It’s pretty clear that Kevin Feige or someone at Marvel Studios is a big fan of writer Jonathan Hickman. So far, the entire Multiverse Saga is heavily based on his 77-issue run of Avengers and New Avengers. The entire concept of incursions is a Hickman brainchild. And the upcoming Avengers: Secret Wars is going to be based more heavily on his 2015 Secret Wars comic book. Probably more than the original 1984 version. So it makes sense that Marvel Studios would hire the guy. And in an interview with Bleeding Cool, Hickman revealed that he has been a consultant for Marvel Studios, and has given input for both Doomsday and Secret Wars.
It’s been really interesting. I don’t know that it’s common knowledge, but I consult for studios and read almost all the movies that they’re making while they’re in development. So it has been fascinating watching that change over the past two and a half years since I’ve been reading scripts for it. There was a big shift when the Russos came back on, and [Steven] McFeely came back on, and they announced that Robert Downey Jr. was going to be joining the cast again and all that kind of stuff. It has been really, really interesting. Those guys are very, very nice to me and take care of me. I’m very excited about what they’re working on. I have not seen a final cut or anything like that.
For Marvel Comics fans, this is actually fantastic news. Perhaps no writer has shaped the Marvel Comics universe more than Jonathan Hickman has since 2009. He’s behind defining runs of Fantastic Four, S.H.I.E.L.D., Avengers, and many Ultimate Universe comics. He also wrote several issues of Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor. Then, in 2019, he completely redefined the X-Men for the 21st century in House of X/Powers of X.
Nerdist’s Take: We Love that Marvel Studios Has Hickman on the Payroll, and We Hope They Use His Ideas for X-Men
Picking Hickman’s brain, and not just copying and pasting his work, was the correct move from Marvel Studios, and we’re glad that they are compensated for it. His changes for the X-Men universe were pretty radical (so much so that Marvel has sadly dialed a lot of them back lately), but we can’t help but wonder if any of his concepts will make it into the upcoming MCU X-Men reboot. We certainly have our fingers crossed.