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The Russo brothers reveal what they would have done with the X-Men in their Avengers movies

They really want to make that Wolverine movie!

hugh jackman as the (shirtless and extremely ripped) wolverine in The Wolverine from 2013
Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) in 2013’s The Wolverine.
20th Century Fox

The historic Disney-Fox merger earlier this year meant that a number of Marvel characters, including the X-Men and the Fantastic Four, were once again reunited with the Avengers and other characters under Disney’s roof.

That loaded realization, which could one day theoretically lead to X-Men appearing in Avengers films and vice versa, has most recently culminated in this important moment: The Russo brothers imagining which X-Men Thanos would have snapped in Avengers: Infinity War. Basically, all of them — except Wolverine.

The decision, which probably has no concrete bearing on anything that has ever happened or will happen in either the Avengers or X-Men franchises, was made during a segment of IGN’s Up at Noon show when the brothers were presented with a number of franchises, and asked to reveal who they would snap. After they were asked to choose who to snap (or if you prefer, “blip”) from a lineup of Gambit, Jean Grey, Storm, Wolverine, Cyclops, and Rogue, Joe Russo crossed out everyone except Wolverine.

It was a calculated decision to make the most angsty, hypothetical X-Men insert into the context of Infinity War and Endgame. “I’d love to see a fiercely motivated Wolverine going up against Thanos,” Joe said on the show. While it’s a bit of an extreme cut, Joe defended his decision: “It’s not our job to give the people what they want, it’s to give them what they need.” It’s worth noting: in a Reddit AMA just a few days earlier, the brothers admitted they’d come back to the superhero movie directing world to helm a Wolverine movie. Go figure.

Of course, there’s plenty going on with the X-Men outside of hypothetical face-offs with Thanos. Writer Jonathan Hickman’s new House of X series has major repercussions for the X-Men comics universe, and that’s not to mention its sister series Powers of X, which continues to raise questions about the X-Men’s past and future.