Fans of the MCU rejoice! The news that Marvel Studios will be overseeing the upcoming X-Men
properties is something that many a fan have been dying to see happen. What does this mean
for the Fox X-Men franchise? How will all of these characters be brought into the fray
in the MCU? There’s a lot of possibilities, and not much in terms of answers. But today,
we’re taking a look at what Marvel Studios and Disney can do to do these mutant characters
and their stories justice, with our list of the top 10 ways the MCU can improve the X-Men
Films. Or rather, just the X-Men in general. Let’s jump in.
10 A slower introduction Watching an X-Men film always feels like BAM!
HERE’S A BILLION TRILLION CHARACTERS, ENJOY! Aside from a few of the titles, it often feels
like for about half of the mutant characters we see on the big screen, we don’t really
get a whole lot in terms of character development. For example, Cyclops has always been a character
who felt like he was off to the side; while Jean Grey and Wolverine got a whole lot of
backstory and development, he was always a dude, standing by the side, wanting Jean Grey
to love him. And even his younger version kind feels like that too, except he’s not
a total dick yet. When are we going to get the weird dickish Cyclops? The one comic fans
love to hate? The one who lost sense of his morality and it was a really interesting arc?
The one whose a shitty boyfriend and gets depressed a lot? I feel like you could say
the same about a lot of the X-Men characters. Ahem. Storm. Ahem. Could we please get a good
Storm storyline? Anywho, by introducing characters more slowly into the MCU, it would give the
Studio time to really develop each of these mutant characters that we adore, and do a
lot of them justice.
9 Integration of Storylines The X-Men, much like the Fantastic Four, have
played many a crucial role in the grander scheme of Marvel comics and story events.
Charles Xavier is a really important dude, you guys. The MCU could easily improve upon
the X-Men films by having that integration with other groups of heroes. That’s sort
of a given. Imagine the way they weaved the Infinity War narrative together, but for something
like Secret Wars? Or Secret Invasion? Or ANY of the other major Marvel events? Plus, on
top of that, seeing the mutant characters mingle with already established ones would
be so, so satisfying. I dunno about you guys, but wouldn’t you want to see Orono swing
by and woo T’Challa? Or Peter Quill awkwardly hit on Kitty Pryde and fall totally in love?
Sure Starlord and Gamora may be end game, but seeing a mutant fight side by side him
in space would be dope.
8 Not Just Films With the recent rumours that Disney’s new
subscription based streaming service will include limited series on MCU characters,
there’s been a lot of talk concerning Scarlet Witch getting her own show. If that’s the
case, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see members of the X-Men mythos entering the MCU through
her narrative, since Wanda is very prominent in the X-Men stories in the comics. Riffing
off of our first point, having the X-Men enter the MCU staggered as opposed to all at once
like the original Fox franchise chose to do is a way to ensure that the characters are
spread out and have the proper time to develop.
7 Its not the Charles and Erik show Not all about Magneto and Professor X. The
emphasis on Magento and Professor X could be diminished in the MCU, or at least in terms
of introducing mutants. Long has the Fox franchises focused on their conflict as the core of the
X-Men narratives. And while theres nothing wrong with that choice (it’s a life long
conflict that deserves that special treatment), the MCU’s approach to exploring their dynamic
may be better played out if they veered away from the Charles and Erik drama that the current
Fox franchise has been beating to a pulp the past several years. How will they manage that?
Well, one thing that fans of the MCU have pointed out in a theory is that the MCU and
Fox universes split in terms of WW2. Hydra rose to power in the MCU, which is why Magneto
theoretically was never in the holocaust, hence why the mutant uprising didn’t occur.
So mutants, according to this theory, could still be in hiding. While Magneto’s origin
story has forever been closely tied to the tragedies of WW2, it would be curious to see
how the MCU would reapprorpriate him. But look at Tony Stark for example; he’s a character
whose origins were firmly planted in the Vietnam war. But in the MCU, he’s over in the Middle
East when his origin story plays out. Similar, but slightly different to better fit the times.
So Erik’s integration will likely have some creative liberties, and it’s very possible
that the MCU would still want to explore his relationship with Charles, meaning Professor
X’s origin might be altered as well.
6 Wolverine Speaking of characters who have been beaten
down to a pulp, this past year marked the end of Hugh Jackman’s take on Wolverine
with the Logan film. A critical success, the movie ended off Logan’s story in the best
way imaginable. And based on the finality of that film, there’s a theory that suggests
Fox will be wrapping up its entire X-Men universe with the upcoming Dark Phoenix film. Here’s
hoping. That being said, you bet your bottom dollar that Wolverine will be getting an MCU
revival. If Marvel Studios was smart, they’d leave Logan in the works for a while, not
playing all of their cards right from the get go when the X-Men first debut in the MCU.
