xmen – Page 5 – Dr. K's Waiting Room

Movie Night: X-Men: Dark Phoenix

24/06/201904/07/2024Dr. K1 Comment

Released: June 2019
Director: Simon Kinberg
Distributor: Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Budget: $200 million
Stars: James McAvoy, Sophie Turner, Jessica Chastain, Tye Sheridan, Nicholas Hoult, Michael Fassbender, and Jennifer Lawrence

Plot:
Ten years after the events of X-Men: Apocalypse (Singer, 2016), the X-Men have become celebrated superheroes. After answering a distress call from NASA, Jean Grey (Turner) is exposed to cosmic energies that send her powers rampant. With their teammate confused, conflicted, and being corrupted, the X-Men find their loyalties and friendships tested as they race to keep Jean from harming others with her newfound powers.

Background:
The X-Men franchise (Various, 2000 to present) has had a tumultuous history in recent years; after X-Men (Singer, 2000) helped audiences to take superheroes films seriously and popularise the genre as a money-making endeavour, the series has taken a bit of a downturn since 20^th Century Fox decided to produce a series of films stupidly marketed as prequels that were actually soft reboots that have done nothing but screw up the franchise’s continuity and timeline with each instalment. X-Men: Apocalypse is largely regarded as being a disappointment, despite making a load of money at the box office, and, in the years since its release, 20^th Century Fox has been acquired by Disney, meaning that the X-Men will soon be integrated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe in some way, shape, or form. However, X-Men: Dark Phoenix, was already in production before this purchase, meaning that this is the last gasp for this franchise in its current form.

The Review:
Considering that Disney will one day bring the X-Men into the MCU, Dark Phoenix seems largely redundant; the timeline and continuity of the films, and this franchise, is too messed up to sustain itself much less be integrated into the MCU without a complete recast and reboot, meaning that it really doesn’t matter how good, or bad, this film is, what it does, or how it ends. As a result, there’s a distinct lack of agency and investment when watching Dark Phoenix and all you can really hope for is that it does a better job of adapting the much-lauded Dark Phoenix Saga (Claremont, Bryne, et al, 1976 to 1977) than X-Men: The Last Stand (Ratner, 2006). The answer is that it does, in some ways, and doesn’t in other ways; for example, making the Phoenix a dark, suppressed aspect of Jean Grey’s (Famke Janssen) personality was actually a much neater, relatable way of realising the character in the grounded, semi-realistic context of the first X-Men movies. Dark Phoenix, however, uses the space element by having Jean bombarded with a destructive cosmic force that simply enhances her powers to dangerous levels.

*Vuk seeks to obtain or control to Phoenix Force.*

If this is more comic accurate then I guess that’s fine but Dark Phoenix also introduces a bunch of shapeshifting aliens, the D’Bari, who come to Earth seeking to obtain or control the cosmic force. Their primary agent, Vuk (Chastain), manages to help twist Jean against her team mates to facilitate her turn into the titular Dark Phoenix but there’s something off-putting about aliens suddenly and so awkwardly being thrust into this franchise that I found a little jarring. I think the D’Bari could have just as easily been a radical group of Mutants who see Jean as their saviour or they could even been replaced completely by Erik Lehnsherr/Magneto (Fassbender) and his Brotherhood of Mutants, similar to how Magneto (Ian McKellen) helped to corrupt Jean in The Last Stand.

*The X-Men are decked out in matching, comic-accurate costumes.*

There are some other questionable choices at work here as well; for example, at the end of X-Men: Apocalypse, the X-Men were decked out in some very swanky, mid-nineties comics-accurate costumes that they have promptly ditched in favour of uniform suits to help emphasise that they are a team to the media and society, while these are also comic accurate, it’s a shame we never got to see Scott Summers/Cyclops (Sheridan) rocking that outfit from the end of X-Men: Apocalypse. Also, Professor Charles Xavier (McAvoy) undergoes a bit of an odd character twist in this movie; despite apparently reuniting with Moira McTaggert (Rose Byrne) in X-Men: Apocalypse, Moira is nowhere to be seen and, instead, Xavier is basking in the adulation of the media and the relationship he has with the US government (which includes a hot line directly to the Oval Office and public commendations from the President (Brian d’Arcy James)). This changes Xavier’s entire motivations from the preservation of Mutantkind and the protection of humanity to an ego trip and skews his entire drive to forming the X-Men into wanting fame and respect, which is very jarring and out of character. At the same time, Xavier is also portrayed as being less than noble due to tampering with Jean’s mind, which raises the ire of Hank McCoy/Beast (Hoult) so much that he brands Xavier a monster and joins forces with Magneto. Yet, Xavier’s tampering is nowhere near the level seen in The Last Stand and you would think that one of his closest friends and allies, who stuck with him through addiction and the deaths of their team mates, would see that he was just trying to protect Jean.

