The end of X-Men? [Archive] - Comic Book Resources Forums

The Cap

03-13-2009, 10:51 AM

While I am not the biggest fan of the X-Men, I was curious if any of you knew if there was going to be an X-Men 4? Or are they ending it with the Last Stand?

Fuji

03-13-2009, 10:59 AM

The only thing I've heard is about the two X-Men origins movies for sure, but I also heard that they're working on a X-Men "early years" type of story with the original 5 X-Men. I'd love for them to do that and reboot the whole thing.

Shyft

03-13-2009, 11:01 AM

The only thing I've heard is about the two X-Men origins movies for sure,

What's the second one, Magneto?

The Cap

03-13-2009, 11:08 AM

Canemacar

03-13-2009, 11:22 AM

What's the second one, Magneto?

Yes, it's supposed to be based on his early years in the Holocaust and his friendship and falling out with Xavier.

The next X-men movie has been rumored to be many things; from X4, to a First Class set-up, to a New Mutants deal. Currently, the idea is a First Class, but without the O5 since they never existed in this timeline. Cyke is 15 years or so older than Bobby, Angel doesn't join until after Beast has left and Jean has become Phoenix, etc.

Beast

03-13-2009, 11:30 AM

Canemacar

03-13-2009, 11:38 AM

Yeah. The First Class that's being kicked around would be Cyke, Jean, Beast, and Storm.

That's why Scott's being established in XMO: Wolverine. And Beast will make his debut in XMO: Magento.

Snce Jean was already established in X-Men 3. Leaving Young Storm for X-Men: First Class.

I suspect we'll see Gambit shoe-horned into a First Class movie based on the early previews of Wolverine. Fox will want to replicate their success with the formula from the first movie and Wolverine won't be available.

End of Time

03-13-2009, 11:44 AM

To be honest, I have fairly low expectations for Wolverine... but a Magneto Origins is something I'm more interested in.

Wolverine thus far seems like it's going to be action-packed, but short on plot and characterisation. It's going to be X3 and not X2... it looks good, it has a ton of new characters, but it's going to end up shallow and unstatisfying.

And I'm not sure if that's what people are waiting for at this particular moment, making its success still an unknown factor.

limerick

03-13-2009, 01:58 PM

The "X-men:First Class" movie is purely dependent on the performance of the Wolverine movie.They already have a writer but production will be held off until the opening weekend of Wolverine's movie.I think the same applies to the Magneto film but pre-production may be a little more advanced on that.

The Cap

03-13-2009, 02:28 PM

To be honest, I have fairly low expectations for Wolverine...

I feel the same way, thats why I asked in the first place, if there was going to be another X-Men movie.:biggrin:

LetsMakeAWolverineFilm

03-14-2009, 10:30 PM

movies take forever to make. if they made like two more origins after wolverine (approx 6 - 9 years... where the eff we will be idk) they could reboot it in a non-drastic fashion.

itd be nice if maybe they tried an xmen show with the proper technology and at the right time (idont think now is the time) and maybe if the show continues farther than the other movies and is successful they could make movie with those characters and actors.

Thomas Uk

03-15-2009, 05:09 AM

ProfeZZor X

03-15-2009, 12:08 PM

In lieu of the overwhelming successes of Watchmen, Iron Man, The Dark Knight and The Incredible Hulk, it would make sense for Marvel to get back to its roots and design a movie off the original five and it's Uncanny X-Men #1 comic book.

At this point it shouldn't be about continuity from past movies, or using popular characters - rather it should be about the origin of the O5 X-Men (not including Sage) for future generations of action moviegoers and comic book newbies to have a basis to go by.

I say scrap the last 4 X-movies (including Wolverine Origins) and start over with a fresh cast, a healthy budget, excellent writers, and a kick ass director with a dark sense of realism to pull off the reality side of people with powers. And if all goes well at the boxoffice, bring in the second wave of X-Men for the sequel. And if granted a third and final movie, end it with all the X-Men squaring off against the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants.

