In a new interview with Collider, Jake Schreier, the director of Thunderbolts* and the upcoming X-Men reboot, has revealed he will reunite with writers Lee Sung Jin (the creator of Beef) and Joanna Calo (co-creator and showrunner of The Bear) on his next MCU project. The filmmaker, who is promoting the second season of Beef, told the site the pair “have come in and are working on a draft right now, which is really exciting to be able to put that group of people together again.”
Prior to this, Michael Lesslie (The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes) had been hired to write the film. Schreier worked with Lee and Calo on the first season of Beef, and Calo was credited as co-writer of Thunderbolts* with Eric Pearson, while Lee received an “additional literary material” credit. The director adds, “When you go back and read X-Men [comics], there’s ideology but also interpersonal drama, almost of a soap opera quality. Having writers who understand both how to drive ideology from personal stakes, if we get that right, that’s what will feel most honest to what X-Men can be.”
While Thunderbolts* (or: The New Avengers) underperformed on release last year, grossing $382.4 million against a $180 million budget, critics praised its darker, more character-centric approach to the genre, earning Schreier the director’s seat on X-Men. While he is not expected to helm a Thunderbolts* sequel (ala how Destin Daniel Cretton is still expected to direct Shang-Chi 2 after Spider-Man: Brand New Day), the cast will return in Avengers: Doomsday on December 18, along with several of the original movie X-Men.
The X-Men reboot does not have a confirmed release date yet, although Marvel Studios has staked out May 5, July 28, and November 10, 2028, for upcoming, undisclosed theatrical releases. It is also heavily rumored Brand New Day will introduce Sadie Sink as the MCU’s Jean Grey when it releases on July 31, although whether this will be the case remains to be seen. In any case, mutants like Iman Vellani‘s Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel, Tenoch Huerta‘s Namor, and (possibly) Yahya Abdul-Mateen II‘s Simon Williams/Wonder Man, are already running around in the main MCU.
In the meantime, season two of Beef (starring Oscar Isaac, Carey Mulligan, Charles Melton, and Cailee Spaeny), will be released on Netflix on Thursday, April 16; X-Men ’97 season two will premiere on Disney+ later this year; and Insomniac’s Wolverine video game will arrive on the PlayStation 5 on Tuesday, September 15.
