Marvel finally makes the X-Men announcement we've been hoping for

The X-Men are one of the most popular groups to ever make their presence felt on any screen. Whether you watched the classic Fox X-Men movies, tuned into the game-changing animated series in the '90s, or indeed even read the source material, the X-Men's appeal has been everlasting. For a time there, they were even more famous than The Avengers, as the the mutants were among the best-known Marvel characters long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe even existed.

But here's the thing: The MCU does exist now, and fans have been longing for the X-Men to take part in it. And ever since the Disney / Fox merger in 2019, the universe has been slowly setting the stage for that to happen. We have gotten crumbs, nods, and references along the way, with two of the biggest acknowledgements coming earlier this year. X-Men '97 marked the first Marvel Studios produced X-Men project, while the inclusion of Hugh Jackman's Wolverine in Deadpool and Wolverine allowed for the MCU to officially acknowledge that the X-Men existed... setting the table for them to exist again in the MCU.

Now, Kevin Feige himself has acknowledged their existence, making the announcement that X-Men fans have been longing to hear.

The end of the Multiverse Saga will pave the way for The Age of Mutants

Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige recently appeared virtually at the Disney APAC content showcase in Singapore, teasing the audience with some of what they can expect from the Marvel Cinematic Universe in the coming months and years. In doing so, he mentioned the two groups of heroes we have all been waiting to see in the MCU: The Fantastic Four (who headline their own movie next year) and the X-Men.

He revealed that the next chapter of the Multiverse Saga will play out much like The Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy did as a bunch of unlikely heroes will come together to form these two groups of characters (along with the Thunderbolts), all while suggesting that we could see some familiar X-Men characters show up in the coming titles. He then told audiences that after the Multiverse Saga ends with Avengers: Secret Wars, the Age of the Mutants begins, saying:

"...in our next few movies with some X-Men players that you might recognize. Right after that, the whole story of Secret Wars really leads us into a new age of mutants and of the X-Men. Again, [it’s] one of those dreams come true. We finally have the X-Men back."

- Kevin Feige

Avengers: Secret Wars will mark the end of the Multiverse Saga. Fans are anticipating a major multiversal battle to rival the one that closed out the Infinity Saga in Avengers: Endgame and if that is what happens, it will no doubt be glorious. But that right there presents Marvel with an opportunity to bring in some classic X-Men characters and once again familiarize the MCU audiences with the Mighty Mutants.

Feige has previously referred to the post-Multiverse Saga chapter of the franchise as the Mutants Era in more of a casual way, but fans have been speculating that it might actually be referred to as "The Mutants Saga". The Marvel Studios' president's newest comments do seem to reinforce that possibility, suggesting that Phases Seven, Eight, and Nine will be all about the X-Men.

The franchise has been laying the groundwork for their arrival since the Multiverse Saga began. Ms. Marvel featured a few bars of the iconic X-Men theme when it was revealed that its title character was a mutant, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever's Namor was known as the world's first mutant, and Professor X himself, Charles Xavier (played by Patrick Stewart), appeared in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. It allowed the franchise to soft launch the X-Men, while Wolverine's introduction in Deadpool and Wolverine was more of a hard launch. Well, that is until the X-Men movie, which is currently in development.

Get ready, the X-Men are coming!