X-MEN: 20 Iconic Comic Book Moments We Need To See When Marvel Studios Reboots The Franchise (Part 2)

X-MEN: 20 Iconic Comic Book Moments We Need To See When Marvel Studios Reboots The Franchise (Part 2)

Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of X-Men being released in theaters, and we're back with part two of our look at the iconic comic book moments we need to see when the heroes come to the MCU...

Feature Opinion
By JoshWilding - Jul 15, 2020 08:07 AM EST
Filed Under: X-Men

Yesterday marked the 20th anniversary of X-Men's release in theaters, and while it's certainly fun to look back at the past, most fans are more interested in what Marvel Studios has planned for these mutants. Following the Disney/Fox merger, the rights to these iconic heroes and villains are now in Kevin Feige's hands, and that's exciting for a lot of reasons. 

For starters, we can finally expect to see a comic accurate take on the characters, and based on what we saw in the "Infinity Saga," plenty of moments lifted straight from the source material.

With that in mind, we're back with the second part of our feature looking at twenty iconic comic book moments we want to see in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (find entries 20 - 11 by clicking here).

We think you'll agree that there are some memorable battles, interactions, and pieces of imagery here which would be truly amazing on the big screen, and while we could be waiting several years before seeing them all, there are plenty of ways for Marvel Studios to make them happen.

So, to check out these moments, all you guys need to do is click on the "Next" button down below!
 

10. Genosha, Destroyed

Genosha

Genosha is a fictional island nation which Magneto turned into a safe haven for his fellow mutants. Before becoming a mutant homeland, it served as an allegory for slavery and later for the South African apartheid due to the way that mutants living there were treated by the government.

However, years later, a sinister foe of the X-Men unleashed a new breed of Sentinel which wiped out almost the entire population of sixteen million mutants. A movie dealing with both the political aspects of such a nation and the horror of genocide on this level could potentially be one of the best and smartest X-Men adventures yet, and one Marvel Studios would nail. 

Plus, the sight of that gigantic Sentinel would be truly jaw-dropping to see in a live-action setting. 
 

9. Magneto Kills Apocalypse

Magneto-Apocalypse

Apocalypse made his big screen debut in 2016, but it surely won't be too much longer before we get to see a rebooted version who is hopefully quite a bit more comic accurate in his appearance. 

As for this particular moment, Charles Xavier is dead and Magneto has joined the X-Men in a bid to take out the villain and restore a previous timeline. Cyclops, Jean Grey, Colossus, Kitty Pryde and more are all killed at the hands of Apocalypse and Magneto is the last man standing.

As the tyrant gloats over the fallen mutant leader, Magneto uses one final burst of energy – fuelled by his hatred – to literally tear En Sabah Nur in half! It’s a shocking moment which would likely draw gasps in cinemas, and Marvel Studios could easily use this to dispatch of the villain one day.
 

8. Weapon X

Weapon-X

Wolverine’s origin story was butchered in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and when we do eventually get to see a new take on the character, here’s hoping they stick a little closer to "Weapon X."

Rather than choosing to undergo the procedure of having the indestructible metal known as Adamantium bonded to his skeleton, the comic book version of Wolverine was abducted and experimented on against his will. Whether this was fleshed out into a whole movie or part of another is irrelevant, but just getting to see the scientists realise that Wolverine is no longer under their control as he tears his way towards freedom would be amazing to watch.

It would go a long way in helping to flesh out the future X-Man and what motivates him, and this is one origin story we would be happy to see again, albeit done well this time around. 
 

7. Mutant Revolution

Revolution

Possessed by the Phoenix during the events of Avengers vs. X-Men (a movie we would like to see, albeit not an actual adaptation), Cyclops killed his former mentor Charles Xavier and was imprisoned shortly after despite the fact he wasn’t fully in control at the time. 

This perceived persecution led to him gaining a huge amount of public support and it wasn’t long until Scott Summers was freed by his allies and became the leader of a new mutant revolution.

