Marvel Studios closed out D23 on August 14 by bringing seven actors onstage to reveal its X-Men reboot cast, and the internet had its verdict before Kevin Feige finished the sentence.
What's enormously ironic about the first Disney X-Men movie is, of all their properties...
IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A LIVE ACTION REMAKE.
Hear me out.
The X-Men animated series is absolutely beloved and wrapped about as thick in nostalgia as a property can get. 1991 was the high water mark of the X-Men--Claremont and Lee. Neither before, nor since, has it ever held such high readership, viewership, and cultural relevance.
What you do is you take the first season's thirteen 20-minute episodes (22-23 minus credits & recaps), which is only about 4 & 1/2 hours, and either make 2 films, or trim enough side plot to make one (focusing mainly on the Sentinels story and Genosha). For many people, this was their introduction to the X-Men. It's a great story and jumps the viewer right into the X-Men world with both feet in the first 10 minutes.
Call the first movie X-Men: Night of the Sentinels.
PICTURE IT
A two minute trailer. Nobody knows what's coming. First we see that iconic X-Men logo. Then, the music begins. You KNOW what music I'm talking about.
The audience roars.
The first minute is a live action shot-for-shot remake of the X-Men animated title sequence.
The crowd goes mad. They still don't know exactly what this is.
The second minute is various shots of iconic first season moments: Jubilee attacked at the mall, storming the Sentinel compound, Beast in Jail, Senator Kelly grandstanding, Wolverine and the picture frame (HAS to be in the trailer). The last scene shows us the Sentinels surrounding the X-Men.
FADE TO BLACK.
TITLE AND LOGO REVEAL: X-Men Night of the Sentinels
As the logo begins to fade, the music has already stopped, and in the silence, we hear Morph cry out "Wolverine! Fall back!"
I'll concede, Claremont and Byrne was probably the best era. But Claremont and Lee was commercially bigger, and a soft spot for me because that's when I began reading (and watching the series) as a kid. And Lee's redesigns feel, to me, like THE signature look of the characters--but again, that's probably a "when did you start reading" question.
I didn't get into the Claremont and Byrne stuff until a few years ago with the collected editions. (Epic Collections "Proteus" and "I Magneto" were an absolute pain in the rear to find for reasonable prices).
I have to go with the obvious "Phoenix Saga" and "Days of Future Past" stories as favorites from that time, with "Proteus" in third, but Phoenix and Days have both been done to death, with Phoenix, unfortunately, done so frequently and poorly that it needs to be removed from any adaptation talks.
Have you picked up Byrne's Elsewhen? It sold out the first printing before it even released, which shows how much unmet demand there is for good X-Men books.
All of the commenters here appear to know more about Marvel's THE X-MEN than Kevin Feige, and the writers and directors assigned to the franchise. I've been trying to come up with a franchise, any franchise, helmed by an actual fan and right now? I'm drawing a blank. And no. James Gunn is not a fan. The closest I can think of is Joe Johnston - who had some "street cred" with regard to his admiration of the character of Captain America - and one of the writers - David Self - mentioning that Captain America was his favorite superhero growing up.
Given current geopolitics, it’s probably the absolute worst moment to bring Magneto into the MCU. No matter one’s feelings about Israel, it is simply too polarizing an issue to introduce right now - especially for a villain.
__________
In future variants, the horrible attacks on October 7th, 2023 (and the culture war that followed) do provide an opportunity to revive the character in the modern world: Magneto’s heritage and its associated trauma are vital aspects of his character; however, the Holocaust grows less and less an element of the public consciousness.
We already have Captain America existing since WWII due to the Super-Soldier serum allowing him to survive being frozen. We have Bucky persisting due to Soviet experiments. If they ever do Nick Fury properly, the Infinity Formula will come into play (nothing against Sam Jackson, he plays the assigned role well - I just never felt the Ultimate universe Fury his was based on was subtle enough to be a believable spymaster). Keeping Max Eisenhardt / Erik Lehnsherr a holocaust survivor would require a whole new mechanism in an already-overcrowded field.
__________
It’s hardly some silver lining on what are atrocities, but a contemporary Magneto could be re-envisioned in the shadow of the October 7th horrors. To do so right now, however, would just be misguided.
The X-Men have a large enough rogue’s gallery, Magneto can wait.
__________
Of course, I’ve lost faith in the MCU and imagine whatever they do is going to be a pandering affront to the source material.
'positioning this cast as a foundation piece meant to carry the franchise for decades rather than a single trilogy'...yes so we can empty your wallet and your kids wallet for the next 30 years...that's all what this is about.
What's enormously ironic about the first Disney X-Men movie is, of all their properties...
IT SHOULD HAVE BEEN A LIVE ACTION REMAKE.
Hear me out.
