The future of the X-Men on the big screen

[Wiccan]

I think Millar's Ultimate X-Men proved they both can work as teens/young adults. Besides, Ororo was a naive young woman of 24 in Claremont's run to begin with, and in Cockrum's original vision, she was even younger(he thought of her as a 16 year old looking immortal goddess). "Mammy" Storm is boring and has been done in the original Fox-Men series. Give me a woke, New Age/Old World pagan gardener Ororo with long locs and eyes that have seen too much for her age(who will cut you if need be).

24 is fine. I said "I don't think some characters work being young, as in students". So if they wanted to go with like, 15-20 Scott and Jean for example, I don't like the idea of Storm and most X-Men being like that. I feel like the only main X-Men who really fits as teens are the O5, Kitty and Jubilee.

[yogaflame]

24 is fine. I said "I don't think some characters work being young, as in students". So if they want to go with like, 15-20 Scott and Jean for example, I don't like the idea of Storm and most X-Men being like that. I feel like the only main X-Men who really fits as teens are the O5, Kitty and Jubilee.

Ororo is the same age as Scott, Jean, and Warren. She's probably a year or two younger than Hank.

[Wiccan]

Ororo is the same age as Scott, Jean, and Warren. She's probably a year or two younger than Hank.

I know. But I think the thing is that the O5 have been portrayed as teenagers in the comics many times. The original '60s comics, the First Class comics, the time-displaced O5, a couple more other untold stories, etc. While Storm, Logan, Nightcrawler, Gambit, Psylocke etc have always been adults.

[yogaflame]

I know. But I think the thing is that the O5 have been portrayed as teenagers in the comics many times. The original '60s comics, the First Class comics, the time-displaced O5, a couple more other untold stories, etc. While Storm, Logan, Nightcrawler, Gambit, Psylocke etc have always been adults.

Kurt was still pretty young in Giant Sized. He turned 21 a few years into the run. While the ANAD X-Men were on average older than the O5 when they first started(they were 16-19 in '63), Piotr was still very young(maybe 16) and Kurt not that far off. Banshee was by far the oldest(that we knew at the time, as Logan's age wasn't determined for quite some time to come) and skews the whole group older, as he was basically Xavier's age(late 30's/early 40's). I think ultimately it's just that the O5 had grown up already by '75, so as a group, the ANAD team's dynamic was that of more mature young adults as opposed to high school kids. If you retell the whole thing in the modern age from the ground up, there is no reason to say the ANAD and O5 kids couldn't all be college students, with Logan being the anomaly(the Fonz of the group). I think even Sean would be fun as a college kid.

Psylocke was introduced to the team at 30 years old, but I wouldn't necessarily use her in the MCU X-Men at first(I think they should introduce her in a Captain Britain film/series) anyways, and even if you did use her a few movies down the line, the rest of the characters would age up to be closer to her by then(and there's no reason she couldn't work slightly younger either). Gambit could easily be cast as a bad boy teenager, it practically writes itself, and even in the comics, his age has never really been pinned down concretely, especially considering Rogue was definitely still a teenager around the time he first appeared(which, by the way, featured a pre-teen Ororo!).

And ultimately, at the end of the day, mutants are firmly fixed as a puberty/young adult metaphor, and mutants usually manifest their powers in their teens, so why wouldn't you start the MCU X-Men at or very close to that age range? Not to mention the fact that mutants have to be a relatively recent phenomenon in the MCU given their complete absence in the last decade of events, and a hero's journey tends to start at their transformative phase, so, that factored by the logistical benefits of casting younger actors, all makes sense for them to be college aged.

[Jackraow21]

I think this debate really comes down to what age you were when you got into the X-men. I found it really interesting when Marvel recently said that it’s been as many years since the Chris Claremont and Jim Lee X-men #1, in 1991, as it was between that issue and Uncanny X-men #1 in 1963. 28 years. There seem to be a lot of fans of the pre 90s era X-men on this forum, as well as a number who got into them in the 90s during the Blue/Gold era and the Animated Series. I have a friend who is an 80s X-men die hard, while I’m a 90s X-men fan. We have some fun dialogue about which era was better (the 80s do have the Outback era, which rocked, and Logan in the brown costume, which is clearly his best one; so I have to give him that).

At any rate, in the 90s (and even the late 80s) the X-men very much seemed to be portrayed as adults, with the younger satellite groups like New Mutants and then X-Force, as well as Generation X. Even in the cartoon, it seemed like they were all adults, especially as juxtaposed against Jubilee who was kind of the audience viewpoint younger character giving you the glimpse into the world of the X-men. Especially in those first episodes.

So in my view what era you came into the X-men greatly impacts how you see them, as adults who take in and mentor young mutants whose powers have just manifested, or as some of those young mutants being trained themselves by Xavier. Personally I’m on the side of most of them being older, but not old. So Cyclops, Storm, Wolverine, Beast, etc., all in their 30s. I could go with 20s for characters like Gambit, Rogue, Nightcrawler, Iceman, Colossus; and younger for Kitty Pride or Jubilee. Maybe late teens there.

That’s how I see them anyway.

[Glio]

I would prefer that X-Men like Cyclops and Storm were already in their 30s or late 20s because it would facilitate the transition to younger characters faster.

It would be weird to have Scott with the same age as for example Moonstar or Sunspot. They can always have had many offscreen adventures.

[Jackraow21]

Agreed. I hated that they made Jubilee the same age as Cyclops, Jean and Nightcrawler in X-men Apocalypse. That was terrible.

[The Kid]

I would prefer that X-Men like Cyclops and Storm were already in their 30s or late 20s because it would facilitate the transition to younger characters faster.