Instead, both Hank and Jean turn to Magneto in their time of need, which is a very odd way to push the character into the plot. Magneto has formed a community of Mutants of the island of Genosha and has no desire to be involved in the outside world any more. Personally, I am glad that Dark Phoenix is the end of this series of movies as I am so sick of seeing each of these films jump forward another ten years and find yet another preposterous way of neutering Magneto; at the end of X-Men: First Class (Singer, 2011), Magneto had evolved into a fully-costumed version of the character who was actively recruiting Mutants for his Brotherhood and seeking to attack humanity but, in X-Men: Days of Future Past (ibid, 2014) he was in jail and portrayed as an anti-hero who was trying to protect Mutants until the end when he became a fully-costumed version of the character seeking to attack humanity. Then, in X-Men: Apocalypse, he inexplicably had a family and had retired from his “war” until he became a fully-costumed version of the character seeking to attack humanity…and then redeemed himself at the end and now, once again, he’s back to simply being another dark shade of grey in a film largely comprised of characters who are struggling between good and evil. As for the other X-Men, Sheridan actually has a decent amount to do as Cyclops but every quickly takes a backseat as Xavier leads the X-Men into battle to try and save Jean. He, like Kurt Wagner/Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and Ororo Munroe/Storm (Alexandra Shipp) simply follows Xavier’s leads and orders without question and each of them are simply…there…because they are X-Men.

Cyclops gets a bit more to do given that he’s emotionally and physically involved with Jean but, once again, this adaptation of the Dark Phoenix Saga is less about Scott and Jean’s relationship than it really should be. Luckily, as I mentioned before, Sophie Turner is absolutely gorgeous; she portrays Jean’s conflict and emotion very well, seems to relish the opportunity to do more and showcase more range, and is absolutely stunning. I live for the day when she and Amber Heard can be onscreen together; I may actually die! Given that the main plot of the movie revolves around Jean struggling with her increasingly out of control powers, X-Men: Dark Phoenix is more about characters and deconstruction their relationships than it is about action sequences. Jean’s powers and abilities increase and become more destructive as the film goes on, which makes her a real threat to the other characters, and there is a pretty good action scene that takes place on a train but the film is more about the emotional rollercoaster of Jean’s turn and struggle with her morality. Unfortunately, given that we know that this is the last film for this interpretations of these characters, it’s difficult to care about that, especially as Jean was only introduced in the last X-Men movie and it’s hard to be that invested in her sudden emotional struggle when she’s not a very well fleshed out character. Hell, we’ve followed Xavier, Magneto, Beast, and Raven Darkhölme/Mystique (Lawrence) this whole time and it’s hard to really be that invested in them as they undergo exactly the same character arcs in each movie, never age despite being in their sixties at this point, and have some questionable character arcs in this movie that basically make them either bland (in the case of Mystique), completely different (Xavier), or one-note (Magneto) despite strong performances by McAvoy and Fassbender.

The Nitty-Gritty:
If you’ve watched the trailers for this movie, you may have guessed that Jean kills Mystique in this film and, honestly, I could not be happier about that. I am not a fan of Jennifer Lawrence and her performance as Mystique leaves a lot to be desired, especially in this film, where she basically sleepwalks through every scene she’s in. I really don’t like Mystique being the field leader of the X-Men and every line she says is so stilted and forced that it’s a pain to watch. Luckily, though, she tried to appeal to Jean’s good nature and, unable to control her new powers, jeans blasts her away and impales her on some debris, finally ridding us of the character once and for all.

*Once again, we’re forced to question Xavier’s morality.*

I mean, obviously that completely destroys the timeline, but the X-Men timeline is completely fucked at this point anyway. Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver (Evan Peters) is back and now part of the X-Men team but, as always, he’s basically there for one slow-motion action sequence before he is blasted by Jean and hospitalised for the entire movie until the epilogue because, as always, his super-speed would allow him to end things to quickly and, rather than try and use the character in a decent way or tie up the lingering plot thread regarding his parentage, lazy writing took precedence and he was relegated to little more than a cameo. As mentioned, Xavier tampers with Jean’s mind a bit in this movie; this time, he blocks out traumatic memories of when she caused her parents’ car to flip and accidentally killed her mother. The cosmic forces causes some of these memories tor eturn and she flips out, turning against Xavier almost instantly despite the truth being that her father was afraid of her and Xavier took her in to raise as his own in a protected environment, which you would think she would know simply by virtue of being….raised by Xavier in a protected environment. Instead, Beast, grieving for Mystique, rages at Xavier for his actions, Jean tries to kill him, and Magneto treats Xavier as the “real bad guy” simply because he tried to spare a young girl from relieving a traumatic memory.