Obsidian Thought

03-15-2009, 08:23 PM

All I know is I'm writing scripts as we speak..so if the Lord blesses me, we might have another triology. In case they do follow the idea of an X-men origin story, I had an idea for that too featuring Count Nefaria and the Ani-men.

jarrod

03-16-2009, 08:41 AM

In lieu of the overwhelming successes of Watchmen, Iron Man, The Dark Knight and The Incredible Hulk, it would make sense for Marvel to get back to its roots and design a movie off the original five and it's Uncanny X-Men #1 comic book.

At this point it shouldn't be about continuity from past movies, or using popular characters - rather it should be about the origin of the O5 X-Men (not including Sage) for future generations of action moviegoers and comic book newbies to have a basis to go by.
Ugh, god no! I'll take anything but more O5... christ, they're the team that got the book cancelled. If the movies reset, they need to take it to the team that was actually popular and uncanny...

Twisted Bliss

03-16-2009, 08:54 AM

Tilt

03-16-2009, 08:55 AM

Ugh, god no! I'll take anything but more O5... christ, they're the team that got the book cancelled. If the movies reset, they need to take it to the team that was actually popular and uncanny...

I think they just need to do a decent story regardless of which characters are used. I really wasn't big on any of the three films. After seeing Watchmen I really think they could have done the X-Men real justice, what we got was in my opinion not very good.

jarrod

03-16-2009, 01:30 PM

Meooow !

Saucer of milk for table 2.

I agree with you wholeheartedly. Not just a little. Not a lot. But wholeheartedly
lol. I guess I was channeling Emma there.

MartinRedmond

03-16-2009, 02:12 PM

Milk Saucer? Jarrod's not a femme...

ProfeZZor X

03-22-2009, 06:09 AM

Ugh, god no! I'll take anything but more O5... christ, they're the team that got the book cancelled. If the movies reset, they need to take it to the team that was actually popular and uncanny...

So to hell with a movie on how the X-Men get started huh? Let's just waste a hundred and forty million dollars of Marvel's money and throw in the current popular characters to appease you, then let the newbies who don't know of the X-Men figure it out on their own? ...Yeah it's thinking like that, that got us the last 4 Gawd awful movies.

ExodusCloak

03-22-2009, 06:25 AM

I think they just need to do a decent story regardless of which characters are used. I really wasn't big on any of the three films. After seeing Watchmen I really think they could have done the X-Men real justice, what we got was in my opinion not very good.

Wait I was under the impression that Watchmen was a complete and utter failure among the non-comic book community?

rojash

03-22-2009, 08:16 AM

Wait I was under the impression that Watchmen was a complete and utter failure among the non-comic book community?

Not a complete failure, just an exceptionally underperforming movie.

It was nothing more than OK, not the ultimate comic book movie messiah that everyone was expecting, so it crumbled pretty quickly after its opening weekend.

ExodusCloak

03-22-2009, 08:26 AM

Not a complete failure, just an exceptionally underperforming movie.

It was nothing more than OK, not the ultimate comic book movie messiah that everyone was expecting, so it crumbled pretty quickly after its opening weekend.

Ah I see, I have to say I couldn't blame the 25% of the audience who walked out of the theatre 45 minutes into the movie on the premier day in Ireland. I really did not think it was accessible to people who have not read the graphic novel. The soundtrack, the really boring Dr. Manhattan scenes that made my eyes sore and the really bad slow motion scenes did not help. (It wasn't an R-rated movie here it was 16 btw).

rojash

03-22-2009, 08:31 AM

While not X-related, I thought that Watchmen was OK, but not fantastic in any way. It was too long, really slow in a lot of places, and you're right, if you hadn't read the graphic novel, a lot of interesting back story and plot was missing, so it just jumped around a lot. I'm not surprised it underperformed, because it was no Dark Knight.

No, for something more X-Men-y, I really did not care for Last Stand, but like the comic books themselves, one bad story does not necessarily spell the end of the potential that is there. I hope Wolverine does do well, since I want to see more X-Films, just no more directed by Brett Ratner.

steve2275

03-22-2009, 08:41 AM

wolverine will make more money and b more popular than x3
:tongue:

Tilt

03-22-2009, 08:45 AM

Wait I was under the impression that Watchmen was a complete and utter failure among the non-comic book community?

