The Final Marvels Trailer Features An X-Men Easter Egg You Probably Missed
With just a couple of days to go before "The Marvels" hits theaters, Marvel Studios is pulling out the big guns. And by "big guns," I mean it's released one last trailer for the film, complete with nostalgic footage of Tony Stark (RIP) and Steve Rogers (RIP?) from Marvel Cinematic Universe movies past, along with clips that frame the film's villain, Kree warrior Dar-Benn (Zawe Ashton), as a Thanos-level threat to the MCU. But amidst all the hustle and bustle, there's a blink-and-you'll-miss-it detail that might do more to generate hype for this film than anything else in the final trailer.
That would be a shot of a monitor with a logo featuring a big ol' "X" in the lower right-hand corner — an "X" that looks suspiciously like the one that a certain Charles Xavier uses in the plaque for his school for "gifted youngsters" in the "X-Men" franchise. Now, it's no secret that the X-Men are coming to the MCU, what with Marvel Studio having reacquired the screen rights to the property as a result of Disney's Fox purchase in 2019. In fact, the studio has already teed up their arrival in its "Ms. Marvel" streaming series, revealing that Kamala Khan (Iman Vellani) — one of the three "Marvels" in "The Marvels" — is herself a mutant in the MCU and not an Inhuman like in Marvel's comic books. The show even tossed in a brief cue from the 1990s staple "X-Men: The Animated Series," lest anyone watching misunderstand the significance of this moment.
Obviously, we'll know for certain if there's more to this "Marvels" Easter egg (see below) than meets the eye very soon. So, in the meantime, let us ponder what the X-Men coming to the MCU could mean for the larger franchise.
Is mutation the key to the MCU's evolution?
I've felt a little bad having ragged on the MCU as much as I have of late ... that is, until I remind myself that my (entirely one-sided) beef has never been with the individual creatives who work on the franchise, it's always been with the executives who keep overburdening their employees and have spent the last few years prioritizing quantity over quality. Likewise, the final trailer for "The Marvels" is one of the sweatiest pieces of marketing we've gotten in a while, desperately linking the film to the Infinity Saga and completely abandoning the playful tone of the previous trailers for something far more serious and solemn. Clearly, someone saw those not-so-hot box office tracking numbers and decided it was time for more of an "In case of emergency, break glass" approach.
Whichever way the chips ultimately fall with "The Marvels," this "X-Men" Easter egg could be a harbinger of better times on the horizon. For starters, there's "Deadpool 3," which will not only bring Ryan Reynolds' Merc with a Mouth and Hugh Jackman's Wolverine into the MCU, but it will also see the House of Ideas finally branching out into R-rated territory (apparently paving the way for the "Blade" reboot to follow suit). Then there's Kamala Khan herself, who is arguably the best character to emerge from Phase 4 of the MCU and someone who could potentially bridge the gap between the X-Men and the greater MCU, being a mutant herself.
Yes, it's a cliché at this point to say exciting changes are coming to the MCU, but, well, they are and the X-Men are at the forefront. The question is, are they too late or arriving just in time? We'll find out when "The Marvels" opens on November 10, 2023.