Kevin Feige Says X-Men Coming to the MCU is an “Impossibility”

X-Men: Apocalypse was supposed to kick off a new series of X-Men movies, but it landed with a mostly ignored thud, critically and commercially. With no news about Apocalypse’s follow-up, some fans were hoping that Marvel and Fox could make a deal similar to the one that brought Spider-Man into the Marvel Cinematic Universe and finally get the X-Men into the MCU. Unfortunately for those hopefuls, it doesn’t seem likely anytime soon.

Speaking to Variety, Marvel Studios head Kevin Feige was asked about the possibility of teaming up with Fox to get the X-Men into the Avengers-verse, and he very definitively shot that idea down. He said, “It’s an impossibility at this juncture. We certainly have enough films to keep us busy for a number of lifetimes.”

“Lifetimes” sounds pretty conversation-ending, but “at this juncture” at least leaves some room for the optimistic speculator. Currently, Marvel has movies slated until 2019, when Avengers 4 caps off Phase Three. Though Marvel definitely has plans for after that, they aren’t letting the public in on them just yet. Between now and 2019, Marvel has three movies a year, so, like Feige says, if the X-Men are coming over, there’s not much room for them right now.

But as the Sony deal proved, Marvel is ready to shuffle movies and storylines around to fit in characters, so if Marvel and Fox can make a deal, then whatever is happening after 2019 would definitely be easier to shift around. Then again, Deadpool’s success means Fox is better off now than Sony was during the Amazing Spider-Man years that convinced them to deal with Marvel; not to mention, the relationship between Marvel and Fox is a thornier one than Marvel and Sony’s was.

So, seeing a version of Wolverine pal around with Cap and Iron Man is an impossibility at the moment, but, if you’re the optimistic type, you can cross your fingers for something happening around 2020.