That's the problem right there, the non-comic book community apparently wouldn't know a good comic book movie if it waggled in front of them like a blue male reproductive organ unless it's Batman. Lots of people couldn't understand the storyline (it seemed pretty straight forward to me, never having ever read the book myself) and it got some bad word of mouth.
:frown:

rojash

03-22-2009, 08:51 AM

That's the problem right there, the non-comic book community apparently wouldn't know a good comic book movie if it waggled in front of them like a blue male reproductive organ unless it's Batman. Lots of people couldn't understand the storyline (it seemed pretty straight forward to me, never having ever read the book myself) and it got some bad word of mouth.
:frown:

Bad movies have a tendency to do that.

Tilt

03-22-2009, 09:18 AM

Bad movies have a tendency to do that.

So do a lot of good movies that people can't follow or are prejudged in some way. You'd already read the book, so it wasn't a new experience for you. The non-comic person I brought with me (a gay mit grad) thought it was great. He was in love with the Rorschach character. Different strokes I guess.

drwho

03-22-2009, 09:25 AM

Ugh, Last stand was aweful. I'm really excited about the Wolverine films but knowing they're a prequel to last stand puts a major dampner on things for me. If only retcons in movies could happen like they do in comic books just this once eh? heh

i actually loved last stand. But Wolverine origins looks kind of meh to me. And do we really need a Magneto movie. I just cant see him being that interesting to carry a film. I really think they should just make another sequel. All this prequel stuff is just bs. Reeks of straight to dvd. like the one where dumb and dumber first met. reeks of dvd.

rwsmith

03-22-2009, 09:25 AM

They need to do X-men 4: The Mutant Massacre for a lot of reasons. Here are ten that come to mind for me:

#1 - It's one of the best X-men stories of all time;

#2 - You could easily incorporate an older Gambit and Sabretooth, who both have big roles in X-men Origins: Wolverine, so there's already some recognition and continuity there (i.e., they don't have to introduce either of these guys in the film, as movie goers will already know who they are);

#3 - The team that was left at the end of X-men 3 was pretty much the Uncanny team during the Mutant Massacre (Logan, Storm, Colossus, Rogue, Shadowcat were all there);

#4 - Colossus and Rogue could have some really beefed up roles for this (I'm picturing Piotr snapping Riptide's neck and Rogue absorbing several Marauders abilities at once and kicking lots of ass);

#5 - You could turn the love triangle that was kind of touched upon in X3 between Kitty, Iceman and Rogue into a square by setting up the Remy/Rogue romance;

#6 - Angel getting harpooned to a wall and having his wings amputated would be badass (plus, it could set up an Archangel sub-plot for X-men 5, which could then introduce Sinister's master, Apocalypse);

#7 - As just mentioned, having the mad geneticist, Sinister, as the main villain in this flick (along with the Marauders) would provide a nice segueway into setting Apocalypse up as the main villain in X-men 5 (in other words, show briefly that Sinister is taking orders from someone whose only objective seems to be to weed out the weak);

#8 - They could bring back Nightcrawler as one of the Morlocks and show how he's been living with them as their resident priest since X2;

#9 - With Sinister being big into the whole cloning thing and particularly the Summers/Grey bloodline, this could be a cool way to bring back Cyclops (basically, I'm picturing the scene where Sinister is talking to his master, Apocalypse, revealing that he has cloned the deceased X-man, Jean Grey, so that he can mate her with Cyclops in order to produce the most powerful mutant of all times; at that point Cyclops is shown in a prison where Apocalypse has him, obviously not dead like we assumed he was after X-men 3);

#10 - Emotional drama towards the end when Wolverine and the rest of the X-men discover Sinister's cloning vats and there are several familiar looking redheads floating in suspended animation (along with some Marauder clones as well, of course), and upon reading the nameplate which says "Madelyne Pryor" Logan tells Storm to "fry them all!" (which she does).

