....another post from Chris Vegvary
CAN THE X-MEN FILMS BE GOOD AGAIN?
NOTE: If you haven't seen any of the X-Men films, know that this article
contains spoilers. Read at your own risk.
Why is Wolverine the Face of the X-Men Movies?
Back in the year 2000, after 11 years in development, X-Men was finally
made into a movie. I was super-excited, and even though it was not as accurate
a portrayal of my beloved comic book team as I had hoped, I was still pretty
pumped to see it. It turned out to be what I would call a decent movie, leaving
me wanting quite a bit more X-Men, maybe a little less Wolverine. In 2002, a
sequel called "X2: X-Men United" was released, and again I was
excited to see it. This film was much better than the previous one: with the
addition of new characters, the intrigue of Wolverine's past, and the seeing
the set-up for the possibility of Jean Grey become the legendary Phoenix for
the next film, this was definitely a step in the right direction. One small
problem I had with it was that I was hoping to see a little less Wolverine, but
it ended up being mostly about him...a trend that seems to be growing. In 2006,
another sequel was released, "X-Men: The Last Stand", which I was
also excited for, because now they could take the focus off of Wolverine and
put the spotlight on Jean Grey as the Phoenix, and how Cyclops (my favorite
character, by the way) handles it. But alas, that sure wasn't meant to be.
Within the first 10 minutes of the movie, Cyclops is obliterated into nothingness
by Jean Grey/Phoenix. To the filmmakers, I would say, "Um, you know
Cyclops is the leader of the X-Men behind Professor X, don't you? No, of course
you don't, none of you have ever read a comic book in your lives." Not
only that, but about halfway through the movie, Jean Grey/Phoenix also kills
Professor X. That's right, they did it and it hurt. I'm not sure what the
thinking behind the film was, but I'm almost positive someone in charge said
"Alright, we need to make this as much about Wolverine as possible,
because Wolverine Wolverine Wolverine." It's called X-MEN, people, not
Wolverine and the X-Men (although there is an animated show and comic book
series by that name). This movie made me very sad. They introduce all these
fresh new characters, and then what do they do? Take away their powers with a
"mutant cure". Not Wolverine, though. NEVER Wolverine. I'm not even
going to describe the rest of the movie, because it just hurts too much.
Can I Get Some More Wolverine, Please?
In case you didn't get enough Wolverine in the first three X-Men films, in
2009 another film would be released, which was called "X-Men Origins:
Wolverine" and once again starred Hugh Jackman as Wolverine. That was
supposed to be the start of a series of "X-Men Origins" movies with
the next one being "X-Men Origins: Magneto". However, when the studio
saw how badly the first film flopped because of how unfaithful it was to the
source material, the Magneto movie was scrapped and actually ended up becoming
the movie "X-Men: First Class". But we'll get to that. Right now, I
want to talk about the stellar disappointment that was the film "X-Men
Origins: Wolverine". Here's the good stuff that came out of this movie.
First, even though he doesn't look anything like the character from the comic
book, I still really enjoyed Liev Schreiber as Sabretooth. It was a step up
from Tyler Mane's portrayal of the character (who actually looked more comic
book-accurate) from the first X-Men film, and I just really liked the
performance. Second, there was a video game that spawned off this film that was
rated M for Mature, because you got to play Wolverine from the films, but in
the way he SHOULD be portrayed: a rage-filled, unstoppable killing machine.
Lastly, after the movie came out, rumors of a solo Deadpool movie appeared all
over the internet, with Ryan Reynolds set to play Deadpool, but correctly this
time (for those of you who don't know who Deadpool is, I suggest you look it up
on Wikipedia--he's one of the best comic book characters ever created). If you
saw the character in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", please forget that
immediately. That portrayal of the character was 100% inaccurate. That leads
into the next part of this discussion: the bad stuff about "X-Men Origins:
Wolverine", which is actually too long a list to make right now, so let me
just mention the finer points. Firstly, expanding on that last part: Deadpool.
In the comics, Deadpool is known as the "Merc with a Mouth". His suit
is red and black and he wears a battle harness that holds his two ninja swords.
He has a teleportation device that allows him to teleport short distances. He
wears a hooded mask to hide his disfigured form and he has a healing factor
like Wolverine, because they were part of the same Weapon X project. So what do
they do with him in the movie? He wears no costume, he has adamantium swords
that extend out of his hands, and they sealed his mouth shut. In NO WAY is that
the Deadpool anyone has come to expect to see after they have read the
character. Everyone involved in the film should have known better, and
honestly, I hope they're ashamed of themselves. Second, Gambit's in this movie.
Anyone who knows Gambit from the comics will know that he and Rogue are an
on-again, off-again couple and that they can't really have much physical
contact because of Rogue's power-leeching abilities. Well, he's about
20-something in this movie, which takes place about 20 years before the first
X-Men movie, so he's in his 40's by that time, while Rogue is a teenager. Like
I said, these people have never read a comic book in their lives. I could go on
and on, but that'll about do it for this section.
