TOP 10: X-Men Who Need Fresh Starts in the MCU
After years of waiting, Marvel’s merry mutants are poised to be properly introduced to the Marvel Cinematic Universe via Deapdool & Wolverine, opening in just a few days. While we still don’t know HOW it all goes down, the trailer makes clear that the TVA from “Loki” have set their sites on Wade Wilson after the time-travel shenanigans from Deadpool 2. Between that, and the mutant-related twists in “Ms. Marvel” and the post-credits scene of The Marvels, it’s clear that mutants are FINALLY officially making theirs Marvel.
While the Fox X-Men movies got quite a few things right, they also got a LOT wrong. So below find our picks for X-Men characters we think need a do-over once Marvel spins up its very own X-Men projects. Note that we are specifically avoiding the super-obvious options. We know we’ll get Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Jean Grey, Xavier, Magneto, etc. We focused on the secondary/tertiary X-Men who were done dirty one way or another by the Fox films.
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Honorable Mention: Characters Who Have Yet to Appear on Screen
While a staggering number of X-Men members have appeared in the Fox movies, and even more if you consider TV projects like Fox’s “The Gifted” series, there are still some X-Men who have yet to appear in live action. We would love to see Sunfire (the oldest significant X-Man to not appear on screen), Armor, Warpath, and Northstar get a chance to shine. While many of the classic New Mutants appeared in that much-maligned film, Karma, Cypher, Magma, and Warlock were left out. Finally, the rumor has it that Marvel is going to take a long-range approach to introducing the X-Men, building it up over several projects. If that’s the case, may we recommend finding a way to incorporate Vulcan? This retconned character has a juicy origin story, being the leader of an entire squad that Xavier sent to its deaths. Oh, and did we mention that he’s a Summers brother, like Havok and Cyclops? Yeah. Juicy! And he’s a wildly unhinged villain to boot.
10. Havok
Havok was featured in X-Men: First Class, played by Lucas Till. The representation of his power was interesting, making it clear how inherently uncontrollable his blasts are (hence that codename). That said, having a teenage/early 20s Alex Summers present and active in the 1960s (when First Class is set) causes some serious continuity issues given that his older brother, Scott, was the same age in the 2000s, when the initial X-Men trilogy is set. The Scott/Alex dynamic is absolutely essential to Havok’s character. I would even argue that the younger sibling frustrated by the shadow of the overachiever older brother is THE defining character in the comics. Havok was one of several characters used in First Class just to fill out the team, but there’s a lot more to Alex to explore. A thoughtful approach to his character could enrich not only his own storyline, but also Cyclops’ narrative.
9. Domino
I have zero issues with Zazie Beetz’s portrayal of Domino in Deadpool II. If anything, she was a highlight of the movie for me, and her luck powers work better on screen than they do on the comic page. If anything, my issue is how little we got of her in the Fox-verse. There was a rumored X-Force spinoff movie allegedly in the works prior to Disney acquiring Fox. That never happened, and Dom has unfortunately been left in limbo. According to Beetz, she doesn’t even appear in Deadpool & Wolverine. This is a character (and an actress) too good to be stuck with just one outing.
8. Iceman
Shawn Ashmore did a perfectly good job playing Bobby Drake in the first three X-Men films, and again in an encore performance in Days of Future Past. That said, Iceman was always very much a background character in those movies, never a focus, and Bobby deserves better. He’s not only an original X-Man, in recent years he has become a much more prominent character, even headlining his own comic series. A big part of that is the character finally coming out as gay after years of speculation, which has given him considerably more depth. Iceman is also canonically one of the most powerful mutants in the comics, nearly impossible to kill and so OP that he was a key player in bringing life back to an entire planet. He deserves better than being a C-lister in the movies.
7. Psylocke
Psylocke previously appeared in X-Men: Apocalypse, portrayed by Olivia Munn. This was fan casting come to life, and Munn did a solid job with what she was given. Which, unfortunately, was not much. To this day I do not understand how Apocalypse turned out to be such a dull, lifeless movie, but it very much is, and all of the characters featured in it — including Munn’s Psylocke — suffer the same forgettable fate. There’s so much you can do with Betsy Braddock on screen. It would be fascinating to watch her go from incredibly vulnerable psychic to her unwitting physical transformation into a completely different person, a highly deadly assassin. That has “cinematic” written all over it. Whether it’s Betsy or Kwannon — or ideally both — Psylocke deserves another shot at the big screen.
6. Nightcrawler
Alan Cumming’s Nightcrawler was a spectacular addition in X2: X-Men United. Unfortunately, we never saw him again, and when the character reappeared played by Kodi Smitt-McPhee in Apocalypse, he was a total nothingburger, like everything else in that film. Kurt Wagner is not only a critically important X-Man, he is also a crowd pleaser. Anyone who watched “X-Men ‘97” saw the instant fan reaction to his official addition to the crew. His power’s are made for the big screen, and we’re hopeful that when the MCU finally starts using the X-Men, they make the most of everyone’s favorite Fuzzy Elf.