This flick then sets up X-men 5 which includes:

- Apocalypse as the main baddie along with his four Horsemen (X-23, a young female Wolverine clone, as War; Omega Red as Pestilence; The Blob from X-men Origins: Wolverine, now skinny, as Famine; and Archangel as Death);

- The revelation that Apocalypse set the Weapon X Program into motion (as it always should've been in the comics, none of that Romulus nonsense);

- Apocalypse trying to take Cyclops as his new host body (since all of Sinister's Jean Grey clones were destroyed at the end of X4, and thus he cannot breed Scott with her to create his perfect host body);

- The X-men, including now Emma Frost, rescuing Scott from En Sabah Nur's clutches and now being pursued by his Horsemen;

- Storm in psychic showdown with the Shadow King, who is one of Apocalypse's minions, until she is saved by Emma;

- The revelation that Apocalyse is the progenitor of the Summers bloodline (in other words he is Scott's ancestor), which is why he needs him as his host body (particularly since he is the last of his bloodline, or at least thinks he is until the end);

- A final revelation after Apocalypse and his Horsemen are defeated that there is another Summers brother (this is just a little easter egg for the hardcore comic fans and kind of a little nod to the whole "3rd Summers brother" plotline that ran through the books for so long; however, in this case he is clearly talking about Havok, but we never actually know that for sure);

- Introduction of the Scott/Emma romance by the end of the film.

Obviously these would both be big budget flicks, so some actors would have to be replaced due to cost (e.g., no Halle Berry as Storm) and others due to the fact that they were miscast from the get go (e.g., get someone besides James Marsden to play Cyclops, perhaps Jim Caviezel who they originally wanted). Also, because there are so many character in play here, not all of the characters from X4 would be in X5 (some would just be off doing other things, like perhaps Gambit and Rogue who take off at the end of X4 to pursue their relationship or something like that, as well as Nightcrawler who remains with the Morlocks).

Also, special care would have to be taken so that Sinister and Apocalypse do not look too cheesy and CGI. I'm thinking their looks would have to be toned down a bit so that they are more quasi-realistic.

Finally, the showdown between the X-men and Apocalypse and his Horsemen (perhaps in Egypt?) gets caught by news crews. Thus the public, after witnessing both this and Magneto's "last stand" at the end of X3, completely turn against mutants (except for a lot of young folks who are embracing mutant culture and even experimenting with a drug called "Kick," made up of Mutant Growth Hormone). This sets up the Sentinels and Project Wideawake (or perhaps Operation Zero Tolerance) for X-men 6. :biggrin:

rwsmith

03-22-2009, 09:45 AM

X-men 6 would see mutants being hunted and things headed towards a Days of Future Past environment where mutants are rounded up and put into camps.

The Kick drug subplot would involve a reformed Archangel (no longer under Apocalypse's influence), Iceman, and Shadowcat working with Gambit and Rogue (undercover as drug dealers) to shut down the Vanisher's drug ring.

The rest of the X-men (Wolverine, Storm, Cyclops, Emma, Colossus and Beast) would be involved in the main plot, and would be out there trying to rescue their fellow mutants from the Sentinels.

Oh, and at some point Xavier would show up in his new body (from the end of X3) walking again.

ProfeZZor X

03-22-2009, 12:43 PM

They need to do X-men 4: The Mutant Massacre for a lot of reasons. Here are ten that come to mind for me:

#1 - It's one of the best X-men stories of all time;

#2 - You could easily incorporate an older Gambit and Sabretooth, who both have big roles in X-men Origins: Wolverine, so there's already some recognition and continuity there (i.e., they don't have to introduce either of these guys in the film, as movie goers will already know who they are);

#3 - The team that was left at the end of X-men 3 was pretty much the Uncanny team during the Mutant Massacre (Logan, Storm, Colossus, Rogue, Shadowcat were all there);

#4 - Colossus and Rogue could have some really beefed up roles for this (I'm picturing Piotr snapping Riptide's neck and Rogue absorbing several Marauders abilities at once and kicking lots of ass);

#5 - You could turn the love triangle that was kind of touched upon in X3 between Kitty, Iceman and Rogue into a square by setting up the Remy/Rogue romance;

#6 - Angel getting harpooned to a wall and having his wings amputated would be badass (plus, it could set up an Archangel sub-plot for X-men 5, which could then introduce Sinister's master, Apocalypse);

