The future of the X-Men on the big screen

[Steel Inquisitor]

Who is in the Avengers? The characters banded together for a mission in the last film and went back to their lives after, those that weren’t killed. Spider-Man isn’t a team, nor are the Eternals

Captain Marvel, Scarlet Witch, War Machine, Dr. Strange, Black Panther, Ant-man, Wasp, Thor, Falcon, Hawkeye. They'll add Sersi eventually, she's an Avenger. They're not lacking in heroes for membership.



and Black Knight, too!

[Foon4000]

Those sources are less the credible.

I'm conflicted about Mikey Sutton, 'cus he is mates with lots of 80s-era comic creators who are pretty loose-lipped. But being approached for rights to characters or stories is an entirely different thing than those characters or stories making it into a movie. 'Hey, can we get an option on story A/B/C' is the start of a long process that usually doesn't go anywhere. Marvel are probably putting down options on everything in the X-men and F4 back catalogue right now.

That said, Charles Murphy is more connected to the movie side and he's convinced the Savage Land is going to pop up soon, but probably minus the X-men.

[Jackraow21]

That seems solid. Would be satisfied if that's the route they take.

Thanks. Same here. I’m fine with a “mix and match” approach from the 616 and Ultimate Universe, as that’s kind of what they’ve done already across the MCU.

The thing about Hickman's Xmen being adapted to the MCU is while it would work. It wont feel original in the sense the MCU is already crowded with "teams". And the isolationist concept with sole ownership of an export is already being done with Black Panther

Well, I don’t agree that the MCU is over crowded with teams any more than it’s overcrowded with solo heroes (the vast majority of MCU films have been solos). As someone else pointed out, with the Avengers broken up after the death of Stark and Cap’s disappearance into the past, the only team that even exists right now is out in space (the Guardians of the Galaxy). Also, I believe they can make the Krakoa aesthetic feel both very relevant and different from FOX’s X-men franchise, and at the same time different still from Wakanda. In fact, I think they should open on the school aesthetic with a flashback of Jean Grey arriving there for the first time, and then it cuts to the present day and she’s standing there as an adult and the school is now covered in vines, and she’s shepherding some young students through a Krakoan gateway to their new home like in House of X #1.

I like the idea that they operated out of the school in secret for years, perhaps shielded from the public by Xavier’s telepathy (or maybe a telepathic counsel consisting of him, Jean Grey, Emma Frost, the Cuckoos, and maybe even villains like Exodus and Sinister; kind of a mutant version of the Illuminati). Like I said before, if there were very few mutants until the Snap, it wouldn’t have been too hard for them to do this. If they go with the mashup of 616 and Ultimate origins that I described in my previous post (i.e., the Celestials planted the seed for mutation but it was perhaps Hydra who unlocked the mutant gene via experimentation with the Tesseract in WWII), then there would really only be a handful of ancient mutants (Externals like Selene, Apocalypse and Exodus; think of them like “pure bloods” in the vampire mythos) plus those who appeared after the Hydra WWII experiments basically unlocked the X-gene (both the experiments/Weapon X graduates themselves like Wolverine, who was essentially Mutant Zero in that respect, and all who came after). But the numbers would still be relatively small until the Snap sent a massive wave of cosmic energy across the planet, and now they’re popping up in such numbers that the world is in panic. Governments around the world have drafted mutant registration laws and ordered thousands of mutant hunting Sentinels from Trask Industries, and the remnants of SHIELD, Hydra and AIM have formed the group ORCHIS dedicated to ensuring that humanity prevails and mutants never become the dominant species on Earth. Boom.

As for how to make Krakoa different from Wakanda, it needs to be far more organic. Think Avatar like in terms of aesthetic. And there are a lot of younger mutants, essentially puberty age, here whose powers were activated by the Snap. So the Island is not only a nation-state, but also one big school in a sense. Where mutants can be safe and free to learn how to use their powers, and then they have the choice of whether to remain or go back out into the world. As to the “sole ownership of an export” angle, well, they can always say they learned a thing or two from the Wakandans. Perhaps it was Storm’s idea since she has history with T’Challa? Just a thought.

