THREE X-MEN STORIES WITH MCU POTENTIAL by Matt Tuck
The X-Men’s time is coming, but what yet-to-be-adapted X-stories could Marvel Studios tell on the silver screen? Here are three prime candidates.
THE COMING STORM
The Marvel Cinematic Universe is being inundated with super teams. While the Avengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy have long held dominion over the MCU, the Fantastic Four are all set to challenge for the throne.
But it will all pale in comparison when the X-Men finally arrive.
DAYS OF FUTURE PAST
How will the X-Men enter the MCU? Which incarnation of the team will make it to the screen? How will mutants be explained in a world filled with superhumans?
There are more questions than answers at such an early point. Although Disney/Marvel announced an FF movie at Investors Day, Kevin Feige was silent on the X-Men front. This is a case of “less is more,” and it is only building the anticipation. When the X-Men movie is made official, we will see a market explosion like never before.
Marvel Studios has shown that they want fresh versions of their properties. As we have seen from the Spider-Man: Homecoming films, Marvel has shied away from characters that Sony used in its two live-action Spider-Man movies. There has been an absence of infamous faces like the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus. Even Peter Parker’s classic backstory has been adapted for the MCU, replacing Uncle Ben with Tony Stark among other alterations.
EXPECT THE UNEXPECTED
What does that mean for the X-Men? We are likely to see a version of the X-Men like nothing filmed before. That also means some of our favorite X-stories likely won’t make it to screens, but at least we won’t see a third interpretation of “Dark Phoenix.”
So what could we see? Something new, that is certain. On that note, here are three X-Men story arcs ripe for the picking.
INFERNO
This may be the most likely scenario on today’s list for the MCU’s X-Men. Rumors of Mister Sinister being the main antagonist in Marvel Studios’ X-Men movies have persisted from day one, and for good reason. Fox put a Sinister Easter egg in Apocalypse, but that never came to fruition. In the current X-Men comics, Sinister is everything Marvel could want in a villain: he is a scheming narcissist full of personality and dark humor. Inferno was his coming out party that showcased how deadly he can be.
POWERS OF X
If you’ve been keeping track of more recent events, Jonathan Hickman and company have revitalized the X-Men with some major changes in the process. Of course, Marvel needed to rethink the X-Men. Frankly, the stories had grown stale for the past decade.
Could there be a bigger picture at work?
With Feige overseeing all things Marvel, this new X-Men could be the foundation for an onscreen reimagining. The island nation of Krakoa basically becomes a massive sandbox filled, and any combination of heroes and villains could be our onscreen X-Men. That could give us a lineup featuring, say, the unlikely team of Cyclops, Wolverine, Magneto, and even Apocalypse. For that matter, “X of Swords” has produced plenty of new faces for Marvel Studios to debut on screen without duplicating Fox’s efforts.
ULTIMATE WAR
Forget the disappointing AVX Avengers/X-Men crossover. The better fight between the two factions came in the Ultimate Universe in the pages of Ultimate War. Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants were portrayed as terrorists, and the Ultimates (basically the Ultimate version of the Avengers) were tasked with bringing them to justice. Of course, they lumped all mutants together and assumed the X-Men were in league with Magneto, sparking an epic, action-packed battle.