#7 - As just mentioned, having the mad geneticist, Sinister, as the main villain in this flick (along with the Marauders) would provide a nice segueway into setting Apocalypse up as the main villain in X-men 5 (in other words, show briefly that Sinister is taking orders from someone whose only objective seems to be to weed out the weak);

#8 - They could bring back Nightcrawler as one of the Morlocks and show how he's been living with them as their resident priest since X2;

#9 - With Sinister being big into the whole cloning thing and particularly the Summers/Grey bloodline, this could be a cool way to bring back Cyclops (basically, I'm picturing the scene where Sinister is talking to his master, Apocalypse, revealing that he has cloned the deceased X-man, Jean Grey, so that he can mate her with Cyclops in order to produce the most powerful mutant of all times; at that point Cyclops is shown in a prison where Apocalypse has him, obviously not dead like we assumed he was after X-men 3);

#10 - Emotional drama towards the end when Wolverine and the rest of the X-men discover Sinister's cloning vats and there are several familiar looking redheads floating in suspended animation (along with some Marauder clones as well, of course), and upon reading the nameplate which says "Madelyne Pryor" Logan tells Storm to "fry them all!" (which she does). :

In all honesty, the average "Joe Schmoe" is probably not going to pay a dime to see any of that complicated backstory stuff... Especially if he doesn't know anything about the X-Men or the previous movies... And sometimes sequels aren't always a good idea, especially if the previous film tanked.

But in the interest of introducing some past characters, you could modernize them as such:

ONSLAUGHT:

Onslaught could be written in that once the Phoenix destroyed the Professor, she knew exactly where the Professor transferred his mind, and when Wolverine killed her, she did the same thing, and occupied the same body, causing both minds to merge and become Onslaught. Only, his powers would be based more on the Phoenix force and Xavier, and not Magneto and Xavier.

Or...

A reformed and powerless Magneto take over as the "new" Professor and pick up his teachings. This would be his way of paying respect to Charles, and realizing what a huge mistake he's made as he's mentioned during the final battle. The students would continue to be a part of the school, but reluctantly trust Magneto as the new headmaster. Meanwhile, the Professor is adjusting to his new body, but remains immobile for most of the movie. In the mean time, the body in which he has taken over has a unknown dormant mutation that even the Professor couldn't detect.

As everyone at the school are still coping with the events of X3, and the constant power struggle between the lead students and Magneto's agressive, no-holding-back approach to teaching the younger students, the Professor succumbs to the "John Doe" mutation of gradually turning him into Onslaught.

APOCALYPSE:

Apocalypse could be a wealthy and powerful Egyptian business man into bio-genetics, practicing ancient Egyptian rituals on the side, and having Sinister as his chief science advisor..... And Apocalypse could be conducting genetic mutant experiments to createe super soldiers (aka his horsemen)

BROTHERHOOD OF "EVIL" MUTANTS:

Forming a militia group to combat the rising problem with human rights groups against mutants, the government creates it's own all mutant group of individuals of with shady criminal pasts. In exchange, they are granted pardons for their past crimes, for serving on this team. However, their methods of maintaining order is highly unorthodox and violent.

BASTION:

My version of Bastion would be a lot different from the comic version. First off, he would be a Government operative under the directives of S.H.I.E.L.D. or O.N.E.. The twist would be that he is a mutant that can interface with machinery. Kind of a cross between Sage and Forge… And for weaponry, he wears a large mechanical suit, like in the 3rd Matrix movie, only more refined with coverings over the mechanics, and a variety of state-of-the-art, energy based weaponry. His primary function would be to police mutant activity, and counteract any illegal activity. As for his personality, he has undergone the same Weapon X program as Wolverine, only he feels drawn more to supporting the human population, and believes mutants can cause more harm to the public than good… Which is why he justifies using brutal force when apprehending mutants.

FORGE:

Having been caught for hacking into a bank vault, the Brotherhood free him. Forge wants to return the favour. But before he can, government troops pick him up. Bolivar Trask gains permission from the President to start up Project Wideawake and forces Forge to help programme the Sentinels. The X-Men catch word of this and intend to free him.

