.jpg)
The X-Men may have fallen out of the limelight in the era of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but there was a time not too long ago when they were some of Marvel’s most popular characters. In the early 2000s, the X-Men movies were some of the most popular superhero movies out there, matched only by Sam Raimi’s Spider Man trilogy.
But as popular as it was, the 20th Century Fox X-Men series was not always the most faithful adaptation. Taking liberties with the source material is inevitable with any adaptation, but these films may have left out a little too much in places. Here are just a few fun facts about the X-Men comics that the public would never learn just by watching the movies.
Aside from Batman, Wolverine is arguably the most famous lone wolf in comics. He’s the archetypal shaggy gray tough guy who’s seen it all and won’t let anyone get too close. But like so many lone wolves in fiction, he never stays alone for long. Take, for example, the beloved Logan from 2017, in which Wolverine’s relationship with his cloned daughter Laura (aka X-23) forms the emotional core of the film. If the popularity of The Mandalorian shows, audiences love to see hardened warriors become reluctant father figures. And coincidentally this was something X-Men writer Chris Claremont already knew it in the 1980s.
The Logan of the 1970s was the edgy lone wolf you’d expect, always keeping his teammates at bay despite his loyalty. But by the 1980s, he had grown so close to his new family that he wasn’t afraid to open up to them a little more. As such, he became a natural protector for the younger, less experienced members of the team. Most notably, Logan became a mentor to the youngest member of the X-Men, Kitty Pryde, aka Shadowcat, and the two have developed something of a father-daughter relationship over time.
As Kitty grew older and more capable, this dynamic was repeated with Logan and Jubilee in the 90s, and later again in the 2000s with the Joss Whedon creation Armor in its Amazing X-Men run. And of course, Logan also gets on well with his biological children Laura, Gabby and Daken – admittedly, Daken wanted him dead for several years before that, but they’ve happily left that grudge in the past. Despite his reputation as a loner, the X-Men are truly Logan’s family, and he’s got the list of surrogate kids to prove it.
One of the most popular X-Men is Piotr Rasputin, also known as the steel-skinned Colossus. Despite its small role in the first run of X-Men movies, Colossus gained a much more prominent presence in Deadpool and the sequel. To date, however, no film has touched on one of the most important traits of Colossus from the comics: his bond with his sister Illyana, aka fellow X-Men member Magik.
Magik has already made her film debut in the ill-fated 2020 release New mutants, in which she was played by Anya Taylor-Joy – however, there is no mention of any relationship between Illyana and Colossus throughout the film. In the comics, Illyana is initially introduced as Piotr’s non-mutant sister, and remains so until 1982. Uncanny X-Men #160, in which she gets trapped in the infernal dimension of Limbo. As the X-Men race to rescue her, a mystical accident leaves Illyana trapped in Limbo for seven years from her perspective. She spent that time tormented by the demon lord Belasco, who she eventually kills when she mastered both her mutated teleportation power and Limbo’s dark sorcery, allowing her to summon a mystical blade called the Soulsword.
Using her newfound power, Illyana overcomes Belasco and takes his place as ruler of Limbo. When she finally returns to Earth, the X-Men barely recognize her – the innocent girl they once knew has been replaced by a young woman, haunted by years of trauma and seduced by the pull of demonic power. But despite her inner turmoil, Colossus has always kept his sister on the right path. Today, Magik has literally conquered her inner demons and has grown into a brash, combative leader who is trusted by her teammates despite her eccentricities.
The X-Men movies until now have been strictly Earth-based, with very few space opera adventures. After all, there are no mutants in space, so you wouldn’t expect the X-Men to stand shoulder to shoulder with aliens like the Guardians of the Galaxy do.
Nevertheless, the X-Men comics feature quite a bit of space travel, thanks in no small part to legendary writer Chris Claremont’s love of sci-fi. The original “Dark Phoenix Saga” comic is a riveting cosmic epic, culminating in a clash between the X-Men and the interstellar Shi’ar empire. Later storylines even feature the X-Men taking on Brood, a horde of insectoid invaders clearly inspired by the Xenomorphs of Alien fame.
The time-traveling cyborg Cable was introduced to moviegoers in 2018 Deadpool 2, in which he was played by Josh Brolin. However, the film makes no mention of Cable’s true identity from the comics – Nathan Summers, son of Scott Summers, aka Cyclops.
Cable’s backstory is long and complicated, but the gist of it is that he is the son of Cyclops and Jean Gray from a dystopian future, who travels back in time to defeat Apocalypse. Funnily enough, he’s not even Scott and Jean’s first time-traveling kid to join the X-Men. Rachel Summers was introduced all the way back in ‘Days of Future Past’ and also traveled back in time to avoid her own dystopian future.
2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse Starring Oscar Isaac as the titular villain, one of the greatest enemies of the X-Men, who is determined to conquer Earth to create a world where the strong rule over the weak. For most of its history, Apocalypse has been a pretty straightforward villain without much nuance. However, recent stories from writers Jonathan Hickman and Tini Howard have fleshed out the history of the immortal mutant, making him much more human.
It will be revealed in the epic crossover storyline X of swords that Apocalypse was once a valiant defender of the ancient mutated civilization of Okkara, who fought alongside his wife Genesis against demonic hordes from the realm of Amenth. Despite its strength, Apocalypse was too weak to save his home – Okkara was split in two, and most of the inhabitants were trapped in Amenth for millennia. Before they broke up, Genesis asked Apocalypse to become the judge of mankind, forging it into a force strong enough to eventually win the war against Amenth.
With this new backstory, Apocalypse’s “survival of the fittest” ideology is reformulated as despair rather than arrogance. Under the pens of Hickman and Howard, Apocalypse morphs from a mustache-twirling super-villain to a weary warrior longing for the family he’s lost, fighting to protect everything he can – even if his methods of doing so can often be brutal. . This new interpretation of Apocalypse elevates him to a truly compelling, nuanced character on the same level as Magneto or Mystique.
0 Comments