Everyone has heard of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and chances are you’ve seen at least one movie from the canon. Marvel dominates the superhero movie industry, but there’s a separation in the films featuring Marvel characters. In terms of franchises, there’s the MCU, which has the Avengers, Guardians, etc. Then there are the Fox Marvel movies, which are dominated by the “X-Men” films. Marvel was able to take characters, both known and unknown, and make movies garnering huge fan bases, with the focus being completely on the Avengers. But before the Avengers were brought to cinemas, the “X-Men” were. The first “X-Men” movie came out in 2000, eight years prior to the release of “Iron Men,” when the MCU began. In fact, three “X-Men” movies came out before the beginning of the MCU. While the “X-Men” movies were successful, the MCU movies were even more so. It seems many people are more aware of the MCU films, maybe due to marketing and budgets. Despite the success of the “X-Men” franchise in terms of monetary gain, many people haven’t seen the films, or have otherwise forgotten about their existence completely, instead focusing on the MCU.
The “X-Men” movies certainly range in quality, with a handful being almost unwatchable if not for the strength of characters like Erik and Charles. For instance, “Dark Pheonix” is recognized to be horrible with “Apocalypse” as a close second. However, any franchise with the number of movies they have created is bound to have a few that suck. Especially when we take into account the other movies in the franchise.
My personal favorites are “X-Men: First Class” and “X-Men: Days of Future Past,” both of which feature the younger versions of the beloved characters from the original “X-Men” movies. These movies have great stories that focus on the characters as opposed to leaning on effects and fight scenes. This is what sets the “X-Men” movies apart in my opinion. While they do have cool displays of mutant abilities, what makes these films so enjoyable are the characters and their stories. Since there are so many films, we really get to explore certain characters in depth and come to understand their motives which stay realistic over the course of the films.
The “X-Men” movies delve into important topics in a way that we don’t see in other superhero movies, which sometimes opt to take the safer route in discussing politics. The “X-Men” movies focus on injustice and portray it in a way that viewers pick up on, specifically in the nuances of progress and how to move forward. I also enjoy films that can be discussed and debated outside of the movie. In “X-Men,” it’s mostly comparing Erik and Charles’ beliefs. One can have real discussions after watching these films, which is a big factor making them so enjoyable.
The attention paid to the characters and their beliefs is crucial to what makes these films stand out. For instance, Magneto always has consistent and clear motivations for his actions. He is never tied to one “side,” as it’s clear that he truly operates based on his motives as opposed to making it simple and just going against one opponent that he disagrees with consistently. We see this in “X-Men: First Class” when he kills Shaw despite stating he agrees with essentially everything Shaw is doing. But unfortunately, Shaw killed his mother, and that trumps anything else he may be fighting for. I love this scene because it makes Erik feel much more real. Despite what he’s fighting for, there’s a consistency that it all stems from his experience during the Holocaust and the murder of his mother, so when there’s a scenario such as the one in “X-Men: First Class,” it makes complete sense that he could agree with this man in beliefs, but still work with Charles and the “X-Men” to kill him.
Additionally, I don’t find many general inconsistencies in terms of how the characters behave. They rarely do things that don’t fit into their characters. In reality, people do develop, and their beliefs can shift enough for them to fight a side one may not expect. Along with that they allow the characters to be flawed and make mistakes, which allows for much more interesting characters. At the end of the day, though, the “X-Men” movies choose to explore the nuance of issues, which isn’t something that is as present in the MCU.
The “X-Men” franchise has some really great movies focusing on truly interesting and well-thought-out characters that are often forgotten. They explore characters more deeply and focus on them at various ages providing a lot of context and information for viewers to better understand and relate to them. Plus, the “X-Men” movies have Wolverine, no need to say more. With the merging of the Fox Marvel movies and the MCU, hopefully we see more people returning to the “X-Men” films and giving them the attention they deserve.
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