Marvel Studios’ Hall H presentation at San Diego Comic-Con featured plenty of big announcements, exciting footage, and the reveal of brand-new MCU projects. However, it’s worth noting that one of the biggest presumed announcements was noticeably absent this year at SDCC: X-Men.

For weeks, there have been rumors and widespread speculation claiming that Marvel Studios has already found its cast for the upcoming X-Men reboot in the wake of 2027’s Avengers: Secret Wars and the end of the Multiverse Saga. Specific actors have been rumored to have had meetings with Marvel and director Jake Schreier ahead of the 2028 film, and with so much movement allegedly happening behind the scenes, many were expecting Hall H to provide our first look at who will be playing a brand-new generation of live-action mutant heroes.

That being said, there’s a good chance the studio has a very deliberate reason for waiting and leaving the new X-Men cast out of this year’s San Diego Comic-Con reveals (though it could still happen very soon).

Marvel Studios Has Some Cool MCU Reveals (But X-Men Wasn’t One Of Them)

On the one hand, Marvel Studios certainly didn’t leave Comic-Con attendees empty-handed. After giving each Hall H guest Doctor Doom masks and hoods, the studio wasted no time with some major reveals, one of the biggest being Ryan Gosling finally joining the MCU as Ghost Rider in 2028, directed by Shawn Levy with a story by Jonathan Tropper (all three will have just come off 2027’s Star Wars: Starfighter).

Following exclusive footage from Spider-Man: Brand New Day and Avengers: Doomsday, director Ryan Coogler came on stage to confirm Black Panther 3’s release in 2028 while also revealing that actor David Jonsson is set to portray an adult T’Challa, son of the first T’Challa played by Chadwick Boseman. Combined with a fun appearance from Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool in the crowd and several members of Doomsday’s cast, there were plenty of major moments worth discussing.

However, ignoring the X-Men reboot when talking about other major movies in 2028 felt like an incredibly intentional omission on Marvel Studios’ part, suggesting they’re not quite ready to show their full hand, and likely because of its most imminent MCU release: Spider-Man: Brand New Day.

Will The X-Men Cast Be Revealed After Spider-Man: Brand New Day?

The biggest reason Marvel Studios is likely holding back is because of Brand New Day, set to release next week on July 31st. After all, we still don’t know who Sadie Sink is playing in the new Spider-Man movie, only that she’s a powerful mind-controller. That said, the predominant theory is that she’ll be revealed as Jean Grey, and that Marvel Studios will start gradually introducing the new X-Men ahead of their 2028 movie.

Assuming Sadie Sink is indeed portraying Jean Grey in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, officially announcing the X-Men’s full cast before audiences see the new MCU movie would immediately undercut one of the film’s biggest mysteries and talking points, whether she’s Jean Grey or not. As a result, waiting a while longer until after the mystery is revealed on-screen makes plenty of sense. Likewise, Marvel Studios has the perfect opportunity to reveal the X-Men’s cast very soon.

Disney’s major D23 convention is only a few weeks away, giving Marvel another huge platform to reveal more from the streaming side of the MCU, and perhaps their new cast of X-Men. If Sink is indeed revealed to be playing Jean Grey in Brand New Day, D23 could be the perfect place to formally debut her as one of an entire cast of mutant heroes. While nothing’s been confirmed thus far, the odds do seem good that Marvel Studios may simply be saving the X-Men for a far more beneficial moment beyond SDCC.

Jake Schreier’s X-Men movie is expected to release in 2028 from Marvel Studios.

Movie(s)

X-Men (2000), X2, X-Men: The Last Stand (2006), X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009), X-Men: First Class (2011), The Wolverine (2013), X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), Deadpool (2016), X-Men: Apocalypse (2016), Logan (2017), Deadpool 2 (2018), Dark Phoenix (2019), The New Mutants, Deadpool & Wolverine (2024)

TV Show(s)

X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men, X-Men (1992), X-Men: Evolution (2000), Wolverine and the X-Men (2008), Marvel Anime: Wolverine, Marvel Anime: X-Men, Legion (2017), The Gifted (2017), X-Men ’97 (2024)

Video Game(s)

X-Men: Children of the Atom (1994), Marvel Super Heroes (1995), X-Men vs. Street Fighter (1996), Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter (1997), Marvel vs. Capcom (1998), X-Men: Mutant Academy (2000), Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes (2000), X-Men: Mutant Academy 2 (2001), X-Men: Next Dimension (2002), Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds (2011), Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (2011), X-Men Legends (2005), X-Men Legends 2: Rise of Apocalypse (2005), X2: Wolverine’s Revenge (2003), X-Men (1993), X-Men 2: Clone Wars (1995), X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse (1994)

First Film

X-Men (2000)

Character(s)

Professor X, Cyclops, Iceman, Beast, Angel, Phoenix, Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue, Storm, Jubilee, Morph, Nightcrawler, Havok, Banshee, Colossus, Magneto, Psylocke, Juggernaut, Cable, X-23

Comic Release Date

213035,212968