Marvel have dropped the ball on this particular storyline as time has passed, but seeing Cyclops as an outlaw and inspiring his fellow mutants was something really special and would be a great direction to take the character in regardless of whether they use the death of Professor X to inform this newfound role or just portray him as this type of figure regardless.
 

6. Colossus Becomes The Juggernaut

Juggernaut

With the Juggernaut (transformed into Kuurth: Breaker of Stone by Asgardian magic) heading to San Fransisco, the X-Men need to act fast to stop the villain before he lays waste to the entire city. 

The already formidable Colossus decides to wield the power of Cyttorak, and becomes the most unstoppable version of Juggernaut to date, easily defeating Cain Marko. However, poor Piotr would continue to struggle with his newfound abilities, and discovered that keeping his new destructive nature in check was no easy feat.

This would be an awesome direction to take Colossus in on screen, and while we did get to see Juggernaut in Deadpool 2, the MCU could fully delve into the magical side of his powers thanks to Doctor Strange.
 

5. "We Have To Astonish Them"

Astonishing

Fox's X-Men movies were fine, but it's no secrets that the costumes left a lot to be desired! In Joss Whedon’s Astonishing X-Men run, the team decided to shun their black leather costumes – which they had adopted in the comic books in order to build cohesiveness with the movies – and embrace their role as superheroes...as Cyclops said, it was time to "astonish" the world.

This came as a refreshing new direction for the team, and when the inevitable X-Men reboot does happen, picking up with a new version of the same team with closer links to their comic book counterparts would be great. If Joss Whedon were to write and direct? Well, we would say that Marvel Studios should hire him ASAP, but after Justice League, we're obviously not so sure. 

In terms of the team's appearance, these costume would be a great place for Marvel Studios to start.
 

4. Magneto Joins The X-Men

Magneto

With Cyclops now leader of the X-Men after some shocking secrets from Charles Xavier’s past led to him being shunned by his former students, big changes were in store for the mutants.

One of the most major alterations was the fact that Brotherhood of Evil Mutants leader Magneto requested that he be allowed to join the X-Men, and despite the fact that he had been battling him for years, Cyclops allowed him to do so. It was a shocking, controversial decision, but one that successfully overhauled the villain and set the stage for a brand new era of stories. 

The two soon became close allies, and while some argued that Magneto’s influence on Cyclops wasn’t a good thing, it made for entertaining viewing as it would on the big screen. Was Magneto only there to betray the X-Men? Did he have an ulterior motive? Those are all ideas we could see here.
 

3. "No More Mutants!"

Witch

Adapting the House of M storyline could make for a pretty epic movie, and it's something that's now possible due to Marvel Studios holding the rights to all their characters (bar Spider-Man).

When Quicksilver manipulates his sister the Scarlet Witch’s reality altering powers to recreate the Earth as being lorded over by mutants, there’s only one man who remembers how things used to be. You guessed it, Wolverine! As he and a young mutant girl with the ability to restore people’s memories seek out the now very different X-Men, events reach their climax in an epic battle which does see the world returned to its rightful state.

However, that only comes after the Scarlet Witch says, "No More Mutants!" With the majority of them now depowered, the X-Men became a lot more special and seeing a lot of fan-favourite characters left powerless made for some fascinating stories.
 

2. Magneto On Trial

Trial

Marvel always do something special for their anniversary issues and Uncanny X-Men #200 was no exception. This one featured Magneto being put on trial at a United Nations tribunal, and it’s not hard to imagine how well something like this could play out on the big screen with Michael Fassbender as the Master of Magnetism and Kevin Feige overseeing the action. 

Amazingly, the remorseful Magneto is found innocent and it’s then up to the X-Men to defend him from both human and mutant dissidents. With a shot at redemption, he joins the X-Men for a short time and forgoes his villainous ways for a number of years. In fact, it’s this which leads to him being accepted into Cyclops’ team many years later (as we mentioned above).

This sort of arc for Magneto would be a new and interesting direction to take the character in on screen.
 

1. Age Of Apocalypse Timeline

Wolvie

Way back in 1995, Marvel introduced us to the Age of Apocalypse, an alternate reality created when Legion travels back in time to kill Magneto, but inadvertently takes out Charles Xavier instead.

