X-Men: The Animated Series showrunner worried about mutants in the MCU

The X-Men are coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe sooner or later, but could they overload the already jam-packed franchise?

The world’s first mega-successful X-Men adaptation wasn’t the 2000 movie with Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. It came in the ’90s in the form of an animated series. Running for 76 episodes from 1992 to 1996, X-Men: The Animated Series was a widely beloved show that paved the way for the vast live-action universe that came later.

Now, the X-Men are poised to join the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe. Fans around the world are getting excited, but X-Men: The Animated Series showrunner Eric Lewald has some concern about how the superheroes will fit in.

There are a lot of MCU projects currently in the pipeline, spread across several ongoing storylines. The Spider-Man movies alone sound like they’re going to get pretty nuts, with rumors of former Spider-Men Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield joining the fray. And there’s the collection of new characters they’re in the process of introducing, such as Shang-Chi and Blade.

Is there a chance the MCU could get too saturated, particularly if you add the vast X-Men cast? Speaking on GWW’s Change My Mind podcast, Lewald sounded worried. “I don’t know how [Marvel Studios president] Kevin Feige sleeps at night trying to keep all these balls in the air,” he said. “But for the X-Men, when people ask me about integrating them in the MCU, I always had the reverse problem. There were too many X-Men and too many villains already in the X-universe and too many connected characters. I found myself cutting half of them out and having stories about three of the X-Men. Just to keep sane and to not have to try to service all of them at once in [an] episode.”

"So, the idea of all of the X-Men and all of their villains and all of their support crew then interacting with all of the Avengers, and all of Thors and all – it’s just crazy-making to me."

Ultimately, it sounds like Lewald might think it’s a better idea to leave the X-Men out of the MCU entirely. “I don’t even want to try to go there.”

If anyone can find a way to bring the X-Men into the Marvel Cinematic Universe without things becoming too bloated and everything staying consistent, it’s Kevin Feige, although even he might have his work cut out for him this time.

Personally, I can’t wait to see them arrive. I think they’ll add a completely new element to the universe, preventing it from becoming stale. Of course, they have to be implemented perfectly, which will undoubtedly be difficult.

While we wait for that day, you can watch X-Men: The Animated Series on Disney+!

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