It would be weird to have Scott with the same age as for example Moonstar or Sunspot. They can always have had many offscreen adventures.

Yep, also like the Avengers, you want your franchise leads to at least look like grown adults. Someone nailed it earlier. The MCU has cast many older people in their films. Iron Man, Black Panther, Ant Man, Starlord, War Machine, Vision, etc.. are all characters who were cast as older characters. No guarantee everyone in the X-Men will be early 20s at all. We still don't know how they'll even tackle the X-Men. I feel like some people here are expecting a straight adaptation of 80s Claremont.. which I doubt lol

[Ambaryerno]

And frankly, the technology to de-age actors on screen has come along so far it's becoming trivial, so the age of your actors isn't going to be as relevant as it was only a couple years ago. ESPECIALLY for cases where the actors age, but a character doesn't (IE Logan). If the work that was done with Fury in Captain Marvel is any indication, we're going to be seeing that technique used much more widely, not just as a few "wow" pieces.

[Heroine Addict]

Couple of somewhat interesting, opinion pieces: Have 'X-Men' Been Hiding in Shadows of the Marvel Universe? - Hollywood Reporter & 'Captain Marvel' And 'Black Panther' Show Why The MCU Doesn't Need The X-Men - Forbes

[yogaflame]

Y'all wild. [Most of] The X-Men are barely/not even 30 even now in the comics(after more than 5 decades of stories). And if they are already 30 in the MCU, that means they've had their powers for more than half of their lives already, and we've missed all their formative adventures! Say what you will about the age of the other MCU actors, but all their stories start when when they first become superhuman. Tony works as an older guy because he built his suit as an accomplished engineer. T'Chaka was older when he died in this universe, so T'Challa can be older. Dr. Strange didn't get his magical training until he was already an accomplished surgeon. It works for them. But Spider-Man, and Scarlett Witch are/were necessarily younger because we are seeing them when they are first tapping into their powers. The X-Men are closer to them thematically than they are the heroes that rely on technology or artifacts.

I love a lot of the original New Mutants and Generation X stories, but they can wait 10 more years. Given how the sliding timeline works, even though there were decades of years of X-Men stories before them, they are less than 10 years younger than the main X-Men, so in live-action films it won't take that long for college-aged X-Men to age up and want to bring in more young ones.

[pandafarmer]

At any rate, in the 90s (and even the late 80s) the X-men very much seemed to be portrayed as adults, with the younger satellite groups like New Mutants and then X-Force, as well as Generation X. Even in the cartoon, it seemed like they were all adults, especially as juxtaposed against Jubilee who was kind of the audience viewpoint younger character giving you the glimpse into the world of the X-men. Especially in those first episodes.

I totally agree with you and see where this view comes from. As a kid, the 80's X-Men all felt like adults to me and the New Mutants were my peers. Now that I'm in my 40's I see them all as follows:

15-18 - Pixie, Dust, Helion, Rockslide... the X-kids
19-25 - Gen X, Jubes
25-30 - Cannonball, Magik, Dani, Rahne, Kitty
30-40 - Cyclops, Storm, Jean, Hank, Warren
50+ - Dr Nemisis, Magneto, Xavier, Moira, Sean

So yeah, when I see teens/20's playing the core X-Team in films, I find it jarring. Might be "correct" in the film timelines, but casting a 40 year old as Scott matches perfectly. I always preferred the original film casting to the post First Class gang.

However I totally get yoga's comment above and can imagine that this is exactly the kind of conversations likely happening in the MCU offices now.

[mogwen]

My takes on Jean Grey:
Maya Hawke for young Jean, a passionate, vibrant and energic actress, the daughter of Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke!
BG462_170813_VOGUEUK_010_041_v2_RGB.jpg

My second choice is Jane Levy, still that idea of an energic Jean Grey, a different approach than the awkward, fragile and bordering on madness FOX version.
jl1-768x451.jpg

[yogaflame]

I totally agree with you and see where this view comes from. As a kid, the 80's X-Men all felt like adults to me and the New Mutants were my peers. Now that I'm in my 40's I see them all as follows:

15-18 - Pixie, Dust, Helion, Rockslide... the X-kids
19-25 - Gen X, Jubes
25-30 - Cannonball, Magik, Dani, Rahne, Kitty
30-40 - Cyclops, Storm, Jean, Hank, Warren
50+ - Dr Nemisis, Magneto, Xavier, Moira, Sean

So yeah, when I see teens/20's playing the core X-Team in films, I find it jarring. Might be "correct" in the film timelines, but casting a 40 year old as Scott matches perfectly. I always preferred the original film casting to the post First Class gang.

However I totally get yoga's comment above and can imagine that this is exactly the kind of conversations likely happening in the MCU offices now.

Thank you for the reasonable approach, but the 05 X-Men are still barely 30 in the comics. And Cannonball's crew(and Colossus, Rogue, Rachel, Kitty, Chamber) are barely into their 20's, and the rest of the Gen Xer's are actually just a couple years younger(remember Paige and Sam are siblings), and the newest kids are still kids. It may seem like they should all be older because they have had so many adventures, but the sliding timeline says otherwise. It's only been 10-15 years since 1963 for these characters.

[HaydnC95]

My ideal Jean Grey would be played by Rebecca Ferguson. She's 35. I'm of the opinion that characters like Jean, Scott, Storm, Beast, Psylocke etc. should be around the same age, let's say 30-40 is fine. However, I don't mind if characters like Rogue, Iceman, Angel and maybe Colossus are slightly younger, maybe 25-30. Youngest characters like Kitty and Jubilee should be at around 16-25.