X-Men '97: The Animated Series

[Darth_Caedus]

And notice that those four have the most overlap between the show and the movies. The other two characters who are closet to that level would be Rogue and Beast, who also heavily overlap between the show and movies. Beast missing from the first two movies and Rogue missing from all the prequels is another reason that they might be A-Listers but not as high as Wolverine, Cyke, Jean, and Storm in terms of recognition.

Gambit and Jubilee haven't had good luck in the movies so they're considered a bit more forgotten and 90s nostalgia is their biggest claim to fame still. Gambit, despite being a fan favorite character with multiple solo books, hasn't had any significant media appearances beyond video games and X-Men Origins: Wolverine which was a bust. So '97 has been the closest to a comeback for him in the public eye.

Jubilee getting replaced with Rogue in the movies, and later Kitty in other media adaptations, is what has hurt her and mostly reduced her to being a relic of the 90s. However, I've noticed a heavy push for her in recent years and I think her providing Asian representation is part of that so I do think she's got a comeback of her own coming.

I watched the first X-Men movie as a kid and Cyke, Logan, Jean and Storm immediately became what I associated with the X-Men. So they would be the A tier guys. Even if you look at the comics it's mostly these four who get to be the most prominent except for the 2000s when Jean was replaced by Emma

[marhawkman]

And one of the worst possible tropes.
Batman v Superman? Crap
Injustice? Crap
Civil War? Mid
Civil War II? Mega crap
Schism? Mega crap
AvX? Crap
IvX? Absolute Crap

Civil War 1 was way too brutal to be mid... heroes.. fighting other heroes... heroes who mostly have no willingness to kill VILLAINS... and.. how many casualties did we have?

[Veni]

I agree. The Avengers was lightning in a bottle. Characters like Hawkeye and Widow didn't need to be part of that original team but they were at the right place at the right time and their dynamic as part of the team charmed audiences, moreso Widow than Hawkeye. I've never cared for her in the comics but I've begun to like her specifically because she appeared over and over in the movies. As someone who doesn't even like her actress, ScarJo, I'm annoyed she was killed off and only got a movie after her death. I'm ready for her to return too lol and I'm not even in the slightest a Black Widow fan but the Avengers feels right when she's there.

Before 2017 Marvel was reluctant to make women and black-lead films. But after Wonder Woman's film became a box office and critical success in 2017 they finally decided to make a Black Widow movie. But it was already too late. Her fate and storyline were decided. So like you said everybody was disappointed that she was killed off and her movie was a prequel. Their most popular female superhero and they killed her off.

[whitecrown]

I watched the first X-Men movie as a kid and Cyke, Logan, Jean and Storm immediately became what I associated with the X-Men. So they would be the A tier guys. Even if you look at the comics it's mostly these four who get to be the most prominent except for the 2000s when Jean was replaced by Emma

The movies were my intro to the X-Men as well so I also thought of those four. When the X-Men were celebrating their 500th issue in the 2000s, this was used to promote the series so it's clear who are the top four who embody the franchise.


And similarly I considered Rogue, Iceman, Beast, Angel, Nightcrawler, Colossus, and Kitty as the other most important X-Men because they were the ones in the movies. If anyone remembers the Marvel Encyclopedia from the 2000s, as pictured below, the X-Men's page even featured a list of key members and it was those 11 along with Xavier.


And this is a nice pic of those 11 together. Some others, like Psylocke, Gambit, and Jubilee, didn't have that status for me because of their lack of exposure in the movies. Gambit and Jubilee at least I saw in the 90s show and as I got into the comics, I realized these three (along with maybe Bishop) were also popular and iconic because of how prominent the X-Men were in the 90s and closely associated with that era, but they haven't had good luck when it comes to media adaptations since the 90s. Psylocke in particular seems to be only iconic for being the ninja with little regard to the person behind the costume which is a shame.

[whitecrown]

Before 2017 Marvel was reluctant to make women and black-lead films. But after Wonder Woman's film became a box office and critical success in 2017 they finally decided to make a Black Widow movie. But it was already too late. Her fate and storyline were decided. So like you said everybody was disappointed that she was killed off and her movie was a prequel. Their most popular female superhero and they killed her off.

They more or less killed the hype for the character's solo movie once people knew she was already dead and this movie wasn't going to change that. They really should have released this after Civil War. Even if they couldn't release this before Infinity War, they could still have gotten away with it by releasing it in the Captain Marvel slot before Endgame.