*A cosmic force corrupts Jean’s powers.*

Jean going to Genosha is such a weird scene; she has no reason to really go there and asking Magneto how he stopped killing is a pretty flimsy reason to go. She’s literally there just so the X-Men cane find out where she is and also go and all get captured by the government; it would have made much more sense to have Magneto take Vuk’s place and offer Jean sanctuary, only to turn on her in the same way once he realised/found out that she killed Mystique. Beast teaming up with Magneto was equally weird, given their history, but I guess makes a bit of sense given that he knows Magneto will want Jean dead after she killed Mystique, though the X-Men turned on and fought against each other pretty quickly and easily when you think about it. Similar to The Last Stand, the actual Dark Phoenix stuff ends up being quite lacklustre and rushed; again, since we haven’t really been following Jean’s story for that long, it’s hard to be that invested in her turn to the dark side. I really think these movies would have benefitted from being complete, obvious reboots set entirely in the mid-sixties to late-seventies rather than bouncing forward ten years each time to desperately try and chase the first X-Men movie despite obviously not being a precursor to the film any more. In the end, Jean comes to her senses and sacrifices herself to destroy Vuk, which seems like a hollow sacrifice and a move made simply because the Dark Phoenix Saga always ends with Jean dying. This also screws up the timeline as we already saw Jean alive and well in the Good Future at the end of X-Men: Days of Future Past but, again, nobody cares about continuity in these movies anyway.

The Summary:
X-Men: Dark Phoenix is…okay. It’s not the worst X-Men movie ever made but, as a final swansong for these characters and this cast, it’s very mediocre and feels more like a by-the-numbers sequel rather than a conclusive finale. It was better than I thought it would be but far from the epic saga the source material deserves, and that’s coming from someone who views the Dark Phoenix Saga as an overrated story that didn’t need another adaptation.

My Rating:

Terrible

10 FTW: Films That Need Remakes

11/12/201824/10/2024Dr. K6 Comments

It seems blasphemous to say it but, sometimes, films do deserve a modern remake. The stigma that remakes are “bad” or “unnecessary” is one that I have already contested before, as some of the best films in cinema history are actually remakes. However, whether because they haven’t aged too well, or sequels ruined the original concept or expanded upon it in ways that actually affect the original negatively, or there is the potential that some films could just be done better, I put it to you that there are some movies that totally are in need of a remake and here are just some of them.

I’ve already discussed, at length, my ideas for the surely-inevitable X-Men reboot that will come once Marvel Studios decides to integrate Mutants into the Marvel Cinematic Universe but it needs repeating here: the X-Men franchise is a mess! 20^th Century Fox could have rebooted the franchise with X-Men: First Class (Vaughn, 2011) but, instead, they chose to produce a sloppy mish-mash of sequel, reboot, and retcon because God forbid that they lose the revenue produced every time Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine pops his claws. Similarly, X-Men: Days of Future Past (Singer, 2014) could have straightened things out using time travel but that clearly was asking too much; the focus was on powering through with a nonsensical, confusing timeline, not on any sense of continuity or logic. Therefore, X-Men really needs to have the plug pulled and a whole new retelling to help bring some kind of order and logic to one of Marvel’s biggest and most profitable franchises.

What’s that, you say? “Street Fighter already had a reboot; Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li (Bartkowiak, 2009)!” Really? You’re happy for that atrocity to stand as your Street Fighter adaptation? Jeez, at least Street Fighter (de Souza, 1994) was fun; dumb, yes, but fun. The only things Legend of Chun-Li had going for it were higher production values, Robin Shou, and the use of chi; literally everything else was a slap in the face to any fan of the videogames or action movies in general. Now, you might also be wondering why I didn’t pick Mortal Kombat (Anderson, 1995) and the answer is simple: it is a fantastic film; fun, witty, with some great fight scenes and decent effects. Street Fighter, however, is still waiting for a halfway decent adaptation; go old-school with it, make it a gritty, Kickboxer (DiSalle and Worth, 1989)/Bloodsport (Arnold, 1988)-style action movie; maybe throw in some inspiration from Warrior (O’Connor, 2011). In today’s climate, where MMA and UFC are mainstream and popular, Street Fighter has the potential to be a pretty solid action film if handled correctly.

Our first remake where my overriding advice is simple: “Go back to the source material!” Don’t get me wrong, I love The Mask (Russell, 1994); it’s a great vehicle for Jim Carrey’s talents and looks fantastic as a live-action cartoon but it’s not really a great adaptation of Mike Richardson’s original comic book. In the comics, “Big-Head” was a complete and utter psychopath and the titular Mask was anything but a force for wacky comedy. Therefore, rather than simply trying to ape Carrey’s performance, do a complete 180⁰ and make a super-stylised, hyper-violent action/horror movie. Honestly, given how successful Deadpool (Miller, 2016) and its sequel were, I am surprised that we haven’t heard rumblings of a new Mask movie as it’s basically the same premise but even more over the top, if you can believe that!