SEBASTIAN SHAW AND EMMA FROST:

Sebastian Shaw is introduced as one of Warren Worthington Sr.'s business rival. He is the CEO of Shaw Industries, a company that is contracted to the U.S. military to supply ordnance for the war effort in the Middle East. When Bolivir Trask, head of Project Wideawake, comes to Shaw seeking for him to bankroll the government project, he agrees, despite the fact that he is secretly a mutant himself. He tells his partner, Emma Frost, that "it's better to be in control of them".

Emma Frost, Shaw's partner and a mutant herself, is a former student of the Institute. She is sent to infiltrate the school and become part of the team. She toys with Wolverine's mind, implanting memories and visions of Jean dying. Her and Ororo have a rivalry, dating back to their teenage years. Shaw and Emma are the founders of a public gentlemen's club, known for its wealthy members and their immense donations. But, to it's core members, known as the Inner Circle, the club is called the Hellfire Club.

There are ways of doing comic book characters tastefully, and not overly campy... So introducing a plethora of new characters with no backstory, all within the confines of a 2 hour movie, all the while explaining the mutant masacre story itself, is like doing an X4 all over again.

rwsmith

03-22-2009, 01:49 PM

Canemacar

03-22-2009, 02:16 PM

I'd rather not see an X4 made. After Wolverine Origins is made, kill the franchise and reboot in 10 years.

ProfeZZor X

03-22-2009, 11:49 PM

I'd rather not see an X4 made. After Wolverine Origins is made, kill the franchise and reboot in 10 years.

I fully agree with you about rebooting the franchise and starting new, but I wouldn't go as far as restarting all over 10 years from the last film. That's a little too far off down the road. And who's to say that superhero movies will still be the mainstay at that time. We may see a rush of more campy 60's, 70's and 80's television shows gone to the big screen. Anime, board games, video games, dueling cards, you name it... If it's profitable, Hollywood will try to make a buck off of it.

So I'd say now is a good time to at least get started on a script or preliminary rough draft. Because with Capt. America, Thor, and (possibly) Ant Man in the works, plus the Avengers movie out in 2011, Marvel theatrical product will still be fresh in everyone's mind by that time, versus just relying on Spider-Man as their bread winner to get them by. They need to at least keep the ball rolling.

ProfeZZor X

03-22-2009, 11:58 PM

What complicated backstory stuff? They know who the X-men are from the previous films, and all they need to know about Sinister and Apocalypse can be told pretty easily within the confines of each film. Nothing really needs to be said about Sinister other than he is some mad geneticist who has been genetically altered himself, and the set up for Apocalypse would be done in X5 pretty easily (he is the first mutant and he goes back to ancient Egyptian times).

It's not any harder to establish them as villains than it was to show Magneto's origin at the beginning of the first X-men film. I mean, I could understand your point if I had suggested bringing in Cable or X-man or some convoluted mess like that, but Sinister and Apocalypse are pretty straight-forward. :confused:

The fact that so many of the favorite characters are either dead, or gone is good reason to restart the X-Men franchise and not dwindle on the past films. You may think there is something salvageable there, but such a mess has been left over, that it's hard to say where to really start from without seemingly trying to make it even more complicated that it already was to begin with (in X3).

The other thing is that you can't assume that everyone knows about the previous films, because not everyone might have been into comics back then. There are new readers every day, and it's Marvel's intent when they create some of these films to sway people into becoming new readers, and not just moviegoers. Otherwise, most of their films would be catering to fans only.

rwsmith

03-23-2009, 07:17 AM

What favorite characters are dead besides Scott and Jean? And Scott died off camera, so it would be easy to bring him back. Regardless, there's no reason to reboot the franchise in 10 years. All 3 X-men films were very successful and X-men Origins: Wolverine will be as well.

That's why I think the Mutant Massacre would be perfect as X4, because you could even use Gambit and Sabretooth again hot off of XMO:W.