5. Kitty Pryde/Shadowcat
Elliot Page’s Kitty Pryde was one of the bright spots in the overwhelmingly terrible X-Men: The Last Stand — a film so bad, Fox itself retconned almost the entire film a decade later — and had a comeback in Days of Future Past. But given Elliot’s personal transformation, it is unlikely that he would be able to come back to play what is, ultimately, a pivotal character in X-Men lore. Kitty factors into multiple key X-storylines in very specific ways; this is a character we should more of, not less. And given Kitty’s bizarre exclusion from “X-Men ‘97,” we’d really love to see some representation on the big screen.
4. Rogue
Anna Paquin’s Rogue was the entry point for viewers in the original X-Men film from 2000. She did a good job with the role that was given, reprising the power-absorbing Rogue for the initial trilogy, and then again for Days of Future Past — despite being cut entirely from the theatrical release of the film. The problem is, the Rogue featured in the initial films has a lot more in common in personality with Kitty Pryde than she does with the actual Rogue from the comics. Paquin’s Rogue is shy, reserved, and scared. Comic-book Rogue is bold, coltish, and unapologetic. And THAT is a character just begging to be explored on the big screen. A traumatized character whose powers make her a social pariah, who becomes an unwitting pawn of unscrupulous bad guys, who makes incredibly bad decisions that have far-reaching consequences even as they give her tremendous power? Say it again: cinematic!
3. Gambit
Two colliding stories of, “What might have been.” Gambit appeared in 2009’s continuity-breaking film X-Men Origins: Wolverine, played by Taylor Kitsch. Kitsch was, at the time, expected to become a big Hollywood leading man, but he starred in big-budget flop after big-budget flop, including John Carter and Battleship. He did a perfectly acceptable job as the Ragin’ Cajun; in fact, he was one of the least-problematic elements of this poorly conceived film. Years later, actual Hollywood leading man Channing Tatum was attached to a Gambit solo film, hot off his successes like Magic Mike. The film was rumored to be a passion project for Tatum, much like Deadpool was for Ryan Reynolds. But the project could never get out of development hell, and when Disney took over Fox, it was basically dead in the water. Rumor has it that Tatum will appear as Gambit in Deadpool & Wolverine, so at least that long-awaited wish could potentially come true. But at this point, he is far too old to be playing the character for any serious length of time, and following “X-Men ‘97” Gambit is arguably more popular than he has been since his early 90s comic introduction. Let’s get this gumbo cookin’!
2. Jubilee
Did the people behind the Fox X-Men movies hate Jubilee? Unlikely, but you could certainly understand the rumor. Jubilee has actually appeared in FOUR X-Men movies already. And has been given basically NOTHING to do, in any of them. She first appears as a cameo in 2000’s X-Men, played in a non-speaking role by Katrina Florece. She appears again as one of the kidnapped students in X2 and again in The Last Stand, in cameos played by Kea Wong. She was allegedly going to appear in Days of Future Past, allegedly played by Jamie Chung, but was dropped. She was played by Lana Condor in Apocalypse, for what was supposed to be a significant role…and almost all her scenes were cut from the theatrical release. It is ironic that early comic appearances of Jubilee suggested that had an unexplained secondary mutation that made her invisible to recording devices. Because literally, that is crazy. Like Gambit, Jubilee is enjoying renewed interest thanks to “X-Men ‘97” and a lead role in the most recent X-Men comic series. It would be great to see Jubilee actually to, you know, DO something, after being on screen for nearly 25 years.
1. Emma Frost/White Queen
If any X-Men character demands a big-screen do-over, it is Emma Frost, who was done dirty on film not once, but TWICE. Emma first appears on screen as part of the completely confusing X-Men Origins: Wolverine film, where a teenaged Emma is rescued, alongside a teenaged Cyclops, which makes absolutely no sense from a continuity perspective for any number of reasons. It was later explained that this diamond-skinned woman named Emma was not in fact Emma Frost — she just shared her name and powers with her (girl…). In 2011’s First Class, Emma makes her official screen debut, played by January Jones, leading the Hellfire Club in the early 1960s. On paper, this should have been a slam dunk. At the time, Jones was red hot for playing the cold yet commanding Betty Draper on “Mad Men.” In the comics, Emma had become a core X-Man in the early 2000s, a position she continues to to enjoy to this day. And yet, this was a stunning flop, a failure of both characterization and performance, giving us an Emma Frost who lacks virtually any of the interest from her source material. How do you make mutant Alexis Carrington boring and unsexy? Watch this movie. It’s actually astonishing (or uncanny, or amazing, etc.) how poorly adapted Emma was in First Class, to say nothing of the continuity problem of having a character that should be vying for Scott Summers affections in the 21st Century active as a fully grown woman during the Cuban Missile Crisis. While First Class is overall a solid film, almost any mutant introduced in it should get a fresh take in the MCU; the Hellfire Club and Emma Frost most of all.
Do you agree with our list? Which X-Men do you want to see get a fresh start in the MCU? Drop a comment below!