Easily the most inevitable of all of these films given recent news that a director has already been picked, I once again would advise revisiting the source material this time around (or, you know, actually bother to look at the source material at all) as the movies churned out by Paul W. S. Anderson have little to no resemblance to Capcom’s survival-horror series. Seriously, stop trying to copy Aliens (Cameron, 1986) and concentrate on making a dark (literally and figuratively), tense, atmospheric movie where two characters have to survival against some gory, fucked up zombies and gristly, practically-created (CGI just for enhancement, please!) monsters. It’s a bad sign when Doom (Bartkowiak, 2005) is a better Resident Evil movie than any of the actual Resident Evil movies so, come on, bring back the splatter-gore zombies movies of old and make a real Resident Evil adaptation for once!

(Side note: I actually love Doom. Fight me).

Here’s one that’s been in and out of development hell for decades now. We have come so close to getting a new Crow movie so many times, with names like Bradley Cooper and Jason Momoa both attached at one point, only to have it snatched away at the last second. Honestly, I am fine with this as The Crow (Proyas, 1994) remains one of the most haunting and beautiful movies (and adaptations) of all time. However, while I am in no hurry to see a remake, if we do ever get one I again urge those behind it to look a little closer at James O’Barr’s original 1989 comic book, if only to differentiate the new film from the original. Go for a moody, stylised, neo-noir piece, taking inspiration from Sin City (Miller and Rodriguez, 2005), and craft a dark, sombre film that has little to do with heroism and more to do with cold, uncompromising vengeance.

5LXG — 5 *The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen*

Ah, yes, the film that notoriously caused Sean Connery to retire from Hollywood altogether. Again, I am actually a bit of a fan of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (Norrington, 2003); it’s not perfect but I liked seeing all these literary characters come together and the steampunk aesthetic of the movie. However, I would not be against Hollywood giving this one another go as it could definitely be done better. Keep the steampunk aesthetic but really emphasise the gritty, world-weary nature of these characters; you’re bringing together some of the most beloved, nuanced, and interesting fictional characters ever created so don’t belittle them with goofy antics. Go back to Alan Moore’s comic books, maybe take some inspiration from the second volume in which Moore has the League participate in the War of the Worlds (Wells, 1897) and for God’s sake do not promote the movie as “LXG”!

Another pick that is surely inevitable given Disney’s purchase of 20^th Century Fox, I could go into a lot of detail about how the first family of Marvel Comics should be introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and hey, maybe I still will!) but, suffice it to say, the Fantastic Four really need a movie deserving of their longevity and popularity. There were things I liked about both of Tim Story’s movies, and even the much-maligned reboot by Josh Trank, but all three films failed to capture the essence of the Fantastic Four and really do them justice. This is a chance for Marvel Studios to make a film with actual responsible adults in it; bring in an older cast for Reed Richards and Susan Storm (Bruce Campbell is a great choice for Reed but may be a bit too old; I’d suggest Pierce Brosnan, if he isn’t used for Magneto), get a popular, utterly handsome guy in his mid-twenties-to-late-thirties for Johnny Storm (Zac Efron?), and use that patented Marvel CGI wizardry (preferably in conjunction with practical effects) to create a truly lifelike Thing (voiced by, I dunno, Danny DeVito?). Whatever they do, though, it is crucial (and I mean absolutely crucial) that they get Doctor Doom right (and I mean pitch perfect); Doom should be a premier villain in the MCU and they shouldn’t shy away from his mystical origins. Get someone who isn’t afraid to wear a mask the entire time and who has the presence and gravitas to pull off such an enigmatic role (again, I would go the older route, maybe try and bring in Arnold Vosloo?)

Oh, Spawn, you’re so very nineties! A Spawn remake/reboot has also been kicking around for decades, with creator Todd McFarlane constantly banging on about how it’s being scripted, in production, coming soon, won’t feature Spawn much (which is insanity!), will be super dark, super scary, and loads of other talk but, until we see a poster, a trailer, and the film in cinemas it’s just that: talk. Spawn (Dippé, 1997) is not a great film; you could argue that it’s not even a good film. It’s rushed, sloppy, disjointed, and some of the effects have aged terribly. This is the reason we need a new movie, one that isn’t afraid to go dark, be super violent, and really do justice to the character and his original run. Take the effects work from Venom (Fleischer, 2018), go balls-deep with the violence and surreal nature of the concept, take notes from the excellent animated series, and bring in Denzel Washington to play the titular hellspawn and you could have a winning formula.

Here’s another remake that’s been doing the rounds for a while. Despite all the talk and anticipation of a remake, however, it seems we’re doomed to getting ashcan sequels and direct-to-DVD releases that keep this franchise limping along on life support (would you believe that there are ten films in this series!?) Hellraiser makes the list because the original 1987 movie and its immediate sequels have not aged well; in fact, they have aged terribly. I applaud them for using practical effects and making the most of their obviously limited budget but it’s clear to see that this movie could be made so much better with modern filmmaking techniques. Indeed, one of the few good points of the later sequels is how much better the effects are and, done right, a Hellraiser remake could really surprise at the box office. So, I say to you: Go back to Hellraiser and Clive Barker’s original novel, look at the lore and legacy of the series, and put some time, effort, and money into making a truly nightmarish, surreal, and atmospheric horror movie. And if you’re not going to cast Doug Bradley as Pinhead, at least have him dub the lines or something.

