In the Marvel Cinematic Universe, things have slowly but surely been promised in terms of future projects, characters and moments. While many of these projects, like The Fantastic Four, were announced at conventions, others were revealed in shows. A great example of this was a loose tease of Wolverine in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. However, with the term Mutant officially MCU canon with Ms. Marvel's powers being a mutation, the desire to see the team in the MCU has been higher than ever. However, with Ms. Marvel, it awakens the possibility of the X-Men appearing in a way none could expect.
The past has featured many outlets that include the X-Men. However, one of the best has been through the medium of animation. While the '90s X-Men show is one that stood out over the years, there was another that carried just as much narrative and creative weight -- X-Men: Evolution. Thanks to one theory, this series may also serve as the best way to bring the X-Men into the MCU.
The MCU's X-Men Should Be Teenagers
In the comics, the X-Men were a small class of kids that Professor Xavier taught and trained to be heroes to represent the goodness of Mutantkind. However, as the years progressed, the team got older, and the students eventually became teachers. Since then, it hasn't been often that the X-Men have been viewed as kids. However, thematically, it would be the best way to bring them into the MCU.
With Ms. Marvel as a great example, teenage X-Men would be a great way to represent the angst and change that comes with young adulthood. Furthermore, it would also help show the growing anti-Mutant resentment in society as superpowered children fight destructive enemies and may cause some serious damage along the way. It's a great way to wrestle with concepts of power, responsibility and maturity without it feeling forced on the franchise.
Why Is X-Men: Evolution a Great Template?
X-Men: Evolution was a series that turned the concept of X-Men on its head, as it made the main team of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, Spyke and others into teens while it left Wolverine, Storm and Beast as mentors. This helped to better establish a chain of command and allowed mature characters to embrace roles that were rarely seen in the comics. Since the MCU has always been about taking what's known and evolving it into something else, this concept would work well to juxtapose the previous live-action iterations.
In terms of franchise power, the idea of younger X-Men leading the Mutant charge in the MCU works well because, like Tom Holland as Spider-Man, it allows these actors to grow into their characters. By seeing them grow and evolve, it also means that recasting them would be unlikely. However, with older teammates as mentors and a slightly younger Professor X, it manages to alter the status quo without deviating from the source. X-Men: Evolution showed that stories can maintain the same narratives even if they aren't completely ripped from the comics. In doing so, it could breed new ideas that may work in other outlets. In this case, that place would be the MCU.