Hey everyone, I have been reading articles on this site for awhile now and I have found that there is a lot of disdain among comic fans towards the X-Men movies, particularly X-3, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and X-Men First Class. After spending many months reading comments as to how poor the continuity has been along with some very affectionate nicknames such as "Fist Ass" and "Borigins," I feel that it is time that someone gives these movies a little praise.
First of all, I have to say that I represent the thousands of movie-goers that never touched a comic book in their lives [about a year ago I started to read some], and I know that for some of you reading this that automatically discredits me. But please, I ask you to have an open mind here. Prior to the first X-Men movie I thought that all comic book's were lame. I remember growing up watching Saturday morning cartoons and as soon as one of those old Spiderman or X-Men cartoons would come on I would change the channel. Thanks to how kids are socialized where I am from, I most likely never would have given any of these characters a chance... but fortunately that all changed when the first X-Men movie came out.
For the first time thousands of children were introduced to Wolverine, Cyclops, Storm, Professor X, and we were hooked within the first fifteen minutes. It was as if this realm of creativity and imagination was suddenly made acceptable to those of us who were raised to stay away from the comic books. You may think I am over exaggerating here but I remember kids getting beat up and made fun of if they were caught with a comic book. Then I remember seeing the first Spiderman movie and this Marvel Universe began to open up to me.
Now you may be thinking, 'well that's all well and good Shua, but why should your admiration for those first films carry on throughout the series?' The truth is guys that TO THE THOUSANDS OF NEW X-MEN FANS THAT CAME ON BOARD AFTER THE FIRST FILM, X-2 AND X-3 ARE OUR CONTINUITY! I remember being so excited throughout The Last Stand as the Phoenix became this insanely powerful weapon for Magneto. I loved the final battle between the Brotherhood and the X-Men, and the climax where Logan had to kill Jean left me awestruck! Now to those of you that have read the comics all your lives, I will not say you have no right for feeling let down, but I want to make this claim. Marvel comics tend to be rebooted every now and then and each time there are subtle changes made to the original story. PLEASE CONSIDER THAT THE STORY TOLD IN THE X-MEN TRILOGY IS SIMPLY A NEW WAY OF BRINGING THESE BELOVED CHARACTERS TO LIFE. And besides, wouldn't it get boring if you were always reading/watching the same story over and over again?
Now as for X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which I know has gotten a lot of flack. I realize that there were some liberties taken that differ even from the continuity set up in the trilogy, and for sure X-Men First Class will mess with it even more, but that does not make these bad films. I re-watched Origins today and I gotta say, I left the movie with an even deeper respect for Logan. Sure some of the details had been manipulated but the overall purpose of a CBM is to entertain and to promote these characters that we all love. Is it weird that Emma Frost is going to be an adult in a movie that occurs a decade before Origins where she is a teenager? Yep... that is a little weird... but I'm going to be at that midnight premier for First Class and I'll guarantee that I will soak up every minute of that film because I simply love X-Men, and I love seeing these characters in new stories and situations.
Here is my last question for those of you that are so often hating on these movies. As comic book fans, why wouldn't we want to promote the distribution of these characters? If the X-Men are being presented to the masses in an extremely entertaining and attractive way, why would we let our obsessive desires for source perfection get in the way? Stories about Heroes and Legends have always changed throughout generations in order to suit the audience of the time. I simply ask that we give a little credit where credit is due. All five of the these movies will introduce some new audience to the Marvel universe and that my friends, is a VERY GOOD THING!
Thanks for reading! God bless ya'll!