Eventually, Apocalypse got involved, and managed to take over North America. The world was left in ruins by the war that followed, and every character we knew underwent serious changes; Cyclops and Havok were villains, Magneto was the leader of the X-Men, and Wolverine...well, he only had one hand! This timeline also introduces the likes of Nate Grey and Dark Beast.

Once the X-Men are established in the MCU, delving into this timeline could make for a fun movie, and it's even something Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness could tease in some way.
 

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GhostDog
GhostDog - 7/15/2020, 8:34 AM
A HUGE MUST - Flawless computer generated Transformers sized Sentinels that actually LOOK LIKE SENTINELS
regularmovieguy
regularmovieguy - 7/15/2020, 8:41 AM
@BlackBeltJones

The sentinels in DOFP were [frick]ing awesome. And threatening.

If the MCU’s sentinels can cause the same amount of tension as the opening scene of DOFP I’ll be happy.

If they look like the sentinels from the animated series than that would be the cherry on top.
GhostDog
GhostDog - 7/15/2020, 8:44 AM
@regularmovieguy - I lovedeverything about the future sentinels in DOFP. But I didn't like the 70s take on them but that was mostly due to the look and function.

Looking like animated series sentinels would be idea.
DoubleD
DoubleD - 7/15/2020, 8:41 AM
World War Hulk VS All the X-Men just like the comic book. Hulk wins easily :)
RolandD
RolandD - 7/15/2020, 8:47 AM
Most of these need to wait until we get the X-Men right for the first time. Whedon may not get hired for much for the foreseeable future. He's looking a little toxic right now.
Reeds2Much
Reeds2Much - 7/15/2020, 8:52 AM
FleischerSupes
FleischerSupes - 7/15/2020, 8:58 AM
Got a feeling the MCU X-Men will draw a lot from the cartoon. Aside from the FoX Men movies, it's where most of the average audience gets their pop knowledge of the X-Men, and it was arguably one of the best iterations of the characters.

inkniron
inkniron - 7/15/2020, 9:15 AM
@FleischerSupes - Don't you just love the underoos on the outside. Always reminds me of a 4 yr old that tried to dress himself yet brings me back to an age of my comic book innocence.
FleischerSupes
FleischerSupes - 7/15/2020, 9:22 AM
@inkniron - I mean, if they're trying to dress like what superheros dress like in their universe... Although not as many Marvel heroes wear those.
Finalshowdown
Finalshowdown - 7/15/2020, 9:08 AM
I have a sneaking feeling they aren’t going to call the MCU movies “X-Men” movies. Both to differentiate from the previous series and to make the new series more inclusive, I think they will have titles like Dawn of X, Evolution of X, Weapon X, etc. Either way, i’d like to see them play out kind of like GoT, with the different mutant factions (X-Factor, X-Force, Brotherhood, Morlocks) pushing their own agendas once the world is made aware of their existence. This way you could put the focus on different characters in the new series, with Cyclops in a Jon Snow/emerging legend type role and Mr. Sinister in a Littlefinger/shadowy manipulator role.
FleischerSupes
FleischerSupes - 7/15/2020, 9:20 AM
@Finalshowdown - Very possible, although they would still have to do something to distinguish "The X-Men" (Xavier's team) from those other teams that each have unique identities. Mostly I want to see how they differentiate them from the school-centric Fox movies. They may emphasize the covert superhero team aspect. For example maybe Xavier tried to boost their PR by looking the part of colorful superheroes like the Avengers.
Finalshowdown
Finalshowdown - 7/15/2020, 9:42 AM
@FleischerSupes - All great points. I think the X-Men team, under Xavier, would still be referred as that in-film, but more importantly those other teams should see them as the the gold standard, with an unspoken respect. I think the school could be more of a symbol, a place many of those mutants from other factions grew up at. And the remaining X-Men are the only ones who truly believe in what Xavier stands for. I see the school size as more like a dozen students, less like Hogwarts.
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