Marvel’s Plan to Recast Characters like Tony Stark and Steve Rogers Could Be Self Sabotage

Since 2008, when Iron Man came out, Marvel fans have been following the universe religiously and along the way, have followed Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, and other major characters till the time they finally rested their exploits as superheroes in Endgame. Now, the legacy left behind by Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans is indeed unmatched, but as they say, the show must go on. In a bold yet risky update, it has come to light that Kevin Feige is looking forward to recasting the X-Men, along with major characters such as Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, after Avengers: Secret War.

Kevin Feige Shares Plan to Reboot MCU

Recently, Kevin Feige held a press conference where he confirmed that after the events of Avengers: Secret Wars, Marvel will recast the X-Men along with major Marvel characters, including Iron Man and Captain America. He stated that following the massive comic book event, Marvel is looking to ‘Reset’ the cinematic universe and start from scratch. In the rebooted universe, X-Men will be the first movie bringing in what Marvel has to offer in their new universe. In his comment, Kevin Feige stated-

“Reboot can mean a lot of things to a lot of people. Reset, singular timeline, we’re thinking along those lines. X-Men’ is where that will happen next.”

Now, with this update, there are massive implications that could also mean a timeout for Marvel while they get done with the castings. Sadly, Kevin Feige was rather vague about the details, so we will have to wait a while to know more about his plans for the future of the MCU.

Recasting Already Established Characters in the MCU Is a Two-Edged Sword

Now, while bringing back characters like Iron Man and Captain America is indeed a good idea. This reboot could open up several new opportunities for Marvel to adapt new comic book storylines. Young Avengers is definitely one avenue that Marvel is heading towards.

X-Men has remained a sore spot for Marvel. With an exceedingly convoluted timeline, the X-Men franchise never really took off, except for fan favorite characters like Wolverine and Charles Xavier. As Feige said, X-Men will be at the forefront of the new and rebooted MCU; this could be Marvel’s another shot to take the X-Men franchise to new heights.

It is evident from the X-Men animated TV show that new generation as well as older Marvel fans have a soft spot for X-Men, and it could be the key for Marvel to bring success after the reboot.

But the decision to “Reset” the MCU with new faces could be detrimental to the brand value.

First off, when it comes to Marvel’s fanbase, I don’t want to offend anyone, but there is a huge divide among how fans look at the characters in the cinematic universe.

There is a section of Marvel fans that has been following them since childhood via comic books and then moved to the cinematic universe. Then there is the other one, which was exposed to Marvel directly via its movies. Now the difference between the two is that the former one loves the characters Marvel has given us throughout the years, but the latter loves actors as Marvel heroes, not the characters themselves. If you want an example, you can look at the divide between Snyderverse fans and the people who love the new Superman movie under James Gunn.

So, there is a massive section of Marvel fans who are not in love with Iron Man or Captain America, but instead, are in love with Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man and Chris Evans as Captain America. This is evident with what happened to Ironheart, an actual Marvel comics character to carry Iron Man’s legacy, but the way it performed shows that fans were just not interested in this new character.

Now imagine giving a brand new face to Iron Man or Captain America; the chances of fans approving of it are questionable.

Are you one of the fans who love Marvel characters or the actors portraying the Marvel heroes?