Over the past 5-10 years comic book movies have accelerated to the top so fast that studios seem to have forgotten where the brakes are. The current rumors suggest that Sony’s lucrative Spider-Man franchise is in a state of flux, with the long-planned standalone Venom movie canceled, a potential soft reboot of the series on the way in Sinister Six and more talk of Spider-Man crossing over into the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

The third major player in Marvel movie properties is Twentieth Century Fox, and another recent rumor from Bleeding Cool claimed that the studio is currently in “deep development” on a live-action X-Men TV series, which fits with X-Men writer/producer Simon Kinberg’s previous statement that “the serialized format of comic books is better suited for TV.” Another report claimed that the TV series would be based on the X-Men spin-off series X-Factor, and now additional details have emerged about the planned series – and which characters might be in it.

According to a new report by Film Divider, the main speed bump for the X-Men live action TV series is the decision about who to cast in it, since it will take place in the same universe as the X-Men movies and will “absolutely [be] designed to permit crossover with the X-movies.” Using minor characters or original characters runs the risk of not giving the show enough draw, but equally featuring major X-Men could lead to those characters “burning up” outside of the movie franchise. The solution to this, according to what Film Divider claims to have heard from discussions at Fox, is to include a character who gained a lot of fans this year: Quicksilver.

Multiple Man X Men Last Stand Rumor: X Men TV Series Will Connect to Movies; Could Include Quicksilver

Whereas many of the main actors in the X-Men franchise are strictly movie stars, Quicksilver actor Evan Peters has had a series of regular roles on American Horror Story and his career so far has largely been TV-focused. Though the character has been confirmed for an appearance in X-Men: Apocalypse, that movie is set to be the final chapter of the current X-Men trilogy and it could be a smart move to use Quicksilver as one of the selling points for an X-Men TV series after that.

It’s important to note that the rumors currently only point to Quicksilver being in the show and don’t get into specifics about whether it will be Evan Peters’ version (which would make the show a period piece) or whether a new actor will be brought in to play him. The former seems like a better idea since viewers will recognize Peters in the role, and with Marvel Studios set to introduce another version of Quicksilver in The Avengers: Age of Ultron, recognition value is going to be important.


Film Divider also reports that the idea of using Jamie Madrox AKA Multiple Man (who was played by Eric Dane in X-Men: The Last Stand) has been “kicked around seriously” and “seems to be more than just a possibility.” That might sound vague, but if the series is going to be based on David’s run of the X-Factor series then both Multiple Man and Quicksilver would likely be part of the line-up, along with Polaris, Havok and several others.

In the longest-running arc of the X-Factor series Jamie Madrox runs a detective agency that puts the various mutants’ talents to use, which fits with the earlier description of the TV show following a Fringe formula. Another Fringe factor? There’s apparently talk of giving the series a female lead.

We’ll keep you updated on the X-Men franchise as more news (and rumors) become available.