Who do you want to direct the first MCU X-Men movie?

[Uncanny X-Man]

The ink is not even dry on the Mickey Mouse paper (fun fact: Disney's licensing contracts really have a tiny Mickey at the bottom) but we all know Kevin Feige and his friends are already feverishly thinking about how to best introduce our merry mutants in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

One of the most important choices they'll need to make is obviously going to be the movie director. I'm not creating a poll because the choices would be too many, but I would like y'all to nominate 3 candidates and, if you want, give some reasons for your choices. I'll start below.

1) My number one pick would be the Wachowski sisters. I have no idea how they feel about Marvel, Disney and the whole lot, but they can clearly do world-building, crazy sci-fi and characters very well. Anyone who has watched Sense8 please tell me how that's not an X-Men show in disguise.

2) Sibling power strikes again with the Russo brothers. They have directed 2 of the best MCU movies so far and with Civil War they have shown they can juggle in many different characters and give everyone their due while still telling a compelling story. Injecting some soul into the X-Men movie characters is what I feel the franchise needs the most and I believe the Russos are a good choice to do just that.

3) Joss Whedon is perhaps a very predictable choice, and it's likely wounds still won't have healed by the time we get to the first X-Men movie by Disney, but I always felt Joss was the perfect choice for the muties. I believe he came close a few times at Fox but it never quite materialized. Who knows how things are going to be between Whedon and Warner and Whedon and Feige by 2021 so I wouldn't count it out just yet.

[yogaflame]

I am right there with you for #1 and #2. But hard pass on #3.

[Purplevit]

Chad Stahelski and David Leitch.

[cc008]

Whedon may be the first to be offered the job. Idk if he's my first choice though.

[hartttt]

I posted in one post already that whoever they hire will likely quit after a few months because of 'creative differences'. MCU X-Men is not going to be directed by the director. they will be directed by the marvel formula. it did used to be strange how every mcu movie looked and felt the same but not anymore when you discover what was going on.

I would have loved Matt Reeves, George Miller , Alfonso Cuarón, Steven Speilberg, Brad Bird, Steven Soderbergh to make an X-Men movie but all this directors I mentioned will want to make their own xmen movies that has the substance of the series, it will be their main attraction to X-Men. meaning they will never go along with the mcu formula, meaning there is no chance they will make an MCU X-Men movie.

[yogaflame]

I like the Wachowskis and the Russos because they have both proven to be able to handle large, diverse casts with balanced characterization, and they can do action/sci-fi with a political flavor well. That's a hard balance to pull off. Whoever gets tapped to direct the X-Men next has to be able to do both well.

If the Wachowskis could be harnessed properly by Feige, they could do something amazing(they do get a bit unwieldy at times, coughJupitercoughAscendingcough)! I like their visual panache, they just need a bit of focus to tell a story that will resonate with a mass audience ( Cloud Atlas was awesome, but a bit much for most people, same with Sense8, which I adore).

The Russos have done my favorite MCU films overall(Winter Soldier and Civil War), so they are the obvious choice, but I think they will be done after Avengers 3/4.

Oh, another choice I've stored in my brain for many moons: Kathryn Bigelow! She almost directed a James Cameron produced X-Men back in the 90's, and after watching Strange Days(basically a Gambit and Storm buddy film) that near miss hurt all the more. I'm not exactly sure if she's still got it, I haven't seen any of her recent pics(which seemed to be very propaganda-y), but that was an old idea I liked.

[ChildOfTheAtom]

My fancast was Ryan Fleck & Anna Boden but unfortunately they got picked for Captain Marvel. I'd be happy with any of these.

• Kevin Feige
• Fede Álvarez
• Drew Goddard
• Steve McQueen
• Tim Miller
• Jeff Nichols
• Dee Rees
• Russo Brothers
• Michelle MacLaren
• Duncan Jones
• Duffer Brothers
• Denis Villeneuve
• Alejandro González Iñárritu

[CraigTheCylon]

Back when we were asking this about Fox-owned future X-movies I said Justin Lin (whose handling of the best Fast & Furious films showed an ability to balance an ensemble cast, solid action chops and a commitment to on-screen diversity) and Bill Condon (a bit less obvious, but he delivered one of the best multi-superhero battles in cinema history with, of all things, Breaking Dawn part 2 so I'd love to see him work those skills into something less embarrassing). I stand by both those picks; in fact they seem more plausible in a way, as Lin's box office cred took a knock after the pretty great Star Trek Beyond made less bank than its inferior predecessors and he could use a can't-fail prospect to prop himself back up again, while Condon made Disney a ton of money with Beauty & the Beast so I expect he's well-liked at the House of Mouse.

That being said, MCU directors tend to come from 2 sources:

1. A background of interesting and talked-about lower-budget movies that shows no predilection for tentpole CBMs (see James Gunn or Taika Waititi)
2. A background in solid but unspectacular TV directing that also shows no predilection for tentpole CBMs (see the Russo brothers)

...so I'd bet good money that whoever winds up helming the first MCU X-film, it'll be the last person anyone would predict.

[Panic]

Noah Hawley

[Wiccan]

Didn't even thought about the Wachowski. Sense8 is so amazing when it comes to the whole empathy thing, mixed with telepathy and all. I can even draw some sort of parallels between the characters to the X-Men. I'm afraid that's not the kind of thing the MCU would be looking for though...

The Russos would be great too, but I'm not sure they're still gonna be on Marvel. And if they are, maybe they'll continue with Avengers. But I agree that they know how to work with a big cast and also some of the plot points on Civil War could relate a bit to how mutants are seem on that universe.

[Assgardian]

Joss Whedon is the only name I can come up with off the top of my head. His X-Men run is my absolute favorite, Avengers was great (IMO), etc. That said, it sounds like he's pretty fed up with the Marvel execs, and I can't blame him. But with talks of a Black Widow movie and now X-Men, maybe something will be worth working with Marvel again?

The only other thing I can come up with, and the complete opposite of my other thing, is that they should maybe pick someone who is a minority. Anyone can feel "different", sure, but minorities have been in similar situations to the X-Men. It would just make me feel good to see someone from one of those backgrounds handling such topics.

[Darkspellmaster]

Might be fun to see some female directors take first crack of this.

[RCX]

Whedon, with the same tone as Astonishing.

[Wiccan]

Didn't Whedon kind of left on bad terms after AOU, and now he's even working on DC's Batgirl? I don't think he's gonna be back.

[yogaflame]

I thought both of Whedon's Avengers were horrible. I'm not all that impressed by his Astonishing either(Cassaday's art was holding up that paper thin writing). He also wrote that horrible "Do you know what happens to a toad..." line from X1. I don't care how Halle was supposed to deliver it, it's a crap line. He's had his go at the X-Men, and at the MCU; let someone else have a turn.

I like the idea of a black female director; I feel she would deliver the Claremazons well, and give us a nuanced understanding of the mutant struggle. Let's see how A Wrinkle in Time turns out; maybe Ava DuVernay could be enticed to the MCU after a successful Disney sci-fi action adventure, with metaphysical, scientific, and political themes, with family at the heart. Honestly the trailers haven't blown me away yet, but I love that story, and if she can pull it off artistically, and in terms of audience engagement, she could earn huge cred in my mind(and might make Disney eye her for other projects).