Marvel Studios' Captain America: Brave New World has already teased the perfect way to introduce even more iconic mutants to the MCU. In recent weeks, Marvel boss Kevin Feige has promised that more mutants will soon be joining the MCU, with the franchise's upcoming projects apparently including some notable characters from Marvel Comics making their MCU debuts. Since this is setting the stage for the X-Men's formation and more mutant-centric stories after Avengers: Secret Wars, this is a very exciting prospect, and it could be explained sooner than anyone first expected.
The next live-action project scheduled to premiere in the MCU is Captain America: Brave New World, which will hit theaters in February 2025. It seems that Anthony Mackie's first solo MCU movie as Sam Wilson could be the perfect place to set up many iconic mutants in the MCU, all thanks to the project revisiting one of the MCU's biggest loose ends. Revealing more about Eternals' Celestial Tiamut and the valuable resource it contains means that Captain America: Brave New World has the opportunity to set up some huge mutant heroes and villains for the MCU's future.
Kevin Feige Promises Recognizable Mutants In The MCU’s Upcoming Projects
Several Recent MCU Projects Have Teased Mutants
Speaking during the opening of the Disney APAC Content Showcase in November 2024 (via Deadline), Marvel Studios chief Kevin Feige expressed his excitement about the MCU's upcoming The Fantastic Four: First Steps reboot, Thunderbolts* movie and, crucially, the introduction of the MCU's X-Men. Feige confirmed that in the MCU's "next few movies... some X-Men players that [we] might recognize" will be introduced. This is an incredibly exciting development that will surely shake-up the MCU forever, and it seems this could happen as soon as Captain America: Brave New World.
I think you will see that continues in our next few movies with some X-Men players that you might recognize. Right after that, the whole story of Secret Wars really leads us into a new age of mutants and of the X-Men. Again, [it’s] one of those dreams come true. We finally have the X-Men back.
In May 2024, The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes writer Michael Lesslie was revealed to be penning the script for the MCU's upcoming X-Men movie, which is expected to release sometime after 2027's Avengers: Secret Wars. This project will follow on from mutant seeds dropped in several recent MCU projects, including Ms. Marvel, Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, The Marvels and, of course, Deadpool & Wolverine, which bridged the gap between the MCU and Fox's X-Men franchise. Marvel's upcoming projects could change the game significantly, however, particularly Captain America: Brave New World.
Captain America 4 Sets Up Weapon X In The MCU
Captain America: Brave New World Will Introduce Adamantium
Trailers for Marvel Studios' upcoming Captain America: Brave New World have confirmed that the Phase 5 movie will finally bring adamantium into the MCU's primary continuity for the first time. The fictional metal alloy from Marvel Comics is central to the storyline of a number of iconic characters, most notably being the metal grafted onto Wolverine's skeleton, so its debut in the MCU is very exciting. Introducing adamantium as a resource inside the Celestial Tiamut could set up another resource race, similarly to that concerning vibranium, which could lead to the debut of the Weapon X program.
In Marvel Comics, the Weapon X program experimented on mutants, carrying out genetic experiments to enhance mutants' powers into formidable living weapons. Most notably, Wolverine received his adamantium enhancements at the hands of Weapon X, so introducing adamantium in Captain America: Brave New World could be a great way to establish Weapon X as a new threat in the MCU. Many mutants have been connected to Weapon X in Marvel Comics, so establishing the department in the MCU is a fantastic way to bring them into live-action.
Many Iconic Mutants Have Passed Through Weapon X In Marvel Comics
Weapon X Experimented On Many Mutants Since Its Debut In 1974
The Weapon X program was first seen in Marvel Comics in 1974's The Incredible Hulk #180, which marked Wolverine's first full appearance in the comics in his now-iconic battle against the Hulk. Weapon X was Wolverine's codename, but was later revealed to be the title of the organization that had enhanced the clawed mutant with the adamantium coating his skeleton, and was in turn part of a bigger organization known as Weapon Plus. Initially, Wolverine, Sabretooth, Maverick, Silver Fox, Mastodon, Arthur Barrington, Psi-Borg, Wildcat and Kestrel became Team X, a covert CIA mutant team under Weapon X's control.
The prospect of Weapon X being introduced to the MCU in Captain America: Brave New World means that Team X could be the franchise's first mutant team, rather than the X-Men. In the years following Team X's disbanding, many other mutants, including X-23, Deadpool, Slayback, Typhoid Mary, Leech and Marrow, among many others, were involved in Weapon X's experiments. Even X-Men member Gambit was in the Weapon X facility on a mission before joining the X-Men, so any number of significant mutants could join the MCU following Weapon X's possible introduction in Captain America: Brave New World.
Introducing Weapon X Sets Up Some Brilliant Villains For The MCU’s X-Men Future
Some Sinister Villains Have Worked For Weapon X In Marvel Comics
While a huge number of iconic mutant heroes and antiheroes could be introduced to the MCU thanks to the establishment of the Weapon X program, this would also create the opportunity for some of the X-Men's most notable villains to appear. In 20th Century Fox's X-Men franchise, it was Brian Cox, Danny Huston and Josh Helman's William Stryker who was behind Weapon X. It's very possible Marvel Studios could follow this same storyline, despite the fact that Stryker only became associated with Marvel Comics' Weapon X in 2017 after being resurrected as a cyborg.
It's perhaps more likely that Marvel Studios will introduce more notable Weapon X villains to the MCU. This could mark the debut of Professor Thorton, Dr. Abraham Cornelius and Dr. Dale Rice, who oversaw Wolverine's adamantium bonding. Alice Braga's Cecilia Reyes from 2020's The New Mutants could be reinvented for the MCU, while it's also possible Marvel Studios could introduce Nathaniel Essex, a.k.a. Mister Sinister, who was pivotal in the development of Weapon X. Introducing Sinister in Captain America: Brave New World may seem unlikely, but would be huge for the MCU's upcoming X-Men-centric stories.
