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| Image courtesy of www.ScreenGeek.net |
I have decided to write this in anticipation of 'Logan', Hugh Jackman's last hurrah as Wolverine before hanging up the claws. The movie will be released in theatres worldwide on March 3rd and it looks so good, I cannot wait to see it. Anyway, on with the article.
I first became interested in X-Men a while ago, probably around late 2013 when I was looking through the filmography of an actor named Tim Pocock, an Australian actor who I knew from the TV series Dance Academy, and I saw that he was in the X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie as the character of Scott Summers/Cyclops. This did peak my interest as all I knew at the time was that it was a comic book movie franchise and my friend Matthew was a big fan of it when we were in secondary school.
So I began looking into it, and all of my dismissive actions against the X-Men franchise were the actions of a fool, it wasn't just a typical superhero cheese-fest that had an underdog go through a freak green energy accident that gave them supernatural abilities and then decide they need to save the world from the dark forces. I noticed that there was parallels to the issues of our time, themes about discrimination and political oppression, historical figures who tackle these issues, it's huge.
If you're living under a rock, the X-Men are a team of mutants who are individuals with a gene that gives them any sort of ability that will allow them to fly, heal quickly or read people's minds, but these children who possess these abilities will see them as a curse more often than not. These children of the atom, they are at a very vulnerable point in their life already before realising they have this 'disease' that makes them scary to the rest of the world.
The X-Men themselves are led by the telepathic Professor Charles Xavier, who runs the School For Gifted Youngsters which he set up to help teach young mutants enhance their abilities so they can go back out into the real world. As a result of these superior species of humans, it is met with incredible hostility from society and mutants are forced to go into hiding, and Xavier represents those who reckon humans and mutants will one day live in harmony.
On the opposite end of the scale, you have Erik Lehnsherr or Magneto, a prisoner of war survivor who has only ever known loss and pain. Lehnsherr has the ability to manipulate and control metal, and whilst often portrayed as a villain to Professor X's X-Men, his views on how mutants and humans should stand is no less meaningful, in that after all the pain that mutants have gone through that mutants must fight back against humans.
Notice a parallel there? Stan Lee who created the X-Men based Professor X and Magneto to be just like Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, two individuals who wanted to achieve the same goal but with parallel methods. King wanted white and black people to be equal, whereas Malcolm X doesn't see why after all the white man put black people through that they should be all buddy buddy, and neither opinion is right or wrong honestly.
This is especially appropriate in today's day and age. We live in a time full of discrimination, and because I for example am a white, cisgender male who is straight, I obviously can't talk about it but I will, everyone experiences it and X-Men take this subject matter into question and not only don't trivialise it, they emphasise it to the point where it even hits home.
Examples of the movies' tackling of such issues, the original X-Men movie from the year 2000 had a mutant registration act under discussion for approval by many politicians, including Senator Robert Kelly. The mutant registration act would mean that mutants wouldn't perhaps be allowed in certain public places, many children won't be allowed in schools, those seeking work wouldn't be given a job because they were mutants, you get the idea.
In the follow up to the original X-Men, there was a scene in X2: X-Men United where the character of Bobby Drake/Iceman was forced to reveal to his parents and brother that he was a mutant, and his mum says to him "Have you tried to not be a mutant?", much like any homosexual individual has probably gone through at some point. The mirroring doesn't stop there, Sir Ian McKellen who portrayed Magneto in the franchise and is openly gay as well, helped the screenwriters with writing this scene and it shows with how powerful it really is, it does resemble a common 'coming-out' scene extremely well.
Then in the not so loved third film of the franchise, you have the 'cure' for mutation, which can be likened to one that hits home for me, the idea that autism can be cured by simple vaccination. The idea of trivialising anything as something that can be merely cured and is nothing more than a disease can be very insulting. Whilst at the same time, those who see their mutation as a curse would be on the opposite end of this argument.
X-Men for being a comic book superhero franchise - a form of media generalised as being aimed towards kids - does offer a load of political commentary and whilst superhero movies in recent years have come of age after the initial rise in the early noughties, X-Men remains the only one that is unique and has always been one step ahead.
I say this because before the first X-Men movie, we only really had Superman and Batman represent the genre and be popular among the fans. However after X-Men left its mark, it began a train of superhero movies that have had their troubled start, rose to brilliance and also unfortunately, become the corporate dominated two hour advertisements for other movies which in turn would also be two hour long advertisements for other movies.
