Popverse's top stories

• Absolute Superman is designed to be "the ultimate immigrant story" for our times, says DC writer Jason Aaron
• Simon Kinberg on writing X-Men movies, producing Glenn Powell's The Running Man remake, and co-creating Star Wars Rebels [Popversations]
• Better angels and online demons: A trip down the rabbit hole of Downton Abbey fandom

Marvel Studios has gained a reputation for its decision to pursue indie directors with little to no experience shooting action sequences to spearhead their action-heavy movies. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with this approach, and it's great to see talent like Destin Daniel Cretton (Short Term 12), Chloé Zhao (The Rider, Nomadland), Cate Shortland (Somersault), Taika Waititi (Boy, Hunt for the Wilderpeople), and Jake Schreier (Robot & Frank) get the chance to make big-budget movies. But as one might imagine, there's a learning curve involved when you make the jump from independent film to the world of Hollywood blockbusters. 

This is a tension that Jake Schreier, the director of Thunderbolts* and the MCU's upcoming X-Men movie, addressed in a new interview appearing in the latest issue of Empire magazine. (In that interview, he also confirmed that he was, in fact, directing the X-Men movie, an announcement that hasn't been officially made by Marvel yet.) Speaking about his experiences on the set of Thunderbolts*, Schreier said, “The biggest learning curve for me was the proportion of the action to the more emotional, character-driven scenes, and how, even though it’s more shooting days than I’ve ever had, they get eaten up quite quickly by the action stuff. By the time we got to the end of it, it felt like, ‘Oh, now I feel like we get how to do this a little bit better.'" 

In my opinion, Thunderbolts* hit an ideal balance between intimate character moments and well-executed action sequences. The fight scenes never felt superfluous (remember in Avengers: Age of Ultron when the Hulk just rampages through Johannesburg, South Africa for no apparent reason, and Iron Man has to put his Hulkbuster suit on to stop him? Sorry to remind you). And as any X-Men fan can tell you, Marvel's Merry Mutants are all about that balance between eye-popping action and emotional ruminations. Just look at Jean Grey's complex relationship with The Phoenix Force, or how the original members of The New Mutants get their powers in their Marvel Comics debut. 

Anyways, I don't say this lightly, but I think the X-Men are in the right hands with Jake Schreier. I have the utmost confidence that the director can make my son Glob Herman a household name and pop culture icon, though I'd happily settle for Monet St. Croix if Marvel Studios isn't ready for Glob quite yet. 

Join Popverse in our own little X-Mansion as we cover just about everything you need to know about the X-Men. Learn how Marvel's mighty mutants are classified by power, or why the Krakoan Age of comics is coming to an end. And once you're done with those, keep up with the characters' big screen outings via Popverse's X-men movie watch order.