I know Captain Marvel definitely benefited from being the last movie before Endgame, with her being teased as the character who would save everyone, but I'm curious if it could have still done well if she wasn't introduced until Endgame and any goodwill towards the character there would let her solo movie be the first one after Endgame. If people would still tune in to make it a billion dollar hit. Basically switching the release dates of Black Widow and Captain Marvel around.

And it's ironic that after Widow, Wanda became the company's most popular female superhero and they villainized her and killed her off too. Marvel has not had a good track record, especially when you consider Gamora was also killed off. And ironically enough, the superheroine that fans actually want to see killed off is the one who seems to still be sticking around despite her box office disaster sequel. I'm a Carol fan because of the comics but I have zero interest in her in the MCU. They've given her no personality whatsoever and it doesn't shock me that audiences don't care about her. To go from a comic fan who loves Carol and doesn't care about the Black Widow to watching the movies and wanting Widow back while having zero interest in Carol shows how badly Marvel has mishandled their female characters.

[Hypestyle]

glad to see Nightcrawler in action, and with swords! Really cool.

Glad to see a real origin for Bastion. The comics version was always confusing to me.

[whitecrown]

I keep forgetting that Theo James is voicing Bastion.

[Veni]

They more or less killed the hype for the character's solo movie once people knew she was already dead and this movie wasn't going to change that. They really should have released this after Civil War. Even if they couldn't release this before Infinity War, they could still have gotten away with it by releasing it in the Captain Marvel slot before Endgame.

I know Captain Marvel definitely benefited from being the last movie before Endgame, with her being teased as the character who would save everyone, but I'm curious if it could have still done well if she wasn't introduced until Endgame and any goodwill towards the character there would let her solo movie be the first one after Endgame. If people would still tune in to make it a billion dollar hit. Basically switching the release dates of Black Widow and Captain Marvel around.

And it's ironic that after Widow, Wanda became the company's most popular female superhero and they villainized her and killed her off too. Marvel has not had a good track record, especially when you consider Gamora was also killed off. And ironically enough, the superheroine that fans actually want to see killed off is the one who seems to still be sticking around despite her box office disaster sequel. I'm a Carol fan because of the comics but I have zero interest in her in the MCU. They've given her no personality whatsoever and it doesn't shock me that audiences don't care about her. To go from a comic fan who loves Carol and doesn't care about the Black Widow to watching the movies and wanting Widow back while having zero interest in Carol shows how badly Marvel has mishandled their female characters.

In response to the controversy in how they handled Wanda, Marvel said that she was always mentally unstable in the comics and that they were being comic accurate.

[whitecrown]

In response to the controversy in how they handled Wanda, Marvel said that she was always mentally unstable in the comics and that they were being comic accurate.

Oh wow, they're doubling down on it instead of admitting their mistake. I heard the MoM writer said he liked crazy Wanda in the comics which is why he went the route he did, but this comment takes the cake.

No wonder the MCU is hemorrhaging viewers.

[Saitou Hajime]

With spoilers:

Doom

end of spoilers showing up I wonder if we'll get to see Namor down the line.

Would you want the Gillen-style Sinister show up?

[Darth_Caedus]

With spoilers:

Doom

end of spoilers showing up I wonder if we'll get to see Namor down the line.

Would you want the Gillen-style Sinister show up?

Honestly the only time I enjoyed Gillen's Sinister was back in his UXM run. Sinister's relationship with Scott in that run was a lot like Batman and Joker's. Since then he has become too much of goofball.

[Wiccan]

Oh wow, they're doubling down on it instead of admitting their mistake. I heard the MoM writer said he liked crazy Wanda in the comics which is why he went the route he did, but this comment takes the cake.

No wonder the MCU is hemorrhaging viewers.

It was that same guy who said they were just being comic accurate. Michael Waldron.

[whitecrown]

It was that same guy who said they were just being comic accurate. Michael Waldron.

Of course. That explains it all. The same awful writer would definitely have been responsible for both statements. At least it's only one hack and not multiple saying the same things so that makes it a little bit better. Know who to avoid now. I hope that man is gone by the time Wanda comes back.

[Frontier]

spoilers:

The staging of the whole Val Cooper scene was really weird because the more she talked the more it sounded like she was talking as if she were a Mutant or revealing she was one the entire time. Also I don't see a Schism happening the way the current conflict is happening and Xavier showing up to rally the X-Men. Humans and Mutants are about to go to war in a big way and the X-Men would, obviously, be right in the middle trying to keep peace resolve things in a better way. Not to say some (probably Rogue) would want to side with Magneto, kind of like Colossus did, but I don't see the team breaking up over it.

end of spoilers