Dagger

03-23-2009, 07:35 AM

jarrod

03-23-2009, 08:13 AM

So to hell with a movie on how the X-Men get started huh? Let's just waste a hundred and forty million dollars of Marvel's money and throw in the current popular characters to appease you, then let the newbies who don't know of the X-Men figure it out on their own? ...Yeah it's thinking like that, that got us the last 4 Gawd awful movies.
Uh, no... base it around the ANAD team. Y'know, the one that actually made this book successful and didn't get it canceled. The one that can actually support a first class ongoing. :wink:

The "O5" is a 60s relic, the X-Men need a broader mainstream reach than that. And the first two movies were excellent, despite Hallie.

jarrod

03-23-2009, 08:14 AM

I want me some New Mutants. Have Bobby, Dani, Shan, Rahne, Sam, Amara, Illyana and Doug.
I would flip my shit for a Muties movie. <3 <3

ProfeZZor X

03-23-2009, 01:03 PM

Uh, no... base it around the ANAD team. Y'know, the one that actually made this book successful and didn't get it canceled. The one that can actually support a first class ongoing. :wink:

The "O5" is a 60s relic, the X-Men need a broader mainstream reach than that. And the first two movies were excellent, despite Hallie.

When Marvel decided to do Spider-Man, they didn't start off in the middle of things with black suit Spider-Man... Or with Batman Begins, they didn't pre-establish Batman with a long track record... They started from the beginning, and as true to the source material as possible (to adapt to film).

Regardless of how well certain characters did in the comics, it's Marvel's job to consider a number of factors before making that kind of decision. It may be easy for you because you're looking from the inside out. But for non readers looking in, and for Marvel to get those new readers, they have to create a product that's representative of what people are inclined to see in that comic. And with so many characters, it's tough to create a movie that's true to the material, include a number of characters that make up the X-Men, have screen time for each of those characters, produce special effects for all of those characters, stay wihin budget (including advertisement), and still manage to make a profit. There are a hundred other factors Marvel can think of, but the one's mentioned are just a few to start with.

jarrod

03-23-2009, 02:24 PM

When Marvel decided to do Spider-Man, they didn't start off in the middle of things with black suit Spider-Man... Or with Batman Begins, they didn't pre-establish Batman with a long track record... They started from the beginning, and as true to the source material as possible (to adapt to film).

Regardless of how well certain characters did in the comics, it's Marvel's job to consider a number of factors before making that kind of decision. It may be easy for you because you're looking from the inside out. But for non readers looking in, and for Marvel to get those new readers, they have to create a product that's representative of what people are inclined to see in that comic. And with so many characters, it's tough to create a movie that's true to the material, include a number of characters that make up the X-Men, have screen time for each of those characters, produce special effects for all of those characters, stay wihin budget (including advertisement), and still manage to make a profit. There are a hundred other factors Marvel can think of, but the one's mentioned are just a few to start with.
Batman Begins wasn't the first movie, it was a generational reset. And Marvel's under no obligation to stay true to the 616 comics either, especially if it inhibits their reach with the property. Nevermind the property itself never maintained any notable success until it'd moved past said limiting origins. Four white guys and the token girl isn't going to work for a modern superhero team.

I think maintaining current film continuity is likely the best way forward, which (if one wants to get to the X-Men's origins) means solo films (Wolverine, Magneto) and reworking the canonical "O5" (Cyclops, Phoenix, Storm, Beast, etc).

ProfeZZor X

03-23-2009, 06:09 PM

Batman Begins wasn't the first movie, it was a generational reset. And Marvel's under no obligation to stay true to the 616 comics either, especially if it inhibits their reach with the property. Nevermind the property itself never maintained any notable success until it'd moved past said limiting origins. Four white guys and the token girl isn't going to work for a modern superhero team.

I think maintaining current film continuity is likely the best way forward, which (if one wants to get to the X-Men's origins) means solo films (Wolverine, Magneto) and reworking the canonical "O5" (Cyclops, Phoenix, Storm, Beast, etc).

The last film left a bad taste in some peoples mouth - Both fans and non readers. So understandably, Marvel wants to make sure it spends it's money wisely, and not make any further mistakes (Daredevil, Elektra, Ghost Rider & 2003 Hulk comes to mind). And if all three X-films weren't breaking any box office records, then why follow the same formula...