For the better part of two individual films, Logan aka Wolverine, has shown that when done right an individual character from an established X-Men team can lead and carry their own movie. Of course, I am glossing over that disaster that was known as X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but there is not denying that The Wolverine and Logan haven’t been exceptional films – especially Logan; dear gods, was that a great film. And why shouldn’t individual character films with characters from established films wouldn’t succeed. Just look at what the Marvel Cinematic Universe has done with individual characters like Iron Man, Captain America, Ant-Man and others… those individual films, when handled with care by a team that respects and knows the source material can be just as exciting as any team field.
However, it seems that Fox is almost afraid of trying to produce other films based on other X-Men characters. Apart from Wolverine and (more recently) Deadpool, Fox seems scared to pull the trigger of what could be some excellent, intimate films featuring a single character. Hell, I will even give Fox a pass if they even tried to expand the X-Men film universe by making films focusing on a couple of characters or even a team that we haven’t seen yet. Anything just to get Fox to take a bigger risk and give fans some films that they want to see. Get away from the whole established X-Men team dynamic and mix it up with some individually focused films or on new characters all together. I know that as a long-time X-Men fan myself I would love to see a few films change up the formula that Fox has laid down for their film universe.
That’s why in the following list I will talk about some characters and lesser known teams that I wish Fox would take that leap of faith and produce to test the waters and see just how much fans want to see of something different coming from what they already have come to appreciate.
Cyclops & Phoenix
Right out the bat, I would love to see a film focus on the couple that is Cyclops and Phoenix. Scott Summers and Jean Grey were, for the longest time, my favorite comic book couple in all of comics. That is why I would love to see these two in a film where they use their strength as individuals and as a couple. It was because of them realizing this that made them a great team. I would like to see them in a film where the two are put to test by either mutant-hating human enemies, face off against Mister Sinister (who has a weird fascination with both mutants), or even something a little more personal to them both, such as Scott trying to help Jean deal with her manifesting Phoenix powers and tries to anchor her to her humanity.
Emma Frost
Though I would want to see a whole new take on Emma Frost from what we saw in X-Men: First Class and bring her into the modern era to interact with the X-Men as first a villain and leader of her own team of Hellions and later as a member of the X-Men looking for forgiveness and penance. Frost has one of the best backstories in all of the X-Men lore and a film depicting all of some of that would be a perfect fit for the X-Men film universe. I could even see it all happen through a series of flashbacks as Frost seeks redemption from Xavier in a therapy session. Whatever way it is presented, I think that the movie going audiences would welcome a character with a complex and interesting history as Emma Frost is depicted as having.
Magneto
Okay, come on – who doesn’t want to see a film showcasing the history of the Master of Magnetism? Magneto has such a rich character history and the films he has been portrayed in have barely scratched the surface of it all. We’ve seen some of the more important parts of his history, but only in brief sections. Who wouldn’t want to see Magneto’s full backstory fully fleshed out on screen. From his survival and escape from the Nazi death camps to his quest for vengeance against those who harmed his family to the ordeals he faced in other aspects of his life that shaped his point of view and sharpened his will to do whatever he can to ensure that no one will ever again harm him or his people. Maybe even show him as he brings together his Brotherhood of Mutants that we saw in the first X-Men film (or some variation thereof) and you have a film I’d be dying to see.
Mystique
One of the more interesting characters in both the X-Men comics and film series, Mystique has the kind of appeal with both male and female fans that should have pushed Fox to make a film starring the shape-changing mutant. If you think of her story that hasn’t been told, such as how she came to finally meet Xavier and live with him and her time away with Magneto and what caused that split between them, and finally focusing on her time alone between films until she finally came around to joining the X-Men at the end of X-Men: Apocalypse, I think that would be an interesting tale there. Also, you can look into the history she shares with the character Nightcrawler (as in the comics she is his mother) and also lead into a showdown with another of her children, Graydon Creed (whom she had as part of an affair with Victor Creed, aka Sabretooth), and you have a film full of intrigue to interest the audience.
Rogue & Gambit
I know that in the films they did their best to try and have Rogue form a romance with Iceman, and that, due to some weird timeline crap, Gambit existed in the 1970s era that was shown in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but with the timeline fix that was X-Men: Days of Future Past, maybe we can finally see Rogue paired up with the X-Man that is her destined and best partner, Gambit. You can play this film as a forbidden love/pure love story with some super heroics involved. Maybe even explore the story of Gambit’s past with the Thieves’ Guild and their leader Belladonna, and Rogue and Gambit explore their budding romance. Whatever it may be, I am sure that many fans of the original source material would love to see this story told on the big screen.