Oooh, boy, this film. Similar to Hellraiser, Highlander (Mulcahy, 1986) makes the list because it just doesn’t hold up; the effects are bad, the fight sequences are shit, and, thanks to all of the nonsense introduced in the sequels, the original movie is a laborious chore to sit through. Yet, the concept is a good one; the franchise clearly had some staying power as well, if the television series is anything to go by. However, we really need to look at the lore and iron out some specifics: what is the Prize? How many Immortals are there and will we address where they come from? What is the exact nature of the Quickening? Seriously, these concepts are so ill-defined in the original and bogged down with retcons and illogical additions in the sequels that I have no idea what’s going on. Either get a clear picture and make a decent fantasy film based on that or ignore some of the sequels and bring back Christopher Lambert in the mentor role; either way, you absolutely must cast Thomas Jane in the title role…and maybe Dave Bautista as the Kurrgan.

Talking Movies: Deadpool 2

03/06/201804/07/2024Dr. K11 Comments

Honestly, after Deadpool (Miller, 2016) became the highest-grossing R-rated movie in history, I actually expected a new renaissance of action movies to flood cinema screens. Finally, I thought, the days of watered down 12/12A-rated action movies is behind us; I thought we would see the gloriously foul-mouthed, gory, over-the-top action movies of the 1980s make a return now that they had been proven to be critically and commercially viable prospects. Unfortunately, that didn’t actually happen and I’m still waiting for the action movie renaissance I’ve dreamed about for the last few years; but, in the mean time, director David Leitch takes the reigns of the highly-anticipated Deadpool sequel, a movie that, again, emphasises that audiences are ready for a return of the entertaining, bombastic action movies of yesteryear.

*Deadpool’s* *forced to try and protect Russell from Cable’s wrath.*

Picking up about two years after the first movie, the immortal, wise-cracking, maniacal mercenary, Wade Wilson/Deadpool (Ryan Reynolds, returning to the role he was born to play) has been carving a path of destruction through various criminal underworlds. Unfortunately, he suffers a personal tragedy when one of his targets returns for revenge; distraught and disillusioned, he attempts to kill himself in various hilarious and unsuccessful ways before Colossus (Stefan Kapičić) literally picks up the pieces and brings him to the X-Mansion. While attempting to find a place in the world as a rookie X-Man, Deadpool meets an angry, traumatised young Mutant named Russell Collins (Julian Dennison), who christens himself Firefist. Recognising that the boy has been mistreated by the Mutant-hating Headmaster (Eddie Marsan) and staff of the Essex Home for Mutant Rehabilitation, Deadpool kills one of the ordeals and the two of them are fitted with power-nullifying collars and sent to the Ice Box (a super-max prison for dangerous Mutants). Finally dying now that the collar keeps his powers from curing his cancer, Deadpool shirks Russell and wishes to die in peace; however, a cybernetic Mutant named Cable (Josh Brolin) travels back from the future and breaks into the prison to kill Russell, who is destined to grow into a dangerous killer. Torn between his desire to die and his urge to put Russell on the right path, Deadpool reluctantly finds himself assembling his own team of Mutants to protect Russell and keep Cable at bay.

*With more action, more laughs, and more lewd humour than ever,* Deadpool 2 definitely delivers.

Deadpool 2 had one job, in my eyes: to be everything the first movie was and more and, in many ways, it delivers. The movie has real heart, as Deadpool is forced to confront a very real loss and question his place in the world. This is, arguably, a ridiculous premise for a character that is aware that he is fictional by Reynolds pulls it off nicely; Deadpool is just as capable of pulling off some kind of over-the-top action sequence as he is cracking wise or emoting and you really root for his redemptive arc in the film. Similarly, Brolin, who brings fan-favourite Cable to life, is suitably grim and gritty; it’s as if Brolin watched all of Clint Eastwood’s Westerns and Arnold Schwarzenegger’s science-fiction movies to create this stoic brick of a man who is, nevertheless, razor-focused and carries a haunting sense of loss about him. Thankfully toned down from his comics counterpart, Cable is the straight man to Deadpool’s madcap insanity and the two play off of each other fantastically whenever they’re on screen. Brianna Hildebrand returns as Negasonic Teenage Warhead, now revealed to be in a same-sex relationship, though her role seems to be the same, if not reduced, from the first movie. Instead, Deadpool recruits Domino (Zazie Beetz), Bedlam (Terry Crews), Shatterstar (Lewis Tan), Zeitgeist (Bill Skarsgård), the Vanisher (Brad Pitt, in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo), and (hilariously) the entirely ordinary and nondescript Peter (Rob Delaney) to form X-Force, a Mutant team capable of doing what the X-Men refuse to do and kill Cable. While the team’s fate is ill-fated, to say the least, the recruitment process and their initial mission are a highlight of the movie. Unlike the first film, Deadpool 2 does not really feature a central antagonist; Cable is more of an anti-hero throughout the film and the Headmaster is not a physical threat to anyone. Once Russell decides to enact revenge against the Headmaster, he recruits some serious muscle in the form of an all-CGI Juggernaut (Ryan Reynolds), finally doing the character a modicum of justice, but the central theme of the movie is more about coping with loss and family. Deadpool, who was on the verge of having a family of his own, forms a surrogate family through X-Force and his X-Men allies and, through them, finds the means of both redemption and to seemingly correct the loss he suffers at the beginning of the movie. Filled with Easter Eggs, in-jokes, meta-humour, action, and enough blood to make Paul Verhoeven proud, Deadpool 2 does exactly what I wanted: it takes everything that made the first movie great, ramps it up to eleven or twelve, and then expands Deadpool’s world and cast of characters beautifully.

