They announced the cast and the room changed. For a few seconds everyone knew this was not a safe, familiar retread. I sat up; you should too.
At D23 the crowd erupted — Schreier is steering toward corners of the comics we haven’t seen onscreen
When Jake Schreier stepped into the conversation after the cast reveal, he didn’t promise fan service. I listened to his Good Morning America comments and felt the quiet pivot: he and Kevin Feige want to pull from parts of the X-Men archive that recent movies skipped.
You can hear the pitch in how he names names. Chris Claremont is the long shadow — the canonical, sprawling run that codified who these characters are. Then Schreier dropped Jonathan Hickman into the same sentence, and that choice matters. Hickman’s Krakoan era rewired mutant politics and alliances, turning Emma Frost, Storm, and Mister Sinister into chess pieces with new rules.
What comics is the new X-Men movie based on?
I don’t have the script, but Schreier’s reference list is a roadmap. Claremont gives character DNA: family, betrayal, myth. Hickman adds institutional change and speculative stakes — the kind of material Marvel Studios and co-writer Lee Sung Jin can use to make the mutants feel unfamiliar in a useful way. If you follow this trail, the film may borrow structure from Secret Wars energy and emotional notes from Claremont’s long arcs.
On live TV Schreier chose phrases like a curator, not a promoter
Good Morning America is not the comic shop floor; it’s where statements are measured. I heard him saying “find the things that haven’t recently been done” — a modest line that carries weight when you’re talking about a franchise that already recycled the Phoenix Saga a few times.
That modesty is tactical. It signals respect for Kevin Feige’s Marvel playbook while promising experiments in tone and focus. You should expect fewer hit-list moments and more excavation: political intrigue, shifting alliances, and character choices that feel earned rather than telegraphed.
Who is directing the new X-Men film?
It’s Jake Schreier, working with co-writer Lee Sung Jin and producing oversight from Kevin Feige and Marvel Studios. Schreier’s comments on Reddit and his GMA interview give a sense of intent: he wants to honor the comics’ breadth and pick paths other filmmakers haven’t prioritized. If you track directors who started in indie space before stepping up to blockbusters, Schreier fits that pattern — someone inclined to balance human scale with spectacle.
In interviews and conversations the franchise’s history keeps tugging at the present
Jonathan Hickman and Claremont aren’t interchangeable references. Hickman’s Krakoa work is the modern reset; Claremont is the origin of so many emotional rules the characters still live by. I think of that contrast like a missing chord in a symphony: one gives you motive, the other rewrites the tempo.
How will Jonathan Hickman’s Krakoan era affect the movie?
If Schreier leans on Hickman, expect different stakes. Krakoa rearranged who has power, what safety looks like, and how mutants bargain with the world — ideas that let you stage political thriller beats inside a superhero movie. That could also mean fewer mutants wandering the globe and more concentrated, high-stakes conflicts over resources, identity, and governance. It reads less like a crowd-pleasing highlight reel and more like a governance story with superpowers.
Lee Sung Jin’s co-writing credit matters here: pairing Schreier’s taste with a writer who can translate comic-era politics into clear cinematic turns increases the odds the movie will feel intentional rather than sprawling.
Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel, Star Wars, and Star Trek releases, what’s next for the DC Universe on film and TV, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who.
I can’t tell you exactly which era will dominate the film, but I can say this: Schreier is reaching for corners most previous X-Men films left alone, and that choice will force you to pick a side — nostalgia or new direction. Which version of the X-Men are you ready to defend?