The X-Men animated series is absolutely beloved and wrapped about as thick in nostalgia as a property can get. 1991 was the high water mark of the X-Men--Claremont and Lee. Neither before, nor since, has it ever held such high readership, viewership, and cultural relevance.
What you do is you take the first season's thirteen 20-minute episodes (22-23 minus credits & recaps), which is only about 4 & 1/2 hours, and either make 2 films, or trim enough side plot to make one (focusing mainly on the Sentinels story and Genosha). For many people, this was their introduction to the X-Men. It's a great story and jumps the viewer right into the X-Men world with both feet in the first 10 minutes.
Call the first movie X-Men: Night of the Sentinels.
PICTURE IT
A two minute trailer. Nobody knows what's coming. First we see that iconic X-Men logo. Then, the music begins. You KNOW what music I'm talking about.
The audience roars.
The first minute is a live action shot-for-shot remake of the X-Men animated title sequence.
The crowd goes mad. They still don't know exactly what this is.
The second minute is various shots of iconic first season moments: Jubilee attacked at the mall, storming the Sentinel compound, Beast in Jail, Senator Kelly grandstanding, Wolverine and the picture frame (HAS to be in the trailer). The last scene shows us the Sentinels surrounding the X-Men.
FADE TO BLACK.
TITLE AND LOGO REVEAL: X-Men Night of the Sentinels
As the logo begins to fade, the music has already stopped, and in the silence, we hear Morph cry out "Wolverine! Fall back!"
THAT would sell movie tickets.
I absolutely love you brother, but the set mark was with Claremont and Byrne, 108-143 with a few “guests” thrown in that run.
I’d absolutely love a movie of the Magneto/ Ka-Zar story in the the early 110’s. My favorite would be the Moira MacTaggart/ Proteus saga.
How about the stand alone Kitty Pride “Right of Passage” on a lone Christmasy evening in issue #143.
I’d even love the Banshee, Black Tom, Juggernaut arc from the early 100’s.
Barry Windsor-Smith and the whole Storm-Forge tease.
Any of the Canuck storylines: Guardian in #109 or Alpha Flight in #120-121.
I'll concede, Claremont and Byrne was probably the best era. But Claremont and Lee was commercially bigger, and a soft spot for me because that's when I began reading (and watching the series) as a kid. And Lee's redesigns feel, to me, like THE signature look of the characters--but again, that's probably a "when did you start reading" question.
I didn't get into the Claremont and Byrne stuff until a few years ago with the collected editions. (Epic Collections "Proteus" and "I Magneto" were an absolute pain in the rear to find for reasonable prices).
I have to go with the obvious "Phoenix Saga" and "Days of Future Past" stories as favorites from that time, with "Proteus" in third, but Phoenix and Days have both been done to death, with Phoenix, unfortunately, done so frequently and poorly that it needs to be removed from any adaptation talks.
Have you picked up Byrne's Elsewhen? It sold out the first printing before it even released, which shows how much unmet demand there is for good X-Men books.
All of the commenters here appear to know more about Marvel's THE X-MEN than Kevin Feige, and the writers and directors assigned to the franchise. I've been trying to come up with a franchise, any franchise, helmed by an actual fan and right now? I'm drawing a blank. And no. James Gunn is not a fan. The closest I can think of is Joe Johnston - who had some "street cred" with regard to his admiration of the character of Captain America - and one of the writers - David Self - mentioning that Captain America was his favorite superhero growing up.
Given current geopolitics, it’s probably the absolute worst moment to bring Magneto into the MCU. No matter one’s feelings about Israel, it is simply too polarizing an issue to introduce right now - especially for a villain.
__________
In future variants, the horrible attacks on October 7th, 2023 (and the culture war that followed) do provide an opportunity to revive the character in the modern world: Magneto’s heritage and its associated trauma are vital aspects of his character; however, the Holocaust grows less and less an element of the public consciousness.
We already have Captain America existing since WWII due to the Super-Soldier serum allowing him to survive being frozen. We have Bucky persisting due to Soviet experiments. If they ever do Nick Fury properly, the Infinity Formula will come into play (nothing against Sam Jackson, he plays the assigned role well - I just never felt the Ultimate universe Fury his was based on was subtle enough to be a believable spymaster). Keeping Max Eisenhardt / Erik Lehnsherr a holocaust survivor would require a whole new mechanism in an already-overcrowded field.
__________
It’s hardly some silver lining on what are atrocities, but a contemporary Magneto could be re-envisioned in the shadow of the October 7th horrors. To do so right now, however, would just be misguided.
The X-Men have a large enough rogue’s gallery, Magneto can wait.
__________
Of course, I’ve lost faith in the MCU and imagine whatever they do is going to be a pandering affront to the source material.
'positioning this cast as a foundation piece meant to carry the franchise for decades rather than a single trilogy'...yes so we can empty your wallet and your kids wallet for the next 30 years...that's all what this is about.
Known? Who knows?