My Rating:

Great Stuff

Recommended: Definitely, movies like Deadpool and Deadpool 2 are a lost art in these days of PG-friendly cinema.
Best moment: As mentioned, the recruitment process of X-Force and their first mission is pretty funny, while the rescue operation and the second fight between Deadpool and Cable is pretty bad-ass. There’s also some unexpected cameos in the X-Mansion that made me chuckle.
Worst moment: We don’t learn too much about Cable’s back-story beyond the basics (it’s not clear which future he’s from, for example) and the film did lack a central physical antagonist but, given Cable is due to return in future films and the theme of the movie, these are minor nit-picks.

Talking Movies: Marvel Studios’ X-Men

03/02/201813/11/2025Dr. K7 Comments

It may seem difficult to believe but there was once a time when Marvel Comics were in a bit of a bind. On top of having lost some of their top talent in the early nineties, a slump in the comic book industry forced Marvel to file for bankruptcy in 1996. Although they avoided going out of business completely (largely due to being purchased by Toy Biz) and launched all new Marvel titles, like the Marvel Knights imprint, the comics industry wasn’t what it once was and, in an effort to diversify and reap greater rewards from their vast library of characters, Marvel began selling the film rights to their properties to film studios. 20^th Century Fox purchased the film rights in 1994 and, after a tumultuous development period that saw various scripts and ideas rejected, released X-Men in 2000. Directed by Bryan Singer, X-Men catapulted the titular Mutant team to mainstream success, kicking off one of Fox’s most successful and longest-running franchises. With ten films released over the last seventeen years, the X-Men franchise became such a success that it seemed like Marvel would never be able to regain the rights to their characters in the same way they had with Daredevil and Doctor Strange. Even after the unprecedented deal was stuck between Marvel Studios and Sony Pictures to allow Spider-Man to finally feature in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), it seemed like Mutants would forever be apart from the most successful cinematic universe ever conceived.

*Despite their flaws, you cannot fault the success of Fox’s* X-Men *films.*

Enter the House of Mouse. In 2009, a time when Marvel Studios had already established itself as an unquestionably successful movie-making juggernaut, Disney stepped in and acquired Marvel Entertainment, which included both the comics and the films. Backed by Disney’s already vast media conglomerate, Marvel was able to bypass the entire issue of working out some sort of deal with 20th Century Fox when, in December 2017, Disney simply acquired the film studio’s parent company, 21st Century Fox, and thus opened the door for the X-Men to become part of the MCU. There’s a pretty large problem with this, though. Having been going strong since the release of Iron Man (Favreau, 2008), the MCU has established an entire world and history that is entirely independent of that seen in the X-Men film series. Unlike characters like the Fantastic Four (also (and, for me, more excitingly) acquired in the Disney/Fox deal), integrating the X-Men into the MCU is far from a simple premise.

*If Coulson says there’s no Mutants then he must be right…right?*

For starters, it seems like it would be impossible to simply say that the X-Men films have occurred within the MCU; not only has there never been any mention of the world-changing events depicted in films like X-Men: First Class (Singer, 2011) but Mutants seemingly do not exist within the MCU at all. Instead, we have what are referred to as “Gifted” individuals, who are born with superpowers, or “Enhanced” individuals who are bestowed superpowers by some outside force. I know that the MCU doesn’t really acknowledge or cross over with their television properties, but there was also a line in an episode of Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Various, 2013 to present) in which Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) specifically states that there has never been a legitimate clairvoyant ever discovered which, at the time, seemed like a pretty blatant dig at Fox’s X-Men films.

