Since climbing aboard the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Guardians director James Gunn has always maintained a relatively open dialogue with his fans.
Whether it’s live streams or candid behind-the-scenes photos, Gunn tends to keep viewers in the loop at every opportunity, and his regular Q&A sessions over on Facebook are often laced with interesting perspectives about the Marvel Cinematic Universe and beyond.
Indeed, this past weekend, James Gunn hosted his latest Facebook Live session (h/t ComicBook.com), where the filmmaker downplayed any talk of the X-Men weaving their way into the MCU in time for Infinity War or Avengers 4.
There is no merge yet between Disney and Fox, it does not exist yet. Hopefully, it will exist. Hopefully, they will work it out. But, it doesn’t exist. You will not see X-Men or anyone else like that in Infinity Wars, Avengers 3 or Avengers 4, because those movies have been shot.
Frankly, we can’t say we’re surprised. Not only will the Disney-Fox merger take another few years to fully consummate, but as James Gunn mentions, both Avengers: Infinity War and its untitled sequel have since wrapped production.
With that in mind, chances are Marvel Studios will hold fire until 2020 or 2021 before it opens its doors to the X-Men universe, by which point the MCU will be in the midst of Phase 4 – a period in which Marvel is expected to overhaul its interconnected franchise from the ground up.
Besides, with so many projects already in the works, Marvel Studios will be in no rush to dabble in the realm of mutants; after all, there’s an Infinity War on the horizon, and it’s expected to commence on May 4th.
