X-Men Retrospective and Guide

With the upcoming release of X-Men: Days of the Future, it seemed like a good time for an X-Men retrospective looking back at all the films in the franchise as well as looking to the future of the franchise. The X-Men side of the Marvel universe is every bit as large as the Avengers; there are literally thousands of mutant along with other non-mutant characters related to the X-Men franchise. Despite a rough patch with Origins and X-Men 3: the Last Stand, the X-Men franchise appears to have finally gotten their stuff together with both First Class and the Wolverine turning out better than expected, and with Bryan Singer back for Days of Future Past, the X-Men's future appears bright. X-Men has to be one of the currently longest running franchises not to have had major recasting, like James Bond, or a complete reboot like Spider-Man. Additionally, if you are relatively new to the franchise, and you want to be ready for the upcoming Days of Future Past, I will explain which movies you need to watch, and what order to watch them in. Without further ado, shall we begin?

X-Men

X-Men, the movie that started it all. Sure, Blade was Marvel’s film big screen movie that did not completely suck, X-Men was the first real superhero movie, and it was a strong first effort. Coming off of the Academy Award winning The Usual Suspects, Bryan Singer finally gave audiences a comic book movie that actually takes itself seriously for the most part. Also, a relatively unknown Australia musical star, Hugh Jackman, was cast in the role of the franchise’s most popular character Wolverine, and it was certainly an excellent choice. While the film certainly has flaws, it still holds up well even today.

X2: X-Men United

After a very solid effort with the first X-Men, Bryan Singer kicks it up to another level by improving every aspect of his film. While the first X-Men was a lot of fun, X2: X-Men United was deeper and more complex in terms of the story and character motivation. We finally got to see a glimpse at Wolverine’s past, and the more anti-hero nature of Magneto is present in the film as well. With the exception of Halle Berry continuing to be the worst possible casting choice for Storm, and James Marsden as Cyclops continuing to get the short end of the stick in terms of development, X2 set the new standard for all comic book movie sequels to come.

X-Men 3: The Last Stand

After the awesomeness of X2, the Last Stand was a complete let down. While I do not hate the movie as much as others do, it still completely butchered one of the most iconic comic book stories of all-time, the Phoenix Sage, and now we will likely never see a good adaptation of the story. The lack in quality is due to Bryan Singer leaving the X-Men franchise to direct the even worse Superman Returns, which left Brett Ratner to ruin the movie in Singer’s absence. Despite its major issues, X-Men 3 is still a fun action movie, and a must watch for those wanting to watch the upcoming Days of Future Past since plot points in the film will likely be mentioned in the new film.

X-Men Origins: Wolverine

Wolverine's origin is one of the most mysterious and best origins in comics, so what did the team over at Fox decide to do? Overload the film with unnecessary characters, more action movie clichés than you can shake a stick at, and special effects that look like they were done in a low budget fan film (as you can see by the gif). On top of that, the film butchers one of the most popular and fun comic book characters, Deadpool! Yeah, saying X-Men Origins: Wolverine was a disaster is a bit of an understatement. Hugh Jackman is the only movie positive is the only thing the film has going for it unfortunately. Fortunately, much of the film is completely retconned with the subsequent films never really referencing any part of them, therefore watching it is completely unnecessary.

X-Men: First Class 

After a long delay in production, First Class was destined to fail, however Matthew Vaughn turned First Class into the best X-Men film yet and one of the few prequels to actually not suck. With a stronger focus on the characters and the themes of acceptance in society, First Class revitalized the X-Men after several years of disappointing films. In fact, First Class is one of the few comic book films that strays from the source material and actually manages to work. However, the film did confuse some viewers by making changes to the film’s continuity that do not entirely make sense. Hopefully Days of Future Past will clear up the confusion with its time-traveling plot.

 The Wolverine

While not as strong as First Class or X2, The Wolverine finally gave fans a Wolverine movie that actually does the character justice. While smaller in scale than the other films, the Wolverine focuses on exactly who it should, Logan. Aside from Viper, there are no unnecessary and random mutants to take the focus away from Wolverine, and it works very well. Even though the third act fell into a few tropes, James Mangold did a excellent adapting Wolverine’s journey in Japan. The Wolverine is not the most necessary film to watch before Days of Future Past, but if you have the option, most definitely watch it if you can because it continues Logan’s storyline.

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Based on one of the more popular X-Men comic book storylines, Days of Future Past has been met with positive reviews citing that it may be the best X-Men film to date! Without spoiling too much, the cast of both the original X-Men films and First Class will be coming together for the film.