*Rewriting history just seems a bit…lazy, surely?*

Plus, you know, there’s the fact that Quicksilver has appeared in both the MCU and the X-Men franchises thanks to some decidedly odd small print in the rights for the character during the initial deal. Considering the universe-changing implications of Thanos (Josh Brolin) unifying the six Infinity Stones in the upcoming Avengers: Infinity War (Russo Brothers, 2018), it seems like the two movie universes colliding and merging is a very real possibility at this point. However, I feel like this would be needlessly complicated. Honestly, the purchase of Fox by Disney couldn’t have come at a worse time; X-Men: Dark Phoenix (Kinberg, 2018), Deadpool 2 (Leitch, 2018), and The New Mutants (Boone, 2019) are all due to be released very soon; Legion (Various, 2017 to present) and The Gifted (ibid, 2017 to present) are both still running on television (though they have very little to do with each other or the X-Men films); not to mention the five or six other X-Men spin-offs apparently in the works. On top of that, for all their flaws, Singer’s would-be-prequel series of films (and the previous movies in the franchise) feature some of the best casting choices for popular X-Men characters.

*Like it or not, we may need a new Wolverine.*

Hugh Jackman recently retired from the role of Wolverine/Logan (although part of me always suspected he was retiring from playing the role full-time and would be open for cameos and short scenes, especially if offered enough cash) but has previously voiced his desire to team up with the Avengers. Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy are both great actors that are still young and virile enough to believably portray middle-aged versions of Professor X and Magneto, and other actors, like the delectable Sophie Turner and Evan Peters, are hot young fits for playing younger versions of Jean Grey and Quicksilver, respectively. To be clear, I’m not really writing this to list a bunch of fanboy recasting but, to me, it seems like the best and simplest course of action would be to allow X-Men: Dark Phoenix to conclude the original X-Men films and retool Deadpool 3 and The New Mutants to retroactively fit into the larger MCU. After all, they sneakily snuck a S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier into Deadpool (Miller, 2016) and the very nature of Deadpool’s (Ryan Reynolds) metahumour allows for him to more easily slide into the MCU with wry commentary. I would then begin to lay the seeds of the X-Men and Mutantkind being revealed within the MCU over the rest of Marvel’s 2018 film releases but not launch a new movie until 2019 and 2020.

Uncanny X-Men — *Let’s kick things off with a new title, shall we?*

First things first, Marvel’s X-Men movie needs to separate itself from Fox’s series and the best way to do this is by expanding the title in a classic and timeless way, so I would encourage The Uncanny X-Men as the title of the first movie. Next, I would suggest that Mutants have always been a part of the MCU but Professor Xavier has used his incredible psychic powers to block their presence from the world. Some have suggested that Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olson) should retroactively be reclassified as Mutants and I am open to that; perhaps, after the fallout of Infinity War, the presence of Mutants and Wanda’s true heritage is revealed and Wanda could be our window into the world of Mutants as she seeks to discover her true origins.

Professor X — *How awesome would Mark Strong or Colin Salmon be as Xavier?*

The main idea I had in mind, though, was to take inspiration from Spider-Man: Homecoming (Watts, 2017) and, more specifically (as much as I hate to say it), the Harry Potter film series (Various, 2001 to 2011) and depict the X-Men as being young teenagers at Xavier’s school. Their presence shielded from the outside world by Xavier, the film would be a fantasy adventure following the classic five X-Men (Cyclops, Jean, Iceman, Beast, and Angel) as they learn to deal with their powers, their longing to join the outside world, and their teen angst and issues. I have no real suggestions for casting of the X-Men or the kids but, as much as I like McAvoy and Fassbender, I wouldn’t mind seeing someone like Mark Strong or even Colin Salmon as Charles Xavier. Both are old enough to bring some longevity to the role and can play the wise, overly protective mentor to perfection.

I see Magneto filling a role very similar to Snape (Alan Rickman); he’d be Xavier’s confidante and closest friend, running the school alongside him, but their attitudes and ideologies would be as different as we’ve come to expect from the characters. I’d like to see them clash over the presence of superheroes and the threat it poses to Mutantkind and have Magento slowly, over the course of the film, plan to splinter away from Xavier’s teachings with five of his own students (Toad, the Blob, Mystique, Avalanche, and Pyro), who would all be bullies towards, or otherwise compliment and contrast with, the protagonists. As far as casting Magneto, maybe get Sean Bean or Pierce Brosnan in because these guys need to be in a major superhero role sometime soon. Also, I would rather they didn’t make Magneto a Holocaust survivor since I find it increasingly difficult to believe that age and time wouldn’t have already killed him. Instead, have his father or grandfather have been the one to suffer during the Holocaust and have him carry those teachings but not have witnessed them first-hand.