New Mutants
This is something that I would like to see because I was always a huge New Mutants fan. That being said, I think that if Fox ever did pull the trigger on a New Mutants film, I would like to see the kids at the ending of the film Logan make it into Canada and meet up with one of the surviving original X-Men (preferably Cyclops or Storm) and have them trained as a new generation of mutants will to protect mutants from other mutants or human enemies, training to become the New Mutants team. I feel that this scenario would work best then having a new team train with the original X-Men in the current timeline as the team would make the X-Men franchise seem a bit crowded and convoluted. So, having the New Mutants story pick up after the end of Logan and follow that timeline would be the best story and best way to introduce a new set of heroes that we were already rooting for.
Shadowcat & Colossus
This is another relationship from the original source material that many fans would love to see on the screen. The way that the characters play off of each other in their stories has always been one of favorites in all of comics. The problem with Shadowcat and Colossus is that they don’t have a story all their own that is interesting enough to carry a full film. So for this film I would like to see a whole new story handled by a competent writing team to come up with an all new original story for Kitty and Piotr to follow. Maybe they could even work in Peter’s family into the story such as Illyana or Mikhail… though from what I have gathered of Colossus in the X-Men film timeline is that he is American as seen in X2, X-Men United and even X-Men: Days of Future Past, so his family’s name may be changed to Liliana and Michael to match it up. But then again he was portrayed as Russian in Deadpool – so I don’t know; either way I would love to see Kitty and Piotr have their day in the sun.
Storm
She was once worshipped as a goddess and I believe that with the powers that Storm demonstrates should put her on a level above many of the other X-Men on the team. As such, seeing a movie that follows her story as she comes to understand and control her powers would be a great, personal super hero story. Given what happened in X-Men: Apocalypse, we could see a young Storm struggle to control her powers after Apocalypse upgraded her powers as he did with his other Horsemen: Psylocke, Angel and Magneto. As she has decided to stay at the X-Mansion and join the team, seeing her struggle to live up to Xavier’s ideals and move to a motivated and commanding leader as she is portrayed as an older Storm that Halle Berry originated in her time as the role would be a nice change of pace from the constant world-threatening stories that other super hero films have presented. This could be the character introspection film that, if written well, could change how super hero films are presented.
X-23
Seeing the introduction of X-23 in Logan was a real exciting moment. X-23 is my favorite new character introduced since the year 2000 in any Marvel comic book series. And while I love Dafne Keen’s performance as Laura/X-23 in Logan, I would like to see a story featuring X-23 as a slightly older character, maybe in her late teens/early 20s, struggling to live up to the advice that Wolverine left her at the end of Logan. She’s trying to live her life as best she can but also trying to live with the fact that she is, in essence, a living weapon. Struggling with both sides of her personality, while dealing with demons from her past who want to recapture her and make her live up to what she was created for, you can have another interesting character study, with a bit more depth, that mirrors that of the Wolverine character. But whereas Wolverine was his own person before being changed into the Wolverine but Laura/X-23 was created to be a weapon, and dealing with that, the legacy of her father, and trying to be her own person, would make for a great film.
X-Force
This is one that I am adding as pure fan service for my own accord because I am a huge fan of the X-Force team, especially after Wolverine became their leader and acted as the X-Men’s hit squad, willing to take on threats in a more extreme fashion than the other X-Men or Xavier would ever condone. But this is a film that could really take advantage of the R rating. You could have Wolverine lead a team of lethal mutants including Deadpool, Psylocke, Mystique and some new characters to the film series including Domino, Fantomex, Warpath and Marrow (yes, Marrow) against an enemy that will only be stop by using lethal means as he is intent on the total annihilation of mutants worldwide and will use any means necessary to accomplish his goal. With an enemy who has no regard for human life and a team of mutants who have sworn to stop him at all cost, the film could be a smart, arduous and violent exploration of what a team would be willing to do to save everyone they care about.
So those are ten X-Men related films that I would like to see Fox take a stab at. Either an individual character film, an intimate couples-type film, or an all-new team-based movie introducing new characters and themes to the Fox X-Men film universe. What do you think of my thoughts here? Are there some other X-Men characters that you think deserve to have their own films? Who would you swap out with my list here? Let us know in the comments section below. And don’t forget to share this article and follow geekXpop on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