X-Men has not be immune to this. Not a particularly faultless run with the third X-Men movie The Last Stand and the Wolverine origin movie not being particularly loved, and with the rise of Marvel's own in-house cinematic universe and Fox's other failed attempts at Marvel superhero franchises in form of the Fantastic Four and Daredevil, many fans have questioned if Fox should let Marvel have back their property.
Daredevil was attempted with a movie that Ben Affleck portrayed the blind lawyer and vigilante, which along with its other standalone movie centred around Jennifer Garner's Elektra, were not received well critically. The rights reverted back to Marvel who now utilise the character in a now two season Netflix original series (With a third season coming up) and a combined effort for the upcoming The Defenders mini-series.
Fantastic Four has had three iterations spread across four movies, all of which sucked so much arse and I for one am more than happy to see Marvel take back control of the Fantastic Four and hopefully do it some justice. I however do not share this opinion about the X-Men, I for one think that Fox should keep hold of the X-Men franchise because they get what makes these characters work.
I would say these movies have only got better, and they peaked when Matthew Vaughn and Jane Goldman came onboard for by far the best X-Men movies, X-Men: First Class and X-Men: Days of Future Past. The friendship and clashing ideologies of a young Professor X (James McAvoy), Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) is extremely compelling, and also seeing the evolution of Magneto throughout First Class and Xavier in Days of Future Past especially given their circumstances, making these stories driven by what matters, the characters. Not mindless visuals like the Hulk punching Iron Man up a building or Batman in an armoured suit punching Superman because reference to The Dark Knight Returns graphic novel.
Superhero movies have so much to thank X-Men for, showing the world that it wasn't just about Batman and Superman, and even now with the rise of Marvel's and DC's own set of interconnected franchises, X-Men isn't at the forefront when it comes to popularity. It's not the typical superhero type story but it will always be an effective one, and I will be happy to report that I have my doubts that X-Men will be pushed down to anything other than my second favourite comic book movie franchise.
I however am critical, I am not a fanboy who will blindly follow. Last year, the latest instalment of the series X-Men: Apocalypse, I was mildly disappointed by it. If my bias says anything, I rated Captain America: Civil War as one of the best movies last year and X-Men was just, meh. I am 100% confident that the upcoming Logan will be the perfect send-off for Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, it looks set to raise the bar higher for a superhero franchise character story and I know it is going to be a tough watch for everyone since we love Hugh Jackman as this amazing character.
As for other movies, we have had the original X-Men, X2: X-Men United, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: First Class, The Wolverine, X-Men: Days of Future Past, Deadpool, X-Men: Apocalypse, the new Legion TV series and Logan - Deadpool is another example of changing the game but many others have explained it better than me - and the future seems bright. The character Gambit is set to have a solo movie (It was meant to be in October last year but oh well), as well as a Deadpool sequel set for March 2018, a follow up to Apocalypse, another apparently centred around The New Mutants that have Game of Thrones' Maisie Williams attached, an X-Force movie, there is plenty to look forward to if you're an X-Men fan. I for one, would like at one point to see this franchise have a fresh start.
I don't think Fox knew what they were letting themselves in for when X-Men first hit the screens in 2000, and as much as I know how well X-Men has paved the way for other superhero franchises, it's also a bit behind. Marvel with their own interconnected world, they spent years planning everything and whilst not without many hiccups, they have nailed it and DC and even Sony tried making their own universes, with DC's right now failing unfortunately with their movies being very divided, and Sony having only Spiderman and only two movies into their fresh start, they gave up and are now allowing Marvel to utilise the character in the MCU.
X-Men has many continuity errors in their films, and I think it's a result of Fox being very underprepared by the train they started. Don't get me wrong, I love the X-Men movies but I do think they can be so much better and considering Hugh Jackman - who has led this franchise since it began - is hanging up his claws, I think now is a good time. My advice (What would I know though?) would be to keep it with the same messages and grounded realism, don't copy what Marvel do and have it be a pun-fest, light and bright, it's why I've never wanted Marvel Studios to get the rights back.
Keep the X-Men at their best, this franchise will always continue to thrive and I, Luca, am a proud X-Men fan.
Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed. If you're new here, feel free to follow by email and follow the instructions on the top right if you're keen to see more - providing you're on desktop - or you can follow me on Twitter @TheLucaFormat.
I just want to take a moment to wish a Happy Birthday to one of my greatest friends, Nadine. The reason it could be relevant here is because she has a minor crush on Hugh Jackman, I think. I should probably fact check this stuff before I write it. Regardless of whether she does, it's important to me and it's my blog so as said in her home country, Gelukkige Verjaardag!
To you reading whoever you are, thank you again and I hope you come back to read my next article.
So until we meet again.
Luca.
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