Highlights
- Marvel Studios must find new actors for a fresh start with the X-Men, leaving behind Fox’s iconic castings.
- With an impressive casting history, Marvel faces the challenge of selecting new X-Men actors for the future.
- Marvel Studios aims to differentiate its X-Men reboot from Fox’s legacy by emphasizing new faces, stories, and creative direction.
When Disney took control of 21st Century Fox in 2019, there were two titles Marvel fans were most excited to see brought to life on the big screen once again. X-Men and the Fantastic Four. While the latter has already assembled most of its cast and is set to kickoff production this summer, the former is still a ways out from a proper reboot. Although, Marvel Studios has slowly begun to introduce mutants to the Marvel Cinematic Universe with Ms. Marvel and the upcoming Deadpool & Wolverine.
With the recently released X-Men ’97 seemingly proving that Marvel Studios seems to know what its doing with the X-Men, it would seem the studio is bound to succeed with its reboot of the X-Men. However, there’s a lot of history behind Fox’s X-Men films, and unlike Fox’s Fantastic Four movies, some fans genuinely liked what Fox did with the X-Men. With some already iconic castings for Fox’s X-Men movies, Marvel Studios has its work cut out for itself when it comes to getting the mutants right.
Finding the Perfect Cast for the X-Men
There’s no denying that Fox managed to secure great cast members for both the original X-Men trilogy, followed by the First Class trilogy. However, with subpar stories and power characterizations, it was hard for fans to appreciate the talent behind some of Marvel Comics’ most poplar mutants. There’s no denying Hugh Jackman’s take on Wolverine is a fan-favorite, so much so that fans have often speculated over who could possibly tackle the role going forward, with most unable to agree on a fan-cast. While Sir Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan are thought to be the perfect Xavier and Magneto, respectively. Unfortunatley, though, for Marvel Studios to make the next X-Men movie truly its own, it’s going to have to bring in some new actors for its cast. That isn’t to say cameos aren’t a possibility still, especially with the Multiverse now a thing. However, like with the Fantastic Four, Marvel Studios is going to need to truly start over when introducing its new cast of mutants.
Luckily for Marvel Studios, casting is one of its greatest speciailities thanks to Sarah Finn. Still, even with the studio’s ability to cast up and coming actors early on for its titles, casting the X-Men isn’t going to be easy. There are a lot of roles to cast, and with the X-Men more than likely sticking around for quite some time within the Marvel Cinematic Universe, longevity is going to be important. As it stands, a writer is reportedly set to sign on within the next couple of weeks, suggesting a director and casting are not that far off.
Can Marvel Studios Make the X-Men its Own?
The very first X-Men film was released in 2000. The movie, which was directed by Bryan Singer, featured some of Hollywood’s most impressive talent at the time including the likes of Halle Berry, Famke Janssen, James Marsden, and Rebecca Romijn alongside Stewart, McKellen and Jackman. The film, which was also produced by Marvel Studios’ Kevin Feige, managed to do well enough to help Fox build its own X-Men franchise; it earned a Fresh rating of 83% on Rotten Tomatoes and pulled in $296 million at the worldwide box office. While that number is what most superhero movies clear in their opening weekend, it was an impressive feat with a $75 million budget in 2000.
Fox would go on to develop two sequels to the movie with X-Men 2 and X-Men: The Last Stand. Along with the original trilogy, Fox would release a trilogy of Wolverine movies, a First Class trilogy, The New Mutants, and the first two Deadpool movies. Over twenty-four years, Fox gave fans over twelve X-Men films, constantly rebooting the franchise as a means to maintain the rights. Whether or not fans loved everything Fox’s X-Men films brought to the table, they are still noteworthy and have left their mark on audiences over the past two decades. Which means, Marvel Studios has some big shoes to fill when it comes to the X-Men.
Thankfully, Marvel Studios has a pretty solid track record. More importantly, though, the studio is coming off the success of Season 1 of X-Men ’97. While an animated series, the show has managed to successfully do what Fox’s X-Men has failed to do thus far. It has made the X-Men exciting and, more importantly, showcased how to handle their stories within the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Like with the Fantastic Four reboot, Marvel Studios needs to not only nail the casting, but also successfully find a director that understands the material and has a clear-cut vision for these characters. Especially as the X-Men are the future of the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
With Marvel Studios nearing a writer for its X-Men reboot, fans should begin to gather a better idea of how the studio intends to tackle the X-Men for live-action. Although the cameos of Jackman and Stewart have been exciting, and Deadpool & Wolverine looks ready to bring audiences even more Fox X-Men cameos, it’s important Marvel seeks a fresh start for its X-Men movies. The X-Men have already been a mainstay in popular media for well over two decades. The best hope for success is to try and seperate itself as much as possible from what Fox has done with the X-Men already. New faces. New stories. New everything.
For now, fans can enjoy the first season of X-Men ’97 streaming exclusively on Disney+.
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