeated in live-action. This won’t be the case for the MCU, as X-Men ’97 already has a second season in development, suggesting it will run simultaneous to the MCU’s X-Men.

Releasing these two X-Men projects alongside each other means Marvel Studios may not have the full creative freedom to adapt any X-Men storyline from Marvel Comics into live-action. If the story has already been done in X-Men ’97, the comparisons would be inevitable, which could be detrimental to the live-action MCU if viewers think the animated series pulled them off better. This could also impact casting choices for the live-action X-Men, characterization decisions once castings have been completed, choices of storylines and interpersonal relationships occur within the team, which means Marvel Studios must find a way to overcome this issue.

How Can Marvel Studios Overcome Its X-Men Issue?

Former showrunner Beau DeMayo previously noted that X-Men ’97 is not canon to the MCU, which means it may not matter if storylines are repeated in live-action after being adapted in the animated series. X-Men: The Animated Series explored some of the biggest X-Men storylines from Marvel Comics back in the ’90s, but this didn’t impact the storytelling ability of 20th Century Fox’s own X-Men franchise. Since both the live-action X-Men movie and X-Men ’97 are now under Marvel Studios’ control, it’s likely important storylines will be balanced evenly between the two projects, allowing them both to have some substance.

It’s very clear that X-Men ’97 is a continuation of The Animated Series, meaning the characters and storylines will follow roughly the same path. Conversely, Marvel Studios’ live-action X-Men will be completely reinvented, bringing fresh faces and stories into the MCU that might have never been seen before. This means viewers will be able to appreciate X-Men ’97’s nostalgia and smaller-scale storytelling, while also reveling in the brand-new iteration of the team in the MCU’s X-Men project. This will be a fine line for Marvel Studios to walk, but the sheer amount of upcoming mutant content is still very exciting.