The Game Changer
When the dust settled, it was 2011 and a film called "X-Men: First
Class" came out. Honestly, by this point in my relationship with the X-Men
films, I just didn't care about any of the news I was hearing about the movie,
and I wasn't too impressed with the trailers either. I wanted to let it just
slip quietly by me, but because of my love for the comics, I at least had to
check it out. Boy was I glad I did. Again, even though it wasn't totally
accurate to the comics, I ended up really enjoying the film. They took the
elements that would have been used in the scrapped "X-Men Origins:
Magneto" film and combined them into this one. It was almost like a breath
of fresh air for me, but there was still something that was bugging everyone.
You see, the film takes place in the 1960's, and Hugh Jackman had a very small
cameo in it as Wolverine. So here's the problem: Is the movie a prequel, or is
it the start of a whole new series of X-Men films? This film clearly
contradicts events portrayed in the first three X-Men films as well as negates
pretty much anything that happened in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine". So
if they're two separate movie series, how is Hugh Jackman still appearing as
Wolverine? That answer would be vague, and still has yet to be answered. I will
discuss that momentarily. But first...
You LIKE Wolverine...You LIKE Wolverine...
It just seems the movie-going public can't get enough Wolverine. Or at
least, that's what the Fox studio executives think, because they want you to
experience yet ANOTHER Wolverine movie that was released in 2013, called
"The Wolverine". While many thought this was going to be a sequel to
"X-Men Origins: Wolverine", it's actually a sequel to "X-Men:
The Last Stand". This film takes place ten years after Wolverine killed
Jean Grey to keep her from becoming the Phoenix and destroying the world. In
it, Logan has left the X-Men and is haunted by the memory of Jean, whom he has
nightmares about every night. He travels to Japan when an old acquantance's
dying wish is to talk to him, and things kind of spiral out of control for him
after that. Was this a great film. No way. Was it good? Eh, kind of. It wasn't
bad, but I really can't take that much Wolverine in one sitting. That's why I
read X-Men comics and not just Wolverine comics. One thing I thought was really
interesting that happened in the film (Remember what I said about SPOILERS? The
time is now) was that his adamantium claws were removed, and his bone claws
grew back in their place. I always wondered how that worked. Anyway, so now you
have another movie in the X-Men series that is a sequel to the first three
films, but seemingly has no connection to the film "X-Men: First
Class". However, if you were to stay and watch the end of the credits of
"The Wolverine", you would see that Logan is approached by Professor
Charles Xavier, who he is quite surprised to see, considering he was
disintegrated the last time the two were together, and Erik Lensherr, who you
may know as Magneto, and who has gained back full control of his powers after
being "cured" in "X-Men: The Last Stand". They are there to
warn him about a danger that poses itself to all mutants.
Days of Future Past
So the question earlier was, are there two separate X-Men film franchises
now, or what? Here's the answer. An idea was pitched to make a film of the
popular story arc "Days of Future Past", in which Kitty Pride travels
back in time to present day from a time when all mutants are persecuted,
hunted, and killed by giant mutant-hunting robot called Sentinels. This film is
both a sequel to the first three X-Men films and is also a sequel to
"X-Men: First Class". "X-Men: Days of Future Past" will
feature Wolverine (of course, right?) going back in time in Kitty's place, and
will have most of the cast members from the previous X-Men films, including
Partick Stewart and James McAvoy (old and young Professor X), and Ian McKellan
and Michael Fassbender (old and young Magneto) all meeting each other. Weird,
right? This film is looking to combine the two franchises to make it one big
slightly less incoherent franchise. There will still be contradictions, of
course, but hopefully nothing too major. I'm pretty sure all those involved are
keeping some kind of silent agreement that "X-Men Origins: Wolverine"
is so out of continuity that they're just pretending it didn't happen. They're
aiming to fix all the past mistakes from previous X-Men movies. I don't know
about you, but as far as I'm concerned, the biggest mistake the franchise made,
and I hope like hell they fix it in this movie, was killing off Cyclops. You
know, the LEADER of the X-Men. It doesn't always have to be all about
Wolverine. But it is. Anyway, this is one I'm actually looking forward to, and
not just because of the possibility of resurrecting my favorite character, but
because I'm genuinely excited to see the cast of the first three films together
with the "First Class" cast, how the characters will react to seeing
their younger and older selves, and for the Sentinels, which we got the
slightest glimpse of in the third film.
So CAN the X-Men films be good again? I say yes, because after the horror
that was "Origins", "First Class" proved that they don't
need Wolverine to make a good X-Men movie. Not that Wolverine makes the X-Men
films bad, but clearly "The Wolverine" didn't do as well as any of
the others in the series. I'm fully ready to experience whatever the X-Men are
doing in "Days of Future Past", and I hope that everyone out there
would be willing to give the franchise at least one last chance with it.
It may not seem like it from this article, but I do actually like
Wolverine. He IS one of the best characters in Marvel Comics, and speaking of
Marvel, have I got something for you. Why don't you follow some of the links
below and check out our Marvel-based costumes? You might be...no, in fact, I
KNOW you'll be glad you did. Check them out.
I guess I just don't get it. But I do know that Marvel Comics are having a hell of a run.
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