[Steel Inquisitor]

The MCU government and agencies like SHIELD could cover up mutants and the X-men, as well. Maybe they tweak the original team into working off the books for SHIELD rather than the FBI. Xavier using his telepathy to erase or alter memories of events would explain bigger incidents, like Magneto's attacks, going under the radar adding to what the government would be covering up on their end. I'm interested in who they'll be hiring for the actors, and I hope the New Mutants movie gets retconned into the setting.

[Jackraow21]

Not a bad idea at all. I like it. Maybe the X-men were actually the predecessor to the Avengers, with Fury and Xavier working closely together, until that original team (the Deadly Genesis group) went on a mission to Krakoa and never came back. This caused a falling out between the two because Fury didn’t fully disclose what they were walking into or why (perhaps the original Krakoa mission was actually about retrieving something for SHIELD and Fury lied?). And, of course, the irony is that years later Xavier went back to the island with a new team of X-men and conquered it, so now it’s their new home. Pretty cool angle. I like it a lot.

[CRaymond]

The X-Men weren’t Fury’s proto-Avengers, they were Carter’s. Her team liberated the last hydra camp in Argentina in the mid-70s.

The first X-Men were Charlie’s age.

[Ambaryerno]

I don't care much for the current status quo, but this is actually a clever idea

[Jackraow21]

Damn that’s clever. I was so focused on the Krakoan nation-state being a key differentiator in distinguishing the FOX-men film aesthetic (with the traditional school setting) from the MCU setup, that I missed the obvious. The whole Moira X multiple lives thing is a brilliant way to say that those films happened, yet they were just a different life. Hell, that means if they wanted to they could use any of the current actors they want, from Reynolds as Deadpool (which is confirmed) to the New Mutants cast to even some of the newer X-men cast... if they wanted to. But this is a different timeline (the MCU being Moira’s 10th life) so things are different in this one.

For example, Beast could still be Nicholas Hoult but make him CGI and more like the Beast we know from the comics in this timeline. Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Sophie Turner and Kodi McPhee could also come back (though I wasn’t crazy about Sophie as Jean; the rest were great though IMO). Hell, no wonder they allegedly tried to see if they could entice Hugh Jackman back, since he’s been so iconic in the role. It kind of makes sense if this is the route they end up going.

My mind is blown. Thanks for sharing, Ambaryerno.

[Havok83]

Captain Marvel, Scarlet Witch, War Machine, Dr. Strange, Black Panther, Ant-man, Wasp, Thor, Falcon, Hawkeye. They'll add Sersi eventually, she's an Avenger. They're not lacking in heroes for membership.

Captain Marvel isnt an Avenger. She's purely planted in the space. Black Panther is the King of Wakanda and also never joined the Avengers. Dr. Strange never joined the team either. Hawkeye is off retired after just reuniting with his family. Thor left for space and I doubt he will return after his final move. The Avengers as it stands arent a real official team but a collection of heroes that come together when threats arise. The last time we've seen them actively together as a regular team was in Civil War. The way Endgame ended didnt give the impression that they went back to that status quo. I think everyone went back to picking up their own seperate lives, many of whom had been MIA for 5 years. There will eventually be another Avengers movie and they will have heroes to fill those ranks, but as of now in the MCU, the team doesnt exist in that same capacity. The MCU is not saturated with superhero teams and there most definitely is space for the X-men to step in as their own unique thing

[Jackraow21]

They could bring McAvoy and Fassbender back too (but for God’s sake make Fass look older and dye his hair gray for comic accuracy). No more JLaw as Mystique though. I think everyone can agree on that. They’ll have to recast some folks anyway (e.g., Wolverine) so no problem recasting her too. And they could bring back your favorite, Ambaryerno. Daphne Keen as Laura.

