Marvel Studios’s 'X-Men' Movie Gets Michael Lesslie As Screenwriter
To the movies, my X-Men! Lesslie comes from having written last year’s ’Hunger Games' prequel
Is this what they were looking for in satiating audience hunger? Less than a week after X-Men ‘97, the sequel series of the very impetus of the original Fox X-Men movies, wrapped up its first season, and a day after tickets went on sale for Deadpool & Wolverine, the first Marvel Cinematic Universe film to star characters from the suite, production on the MCU’s take on Professor Xavier and his team is picking up momentum. The Hunger Games: The Ballad Of Songbirds & Snakes writer Michael Lesslie is in talks with Marvel Studios to write the film.
The film is still in development so early that cast and release date aren’t even in sniffing range, but nabbing a writer was a top priority coming out of the Writers Guild of America strike. It was one of the first major gigs to be made available. President Kevin Feige emphasized there was no rush. Next on the docket is finding a director, so while a relaxed approach might mean it will be a while before it can be sniffed out, it’s still got priority.
In addition to writing the The Hunger Games prequel, Lesslie also wrote an early draft of the Assassin’s Creed that still had enough elements of his to be credited, and has Now You See Me 3 coming up.
While the MCU’s iteration of the X-Men was always going to be hotly anticipated, as it’s been 5 years since Disney bought 20th Century Fox, giving Marvel Studios the film rights to the characters after over a decade of making their own films to that point, X-Men ‘97 has certainly added to the heat. To the point, last week’s season finale, “Tolerance is Extinction” part 3 saw 3.5 million views globally in its first five days (through Sunday) since premiering on Disney+. Disney has said that viewership had been growing consistently over the four episodes leading to the finale, which were the four after the tragically eventful and impactful “Remember It”. When the first two episodes premiered in March, it reached a collective 4 million views, so the growth is very promising. Viewership for the original 1992-premiering animated series has also apparently doubled since the premiere of its follow-up.