To summarize what films you should watch before Days of Future Past, the original X-Men trilogy and X-Men: First Class are all must-watches before seeing the new film, and the Wolverine is highly recommended for both being high quality and continuing Wolverine's story. 

With an X-Force and Apocalypse film upcoming, as well as a possible television series in the works, the X-Men's future looks bright!

What are your favorite X-Men movies? Are you a fan of the franchise? Please comment below and let me know. Now, I leave you with the coolest cartoon opening of all-time that defined my childhood.

  

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Channing Tatum is Gambit?

Channing Tatum has been officially cast as the X-Men Ragin' Cajun Gambit! Gambit is a popular member of the X-Men from the comics and 90s TV series that is more of a vigilant and loner member than other X-Men. You may remember Taylor Kitsch played the character of Gambit in the terrible X-Men Origins: Wolverine movie, and while he was one of the slightly brighter aspects of the movie, he was certaining nothing memorable, and seeing Tatum take up the role is a good idea. Channing Tatum has been wanting to play Gambit for a long time, and considering his recent success in everything he has been in, the Fox executives would be crazy not to sign him up! Also, hey DC when a popular actor, like Bryan Cranston, is practically begging to play a part in your movie, sign him up you freaking idiots! Oddly enough, Gambit has been one of my favorite X-Men ever since I was a kid, and while I have not seen Tatum act particularly well in any movie, others are saying that he has improved, so I have hope that he will be great. Tatum is not Cajun, but he is from the South, and he says that he will develop the accent. Also, Tatum's Gambit will make his first appearance in the upcoming X-Men: Apocalypse, which will be released in 2016. What do you think of this news? Are you excited for any X-Men movies? Please comment and let me know. 

Taylor Kitsch as Gambit

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X-Men: Days of Future Past Full Trailer

The X-Men: Days of Future full trailer is here and I could never be more excited for the film than I am right now. While it is not the best trailer I have ever seen, it certainly makes me excited for the upcoming film. It is probably my most anticipated film of the summer or at least tied with the Winter Soldier. As expected, the movie is apparently going to stray from the original comic story and we do get a brief look at several of the new characters including Blink (Asia girl), Warpath, Bishop, and a few others. Even though I knew Halle Barry would be in the film, I really wish she was not in it since she was the worst cast character of the main X-Men. Also the new costumes are still not that great, but they are better than the old ones. Other than that, the movie looks like it is going to be great. On a side note, I have heard the music in the trailer before but I cannot place it, does anyone else recognize it? What do you think of the trailer? Please comment below.

X-Men: Days of Future Past Trailer Teaser

The full trailer for X-Men: Days of Future Past is here! Click on this link to watch it. The X-Men: Days of Future Past trailer is going to be released later today! As with the Captain America trailer, Days of Future Past has a short teaser for the trailer, which I have posted above. Days of Future Past is set for a May 23 release. Since the movie is a time travel story, the film will feature the cast of the original X-Men trilogy as well as the First Class cast. Basically, I am majorly excited for the film because the story it is based on is a classic and one of my favorites from the 80s. Watch the teaser and check back later for the full trailer when it is released.

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X-Men: Days of Future Past Viral Trailer.

 

The first publically released trailer for X-Men: Days Future Past is here, however it is not actually a trailer for the film as it is a viral marketing campaign and commercial for Trask Industries, the fictional company in the X-Men universe that creates the Sentinels, which are used to turn North America into a dystopian world where Mutants are segregated into concentration camps. In the Days of Future Past comic book storyline, which was written in 1980, something happens in that year to that causes the segregation of Mutants and a much older Kitty Pryde from the X-Men is sent back in time to change the past. However, the film is apparently going to take a much different route because the future part of the comic takes place in 2013, and the whole time travel thing is going to fix the continuity errors that First Class caused. Sometime in the future I need to write a review for the comic storyline.
To go along with this trailer, there is a website for Trask Industries, which you can check out here. Basically, Trask wants to eliminate the "Mutant Threat" and thus the X-Men must fight for survival. Also there are some cool posters that have been released, which I have posted below featuring both young and old Magneto and Professor X. After Star Wars Ep. VI and Avengers 2 this is probably my most anticipated upcoming film. What are your thoughts about Days of Future Past? Please comment below. Sometime after the Wolverine, hopefully within the next two weeks, I have an X-Men Retrospective and Preview talking about the previous X-Men films and the upcoming ones, including X-Force.

If you want to contact us or have any questions please send an e-mail to johnstarslayer@gmail.com.