Mutants are coming to the MCU, and Kevin Feige as seemingly dropped a big hint that this month’s release of Deadpool & Wolverine plays some role in that. As we have come to expect, Feige is not sharing specific details, but he has suggested that news about the highly anticipated integration of the X-Men into the MCU is imminent.

Deadpool & Wolverine has effectively undergone a transformation during its development, from a Deadpool movie, to a Deadpool and Wolverine movie, to as close to a full-blown X-Men movie as fans have seen in years. This ties in with Feige’s newest comments about when we can expect to find out more about the X-Men’s MCU introduction – which is currently said to be in development with The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes scribe Michael Lesslie penning the script. When asked about that project by Entertainment Weekly, Feige said:

July 26 is really when it all starts, when Deadpool & Wolverine comes out.

The cryptic short statement could mean a lot of things, but we already know that Deadpool & Wolverine features some kind of interpretation of the Fox X-Men universe, and several characters that appeared in that franchise. This means that Deadpool & Wolverine could hold the key to why the X-Men appear in the MCU, or just hint at what is next for Ryan Reynolds' anti-hero and his best bud…if he survives the movie, of course.

Deadpool & Wolverine’s X-Men Tease Could be a Post-Credits Scene

Among the many things being speculated about when it comes to Deadpool’s multiverse road trip with Wolverine, what a post-credits scene could deliver is right up there with the other big mystery of which other cameo appearances will happen.

Earlier in the year, it was said that Deadpool & Wolverine’s post-credits scene will be “unbelievable” and “mind-blowing.” While this description came from an “insider,” which usually means it is taken with a pinch of salt, the post was shared by Deadpool creator Rob Liefeld, who appeared to confirm the statement.

This week, the film’s director Shawn Levy addressed the subject of cameos for what seems like the thousandth time. While it has been reported that Taylor Swift will not appear in the movie, Blake Lively could play Lady Deadpool, Wolverine could fight Hulk, and every possible X-Men star of the 2000 movie could return for a blink-and-you-miss-it reprisal of their roles, Levy isn’t confirming any of it. Very much like Feige, he knows how to keep his cards pretty close to his chest. He told Entertainment Weekly:

“We didn’t want any of the cameos or characters to be the story of the movie. But they are peppered in throughout. There’s a lot of characters. The internet is a delight of rumors about the multitude of character cameos that are in this movie. Some rumors are true, some are way off base.”

Even though Deadpool & Wolverine seems to have revealed a lot of its secrets through various images, TV spots, and trailers, it is believed that much of the footage revealed so far comes from the first quarter of the movie. This means there is still plenty waiting to be discovered on July 26 when the film releases in cinemas, and one of those surprises could be a big hint at the future of the X-Men.