Our picks for the Marvel comic book stories most deserving of future X-Men movies
On Friday, May 27, Marvel’s mutant heroes will be back in theaters with X-Men: Apocalypse, and it may be the last X-Men movie for a while. That doesn’t mean we won’t get Deadpool 2 or Gambit within the near future, but we’re more likely to see a New Mutants movie before 20th Century Fox gets back to the X-Men.
It’s been 16 years since Fox began making X-Men movies and they’ve barely scratched the surface of the stories that go all the way back 1963. Writer Chris Claremont spent 17 years on the X-Men monthly series crafting memorable tales alongside several future superstar artists including Dave Cockrum, John Byrne, Paul Smith, John Romita, Jr., Marc Silvestri, and Jim Lee. Even after Claremont left the X-Men, the franchise continued to expand with spinoffs and multiple X-Men books. There are so many X-Men stories now that it would be almost impossible to adapt them all!
But there are a few X-Men stories that seem to be well suited for the big screen. ComingSoon.net has put together a list of five iconic X-Men tales that we’d love to see as live-action movies!
X-Men Movies That We’d Like To See: E For Extinction
Another X-Men movie with Sentinels may be redundant after Days of Future Past, but Grant Morrison’s “E For Extinction” had one of the great X-Men villains of the last 16 years: Cassandra Nova, a “sister” of sorts to Charles Xavier. The actual origin of Cassandra Nova was hopelessly convoluted, but she was a telepath who was even more powerful than Xavier and she orchestrated the biggest mutant genocide in the history of the Marvel Universe.
Cassandra even came up with a unique way to destroy the X-Men from within, while she was undetected by both Jean Grey and Emma Frost. While Emma Frost was written out of the film series in Days of Future Past, perhaps Olivia Munn’s Psylocke could fill that role in the potential live-action adaptation of this story.
X-Men Movies That We’d Like To See: Mutant Massacre
Amazingly, the X-Men movies haven’t even touched upon Mr. Sinister yet. But a “Mutant Massacre” movie would probably be the ideal time to introduce him. In the X-Men movies, the Morlocks (a group of deformed mutants who live underground) don’t exist yet, but they were largely the cannon fodder for this story. The biggest selling point here would be the introduction of Sinister’s Marauders, as they eliminate the mutants whom Sinister deems “unnecessary.”
The Marauders were essentially an evil team of mutants who could match the X-Men in terms of power, and they severely injured several members of the X-Men during their first encounter. Having the battle between the two sides take place over the course of a film could finally give the movie X-Men a run for their money.
X-Men Movies That We’d Like To See: Riot at Xavier’s
First off, there’s never going to be an X-Men movie called “Riot at Xavier’s.” It’s just not a very catchy title. But the underlying idea is very intriguing. What if the next generation of mutants rejected the X-Men’s teachings of peaceful co-existence with humans? In this Grant Morrison penned storyline, one of Xavier’s best students, Quentin Quire radicalized himself and others into human-hating extremists who advocated mutant supremacy and they nearly brought the X-Men to their knees.
This was a tale that called everything that the X-Men believed into question, and actually convinced Xavier to step aside for a new headmaster as his dreams came crashing down around him. All of that would make for a compelling cinematic story.
X-Men Movies That We’d Like To See: Utopia
“Utopia” obviously wouldn’t be able to use Norman Osborn’s Dark Avengers, but it represents an important turning point for the X-Men. For the first time, mutants were united under Cyclops’ leadership even if they weren’t members of the X-Men. Faced with the actions of an oppressive federal government, the X-Men and their mutant allies formed their own nation off the coast of San Francisco which they called Utopia.
If a Utopia film were to happen, it would mean that the mutant gains of X-Men: Days of Future Past had been reversed. But it would also leave the mutants in a rare place of solidarity and strength. Even Magneto acknowledged that Cyclops was the leader that mutants needed, shortly after the events of this story.
X-Men Movies That We’d Like To See: The Dark Phoenix Saga
X-Men: The Last Stand butchered this story in so many ways. How can you do the ultimate Jean and Scott story without Scott?! Those few minutes with James Marsden’s Cyclops just weren’t enough. Trying to cram in too many other stories was another sin that this movie committed.
For years, we’ve been told that the X-Men movies can’t go all-out sci-fi with the Shi’ar and intergalactic aliens. But now that X-Men: Days of Future Past has introduced time travel to the X-Men Cinematic Universe then aliens should be on the table! If Fox wants to remake the Dark Phoenix Saga, the studio should go all the way this time. What’s the point of Fox owning the rights to all of those Marvel alien races if they don’t use them?
Instead of trying to cram the entire Dark Phoenix Saga into one film, make it at least two or even three movies. One film for Jean’s transformation into Phoenix, another film for her to struggle with that power, and finally a concluding chapter with Dark Phoenix.
This our dream list of X-Men movies. What are yours?
