It’s official: Thunderbolts director Jake Schreier is directing X-Men for the Marvel Cinematic Universe. During a recent roundtable attended by Collider’s Steve Weintraub for Fantastic Four, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige confirmed Schreier’s appointment, finally putting to rest months of speculation about who would take the reins of the MCU’s first mutant-led film.
“Yeah, it’s official. Jake Schreier is doing X-Men for us,” Feige said. “Very lucky, and we’re very, very lucky to have him, and very excited to have him. And so we’re beginning. It’s all starting now. Script’s underway.” The script in question is being written by Michael Lesslie, whose recent credits include The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes. No cast or plot details have been announced, but Feige did drop a major hint about the tone and focus of the reboot — one that longtime fans will no doubt appreciate.
“Jake’s an incredibly smart guy, and he’s an incredibly talented filmmaker. We had a great experience with him on Thunderbolts, and if you saw that movie, what he did with those character interactions — he also has his pulse on, shall we say, a younger demographic. Not—he’s younger than me, for sure—but he’s tapped into that in a way that I think is important. It was important for Thunderbolts, much more important for X-Men, because X-Men, as it was in the comics, will be a very youth-oriented, focused and cast movie.”
Last month, Schreier appeared at the Mediterranean Film Festival in Malta, where he was asked by Collider about his involvement in the project. While he didn’t confirm the gig at the time, his comments suggested something was in the works.
“Even if I were confirmed on that movie, I don’t think I would be allowed to answer that question. I guess what I would say is that it always starts from character and working with great writers and collaborators, and certainly thinking about how to do something different with any project that you take on. That’s as much as I can say.”
Who Is Jake Schreier?
While Schreier may not be a household name yet, he’s quietly built a strong reputation as one of Hollywood’s most humanistic filmmakers. From the indie darling Robot & Frank to episodes of Beef and Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Schreier has proven time and again that he understands character — especially messy, flawed ones trying to navigate complex emotional terrain. On the heels of Thunderbolts*, that’s exactly the kind of storyteller X-Men needs.
via Collider