RUMOR: Marvel Studios may be developing an X Academy TV series for Disney+ that would tie in with their new X-Men movie

Yesterday, we learned that Marvel Studios has “paused” the development of three shows they were planning for the Disney+ streaming service: Nova, which seemed to be relatively far along in the development process, with Edward Allen Bernero in the showrunner position and casting rumors swirling; Strange Academy, which was expected to star Benedict Wong as his Sorcerer Supreme character Wong, running a school in New Orleans to educate young individuals with magical abilities; and Terror, Inc., which I don’t think anyone had heard rumors about before, a show that would have centered on an antihero called Terror, “who possesses the ability to incorporate the body parts of others into his own form, gaining their memories and abilities.” During the latest episode of their podcast The Hot Mic, industry scooper Jeff Sneider and critic John Rocha discussed the news that these projects had been paused – and Sneider took the opportunity to bring up a RUMOR he has heard: Marvel is working on a mutant series called X Academy.

Sneider said, “I had heard about Strange Academy, that there was some sort of writers room being assembled for it, and I was keeping that under my hat. … I heard something else from a different source, who I had asked about the Academy. They said, ‘Oh, I’ve heard about the Academy show.’ But it wasn’t Strange Academy. They said that there’s going to be an X Academy show. They sort of said it was going to potentially lead into X-Men. Someone else said, ‘I’d be surprised if they started doing X-Men shows before the movie,’ and that it would probably be a spin-off of the movie, so it would come after. Either way, both of them seem to be of the opinion that there was in fact an X-Men show in the works about X Academy and young mutants.” This would be a live-action show about the training of young mutants.

The speculation is that Strange Academy series might have been set aside since HBO is moving ahead with a Harry Potter TV series, so Marvel / Disney+ didn’t want to bother doing their own “young individuals with magical abilities” show. Sneider does believe that Nova will still happen, it has probably just been “paused” so Marvel can work on it next year – and the pause might have happened to wait for room in the schedule of Brandon Sklenar (1923), who is supposedly the top choice to play the lead character, Richard Rider. Scooper Daniel Richtman reported that the Nova series would “thrust Rider into the role of rebuilding the Nova Corps, just as Annihilus and his Annihilation Wave were invading, threatening to take over the universe. Rider would lead a squad of fellow Novas, including Sam Alexander and a handful of original characters in their 20s. Glenn Close and John C. Reilly were slated to return as their Guardians of the Galaxy characters.” Henry Cavill might have been in the running to play Annihilus.

As for X Academy, SuperHeroHype notes that “the Academy X students made their first appearance in the 23rd edition of New X-Men (developed by Craig Kyle, Chris Yost, Mark Brooks, and Paul Pelletier). The original roster comprised the likes of Armor, Anole, the Cuckoo Triplets, and more. These characters were being developed to be part of the main X-Men and even lead it someday. The team went into relative obscurity after the Academy X era ended, but regained prominence following the Fall of X relaunch.” Of course, the TV series could have a very different line-up of characters than the comic book source material that inspired it.

Would you like to see an X Academy TV series come along before or after the new X-Men movie? Share your thoughts on this one by leaving a comment below.