Kevin Feige Basically Just Confirmed X-Men Is Coming After ‘Spider-Man: Brand New Day’ – Spoilers Ahead

The Marvel Cinematic Universe has spent over a decade building toward a roster of iconic characters, checking off one legendary Stan Lee and Jack Kirby creation after another. The Avengers arrived years ago, the Fantastic Four finally suited up last year, and Thor and the Hulk have been mainstays since the franchise’s earliest days. That leaves exactly one major gap still waiting to be filled.

Fresh off a historic opening weekend, Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige sat down with Variety to reflect on the film’s success and, more intriguingly, tease what comes next for the franchise. The conversation ventured into genuinely spoiler territory for anyone who hasn’t yet seen the film’s ending.

Feige addressed the film’s closing moments directly, telling Variety, “For people who’ve seen ‘Brand New Day,‘ they know the storyline leads us into more Spider-Man films and into the future of the MCU.” He continued, “And, I think we’re still in spoiler territory because the movie only just came out, but it leads into another very well-known Marvel franchise created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.”

Feige stopped just short of naming the franchise outright, but the film itself all but answered the question. ‘Brand New Day’ ends with the character Jean Grey boarding a bus headed toward Westchester, a location deeply tied to the X-Men’s comic book origins. Given that Lee and Kirby created the Fantastic Four, the Avengers, the Hulk, and Thor, all of which are already established in the MCU, the X-Men remain the one major creation from the duo that Marvel Studios has yet to formally launch.

Beyond the franchise tease, Feige also reflected on the sheer scale of the film’s box office run. ‘Brand New Day’ claimed the biggest opening weekend in box office history, pulling in $927 million globally. “It’s overwhelming, frankly, to find ourselves in this position on a Monday morning,” Feige told Variety, adding that the moment felt especially meaningful given the ups and downs the industry has weathered in recent years.

He also credited the people behind the film’s success by name, praising director Destin Daniel Cretton, star Tom Holland, and producer Amy Pascal, along with Sony Pictures chairman Tom Rothman for continuing to make the Spider-Man partnership work across four films now. Feige framed the achievement as ultimately tracing back to the character’s roots, saying the success speaks to “what Stan Lee and Steve Ditko created all those years ago.”

The Marvel boss also weighed in on the ongoing conversation around so-called superhero fatigue, arguing that success varies from project to project rather than reflecting a broader genre decline. He pointed to last year’s ‘Fantastic Four’ as an example, noting that despite looking and sounding unlike anything done before in a superhero movie, it still only grossed $521 million by comparison. “Many things can be true at once,” he said.

With ‘Avengers: Doomsday’ already looming later this year and the franchise’s next mutant chapter apparently teed up by ‘Brand New Day”s closing scene, Marvel appears to be entering one of its most ambitious stretches yet. Feige’s comments suggest the studio is finally ready to bring one of comics’ most beloved teams into the fold, even if he’s not quite ready to say the words out loud.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments!