In a not-so-surprising bit of news 20th Century Fox has continued their trend of staying away from risky and sticking to conventional by hiring “The O.C.” and “Gossip Girl” creator Josh Schwartz to write a screenplay for X-Men: First Class, a film that will center on the students at Professor Xavier’s Institute for Higher Learning. Such characters are assumed to include Iceman, Rogue, Angel, Colossus, Jubilee and Shadowcat. However, it could also mean they are going way back in time and we will see Wolverine, Storm, Jean Gray and Cyclops as first year students.
Fox is already set to release X-Men Origins: Wolverine in May next year and is also working on a similar, origin story spin-off for Magneto, the character played by Ian McKellen in the first three X-Men films. The Magneto feature would likely be a great place to transition into an origin story of the Xavier Institute as X-Men 3 already showed Magneto and Xavier working together at one point to help troubled mutant children before Magneto went rogue.
The Variety article announcing X-Men: First Class also reminds us of the potential Deadpool spin-off based on the character played by Ryan Reynolds in Wolverine. After seeing the preview reel of Wolverine at Comic Con there was also a little bit with Gambit, so who knows what cards Fox may have up their sleeves. One thing’s for certain, it’s not a break from tradition.
The only way I can see Fox digging themselves out of the hole they created for themselves in 2008 with an endless slate of films that inspire zero confidence is to stop going the traditional route when it comes to their films. All of their films of late have such cookie cutter molds they fit into that there is very little surprise. Sure, they are glossy and sleak, but when it comes to substance and content they are empty. Josh Schwartz may be a good choice when you are you need a dramatic TV pilot filled with teen angst and self-loathing, but the world of comicbook films has started to shift to where people are expecting more. I can’t imagine them skating by with another B-level director shooting a tweener script.