*Mr. Sinister is a must and it’d be quite the coup to get Liam Neeson in to play him!*

Okay, so let’s talk villains. I don’t really want to see a repetition of what we’ve already gotten; ideally, I’d like to see Magneto slowly rise into a villainous role over the course of the film and not become a full-blown Mutant extremist until the second or even third X-Men movie, after which he can transition into an MCU-level threat like Loki (Tom Hiddleston) did. At the same time, I would love to see Apocalypse be the ultimate threat for the X-Men but it’s possibly too soon after the character’s lacklustre portrayal in X-Men: Apocalypse (Singer, 2016), so let’s buy him some time and bring in someone we’ve never seen before: Mister Sinister. Sinister, perhaps accompanied by the Hellfire Club, should play a similar role to Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon) in X-Men: First Class in that he is a publically-known Mutant extremist who is aggressively striking against humanity. His radical methods only fuel Magneto’s own desires for Mutant supremacy and he could use his telepathic abilities to infiltrate Xavier’s school and help turn some of them to his way of thinking. Indeed, I would suggest that Xavier doesn’t want his students to ever go out into the world as superheroes and actively discourages such thinking, meaning that Cyclops and the others would recognise or uncover Sinister’s plot and rebel against their mentor, suiting up as X-Men to combat Sinister and his minions and, through their actions, announce the presence of heroic Mutants to the world and begrudgingly change Xavier’s mind. I would’ve loved to see a quirky actor like Jeff Goldblum in the role but, seeing as he already portrayed the Grandmaster, maybe Marvel should try and rope in Liam Neeson for the role?

Sentinels — *Stark Industries’ Sentinel Program in full force?*

I know what you’re thinking, though, “what about Wolverine?” and you’re right, Wolverine should have a place in Marvel’s X-Men movies but not until the sequel. I would take inspiration from the All-New, All-Different X-Men story from 1975 and have Sinister take his revenge by having his newest henchmen (Wolverine, Gambit, Rogue, Psycloke, and Sabretooth) kidnap Iceman, Beast, Angel, and Jean Grey and disable Xavier in such a way that Magneto is forced to spearhead an aggressive recruitment drive that adds Colossus, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Banshee (or Shadowcat) to the team. In addition to having to whip the rookies into shape and struggle with being a leader, Cyclops would continue to face in-school opposition from Magneto’s Brotherhood after Magneto goes a bit Dolores Umbridge (Imelda Staunton) on the school to enforce his world view. In the midst of their attempt to rescue their team mates, the X-Men would discover that Sinister is using genetic engineering and science to boost his powers, thereby bringing his new acolytes under his control. The X-Men would free them in their rescue attempt, leading to Wolverine and Sabretooth realising they’re hated rivals and the X-Men’s ranks being bolstered by rescuing Sinister’s prisoners. I have no idea who to cast as the new Wolverine but I would also prefer him not to officially join the team or attend the school; instead, Wolverine should wander the MCU so he can fight the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) and Sabretooth, and maybe get a solo movie where go goes up against Omega Red and/or teams up with Deadpool.

Costumes — *Marvel should use this opportunity to do the X-Men’s outfits justice.*

After the events of the second movie make it clear that Magneto’s intentions are far from noble, he would be a full-blown villain for the third X-Men movie, leading his Brotherhood and actively opposing the X-Men. The MCU’s opinion of Mutants as a race to be feared and hated would be directly attributed to the actions of Sinister (whom Magneto should kill in a display of power to take his place as the X-Men’s primary threat) and Magneto, which would result in the Sentinels (which could be derived from Stark technology) being deployed to end the Mutant threat once and for all. A climactic battle between the X-Men, Brotherhood, and Sentinels could result in Jean transforming into Phoenix to end the conflict and the X-Men relocating to Genosha. Or, given the involvement of Sinister in this hypothetical new trilogy, Magneto could be bumped to the primary threat in the second movie and the third would involve Apocalypse’s resurrection. As for the X-Men’s costumes, I would take inspiration from Ultimate X-Men and the X-Men: Evolution (2000 to 2003) animated series (fitting considering that Evolution was very school-based, just as I’d like to see these new films be) to produce outfits that are functional and realistic but also with that comic book tint that the MCU is known for in their outfits.

It’s not an ideal situation as it’s a shame to have to completely recast all of the X-Men characters but it’s surely easier and simpler than attempting to use time travel or the Infinity Stones to rewrite history and integrate the existing X-Men films into the MCU. Integrating the Fantastic Four is so much easier; you just have them return from being lost in the Negative Zone for, like, twenty years or something but the X-Men are so vast and the implications of their presence so game-changing that it would be difficult and, frankly, a little insulting to either just wedge them into existing continuity or debut Mutants as a new thing kicked off from the Infinity War fallout. But to say that Mutants have always existed but their presence has been hidden by Xavier and the government (Weapon X, for example) and are now being exposed? That seems a much more fitting way to recast and reboot the X-Men franchise. The only real issue is that Disney obviously spent a lot of money acquired Fox so will they be able to wait to capitalise on that purchase? Can they afford to take their time and introduce the X-Men in a smart and logical way or will they be forced to swamp the MCU with X-Men and Wolverine movies in order to profit from the purchase? Time will tell but, until then, I’ll continue to live out my Colin Salmon vs. Pierce Brosnan fancasting.

My Rating:

Terrible

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My Rating:

Great Stuff

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