Marvel’s New X-Men Movie Gets Exciting Update From Writer Lee Sung Jin

Marvel Studios is slowly building its long-awaited X-Men reboot, and one of the writers behind the project has now shared new details about what fans can expect from the movie. Lee Sung Jin recently opened up about joining the film and explained why the X-Men characters still mean so much to him.

Speaking with Men’s Health, Lee revealed that he originally did not plan on returning to Marvel so soon after working on Thunderbolts*. However, director Jake Schreier convinced him to come aboard the project. The two previously worked together on Thunderbolts* and the hit series Beef, alongside writer Joanna Calo, who is also involved in the new X-Men script.

“I wasn’t planning on doing another Marvel thing because I do have a lot I want to explore in my personal projects,” Lee explained. “But Jake is one of my best friends, and when he comes calling with X-Men…come on, you drop everything for that.”

Lee also spoke about growing up with the X-Men franchise and how much the animated series and comics shaped his love for the characters. “I grew up waking up every Saturday morning and turning on the cartoon. I watched every single episode,” he said. “When they came back with X-Men ’97, I devoured that.”

The writer specifically mentioned the classic comic run by Chris Claremont as one of his biggest inspirations. According to Lee, the new movie wants to focus less on spectacle and more on the emotional side of the team. He explained that Jake Schreier’s vision for the reboot is centered around the relationships and personal struggles that made the X-Men stories so popular for decades.

“These are amazing characters with very rich backstories full of so much emotion,” Lee said. “There are so many intra-team dynamics and relationships. There’s soapy stuff. And sure, there are political themes baked into the DNA of X-Men too, and those are evergreen, but we want to get back to character-first storytelling.”

Marvel Studios first confirmed plans to introduce mutants into the Marvel Cinematic Universe back in 2019 during San Diego Comic-Con, when Marvel president Kevin Feige teased that the X-Men would eventually arrive in the franchise.

Since then, Marvel has slowly started bringing back actors from the older Fox X-Men films during the Multiverse Saga, but the studio has already confirmed the upcoming movie will feature a completely recast team after Avengers: Secret Wars.

Reports about the reboot started picking up in 2023 when Marvel began meeting with writers for the film. Michael Lesslie was originally attached to write the script before Jake Schreier officially signed on as director following the success of Thunderbolts*. Earlier this year, Schreier confirmed that Lee Sung Jin and Joanna Calo were working on a fresh draft of the screenplay.

Kevin Feige has also described the upcoming X-Men reboot as a more youth-focused film compared to previous versions of the franchise. While Marvel still has not revealed casting details or a release date, Lee’s latest comments suggest the studio wants to bring the focus back to the emotional drama, complicated friendships, and messy relationships that made the X-Men comics stand out in the first place.

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