Like it or not, Simon Kinberg has been the de-facto spokesperson for Fox’s Marvel films for the last several years. The X-Men have essentially dominated Kingberg’s career for over a decade and gave him his directorial debut with Dark Phoenix. Regardless, Kinberg is optimistic about the characters’ future without him.
While speaking with SYFY WIRE, Kinberg praised the work Marvel Studios and its president, Kevin Feige. Apparently, the studio’s handling of Spider-Man after two prior cinematic iterations assured him that the X-Men are in good hands.
“Honestly, there’s nobody in the world better at these superhero movies than Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios,” said Kinberg. “I don’t know what the answer is. But I would’ve probably said Spider-Man should remain his own discrete universe, and yet they integrated him and so brilliantly into the MCU, into the Avengers movie and with the relationship with Tony Stark, and I wouldn’t have been able to anticipate that.”
“I can’t anticipate with the best version is,” added Kinberg. “I certainly feel like the X-Men universe is a rich and full enough universe to stand on its own, but I also would certainly be excited to see some of the X-Men characters interacting with some of those MCU characters.”
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Kinberg also recognized that Marvel faces a challenge in casting characters who (in some cases) have been played by three different actors over the last 20 years. But as other franchises have demonstrated, audiences can certainly be receptive to new performers taking over iconic roles.
“We did it with X-Men: First Class, and we were replacing Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart who were pretty indelible as those characters and arguably among, if not the best, actors of their generation,” continued Kinberg. “We managed to do it with two other actors [James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender] who are among the best actors of their generation. It’s where we’re not sure who is the more iconic Xavier and Magneto at this point. But going back before that, it’s been proven with Batman, it’s been proven with James Bond that there are characters that are so iconic that they are bigger than the actors that play them. So I think you just never know.”
Do you share Kinberg’s optimism for Marvel’s X-Men plans? Tell us what you think in the comment section below!
Recommended Reading – Ultimate X-Men Vol. 1: The Tomorrow People