I’m just imagining James McAvoy as a walking Xavier with the big Cerebro helmet on his head now, working with Michael Fassbender’s Magneto and Rose Byrne’s Moira X to bring about a mutant utopia... wow. My mind is still blown. If Feige does something like this, I think a lot of folks will feel the same way. Some purists might complain, but there is precedent in the comics. Clearly. As that’s what just happened. And I think general audiences will like the shift away from the previous FOX installments and the “been there done that” school aesthetic, while keeping some of the actors who are great and giving them better material to work with.

Or maybe not, and perhaps they should have a clean break from all the old actors except Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool. But this gives them the option to do whatever they want in that regard. Highly interesting.

[houndsofluv]

Jennifer was a good choice for mystique in theory but you could so tell she got sick of doing the movies lol

McAvoy and Fassbender were like pitch perfect genius casting moments but I feel like they got their moment , I wanna see someone new try their spin on the roles. What you're saying about weaning audiences onto new movies w/ the same cast makes sense but to be honest is there anyone who really feels that kind of conneXion to the fox movies? I feel like a clean slate is the best course

that said a deadpool who isn't Ryan Reynolds would lead to mass hysteria and probably a couple cases of *******y artery disease

edit : that literally just says cor onary lol

[Dipter]

You can tell that JLaw got fed up with playing Mystique by how increasingly cheap the make-up quality became each film. She could have been good had she been allowed to play a villain, but then Hunger Games released and launched her into mainstream stardom so FOX altered Raven into an unrecognizable, bland hero. I hope they go with a total recast, not necessarily because I thought Sophie and the others were bad actors, but because I've always preferred adult Scott and Jean over their teen versions.

[yogaflame]

Jean Grey was 24 when she died in Claremont's DPS.

Sophie Turner is 24.

The age of the actors was never the problem. Fox just never understood the characters correctly in the first place, nor how to use them together over time. What a mess. I hope the MCU takes another crack at Claremont's lore. Fox definitely raided the closet for a few things, but they never did it right. Try again. Start with the college aged 05ers getting lost on Krakoa, bring in the international team of newbies, and let's take a ride through Disney+ shows and MCU films over 10 or 15 years working from Giant Sized X-Men #1 to however far you want to go! Slow and steady, actors age in realtime, get into all the interpersonal relationships and character development and their individual and team abilities and tactics.

Fox had them for 20 years, but they didn't use the time to their advantage. Everything was disjointed. The MCU has a proven track record of long form storytelling. It was a miracle they were able to patch all that together in a reasonably solid way, with an impactful and satisfying conclusion. If they can do that with the straw that is the MU IP, imagine what Feige and company can do with Claremont's canon? We can add in elements from the Ultimate(Proteus as Legion is good stuff; keeps Moira and Charles central and cuts out the unnecessary Gabrielle/Joe storylines(even if they are interesting in their own regards)) line or the later runs(Hickman's Krakoa would be a great last arc, but it is not a good first arc), but we all know the core of the franchise's best stems from that initial 16 year run.

Adapt that for the modern global audience over many interwoven projects and we've got mountains of content par excellence. It's in Disney's best intere$t, and serves the fanbase.

[Ferro]

using some krakoa aesthethics/ writting could be smart since the aesthetic has been so ressonant and its just in comics, even tho I feel this era needs a videogame adaptation more

[yogaflame]

The oldschool arcade game had a Krakoa level.



A modern, immersive game with Krakoa and the portals and all that would be incredible on these next generation consoles coming out. All the physics of all the various mutant powers would probably be a nightmare to render, but I'm sure they could figure it out.


That said, I don't think the MCU should start at the Krakoa nation state level. It's only effective with decades of backstory already established. The MCU X-Men will have to establish their own canon and rules and relationships and all that. I think they should start with like, 18 year old O5ers have already been operating in secret for a couple years(within the 5 year gap in Endgame), so it makes sense that they really aren't on the Avengers/SHIELD/SWORD's radar yet. I want to see their teamwork established over many Disney+ seasons and MCU films.

We haven't even seen the ending of Hickman's Krakoa concept yet. Let's hold off on basing the entire MCU X-Men around it just yet(even if it is interesting so far). We've got plenty of tried and true canon to adapt first.