Maybe they’ll give him his original threads, too. And here’s hoping that his introduction
will match his first appearance in the comics; by rubbing shoulders, or rather claws, with
Bruce Banner’s Hulk.
5 The Quicksilver Situation If I have to explain to one more family member
ONE MORE TIME why there’s two different Quicksilvers up on the big screen in different
movies, I swear I’ll- Sorry guys. This one specifically really bothers
me, as you can tell. In Fox’s X-Men movies, there’s a quicksilver, played by Evan Peters.
In the MCU, there was a Quicksilver, played by Aaron Taylor Johnson. This is because both
Fox and Disney shared the rights to the siblings, although there were some restrictions for
Disney. Having the Fox X-Men franchise ‘erased’ allows for the MCU to clear all that up, and
as some theories suspect, they may even bring Quicksilver back, and allow his villain to
show. The merger also means that Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver cane referred to as mutants,
and perhaps we might even get the daddy Magneto story line if the MCU choose to incorporate
that when introducing Erik.
4 Quality Films and Quality Direction Did you guys see Wolverine Origins? How about
X-Men Age of Apocalypse? Yeaaaaah. We know Marvel studios has a certain caliber of quality
it operates by. To date, the only really bad film to come out of the MCU was Thor The Dark
World, and even then, some of you in the comments will surely contest to that. The kinds of
patience and understanding that go into creating the MCU movies is something that the X-Men
really deserve. Its not just about making money with them. Although, they’ve made
a s*** ton of money and have a well oiled profit machine. The directors and writers
and producers assigned to the MCU projects are always putting in their best. And each
of the films are unique, fitting of their title characters. You can expect to see
3 Deadpool’s Mutants Only keep the X-Men who have been in the Deadpool
movies. I’m not talking about the Charles Xavier Beast Quicksilver cameo, I’m talking
Colossus and Nega Sonic Teenage Warhead. JUST THEM. And Cable. Josh Brolin can definitely
do both, especially if Thanos is gonna be KO and take a long term sabbatical after the
Avengers 4 film, if you know what I mean.
2 The Mutant Metaphor
Back in the 60’s when the X-Men first came to be in the comics, their narratives stood
for something. It was a time when America was engrossed in the Civil Rights Movement,
and demand for change was heavy in the air. Enter September of 1963, The X-Men issue 1
was released. The X-Men were metaphors for racism, for xenophobia, and for prejudice.
Stories like these resonated with readers; between the X-Men and the super relatable
Peter Parker as Spider-Man, Marvel had it’s finger on the pulse of what readers all over
North America of all different shapes and colours wanted to be reading. They did it
in a way that wasn’t overly controversial, but had enough of a spark that it really touched
a lot of people. This metaphor is something that the Fox universe has chosen to explore
on several occasions. But it’s a metaphor they play loose and quick with; it never really
sticks, and if it does, it’s for the duration of a film or two, but never really has the
thematic impact that it should, considering deep down it’s at the heart of the biggest
conflict driving the conflict between Charles and Erik; Erik is pushing for mutant supremacy,
having seen what kind of monster prejudice can turn into. It’s at the heart of the
conflict between mutants and their goal to be accepted by a grander society; something
that was prominent in the early Fox X-Men films and a few of the recent ones. There’s
a lot of politics that were in their stories, and that’s something that the MCU could
really emphasize again, and make impactful.
1 A Cleaner Timeline If our last number wasn’t the most important
topic to fans when it comes to the way the X-Men characters have been portrayed cinematically
over the years, this number is. A CLEAN TIMELINE. Dear god. It feels as if the X-Men films,
after the first trilogy, got real messy for a while. Wolverine Origins? What the f***
was going on there? Then, we get the new X-Men movies, with a younger, hotter Charles Xavier
(strike hotter, Patrick Stewart is forever a 10 out of 10 babe). These films got a bit
complicated thanks to Days of Future Past. And then the last movie, X-Men Age of Apocalypse,
brought in a new order of Jean Grey, Cyclops, Storm, Jubilee for a hot second, just a different
version of a mix of characters that had previously been established. And yes, there’s a whole
logic behind this but on a surface level, to those coming into the franchise, it felt
like it was all over the f***ing place. The MCU’s integration of the X-Men characters
will likely provide a whole lot more clarity in terms of when events happen. We’re likely
not going to get some weird merging of timelines bringing in all of the characters who were
in the Fox movies (with the exception of Deadpool and his rowdy lot, if we’re being optimistic.)
There we have it friends! What else do you think Marvel Studios could improve upon in
terms of the X-Men? Do you think we’ll get a slew of X-Men movies announced for the next
two MCU phases, or do you think they’ll be integrated much slower? Give us a shout
in those comments below and give us your thoughts! If you dug this video, hit that like button,
and be sure to subscribe to hang out with us some more! In the meantime, thanks for
watching friends! I’ll catch you all in the next video!