I imagine that nearly every day, Kevin Feige must curse the decision-making process that saw rights to The X-Men land at Fox. The characters are essentially untouchable when it comes to the team-building going on over at Marvel, not to mention mired in a series of films that seems to need ever-heavier justification. Good thing the only character more popular and worth integrating into the new Marvel film universe is Spider-Man…oops.
Back to X-Men. Specifically, the future plans held by Fox. Trades have now announced that Gossip Girl creator Josh Schwartz is writing and potentially directing a new film in the franchise. Title is X-Men: First Class, which (a) is the same title as Marvel’s series about the original team’s early years, and (b) an obvious nod to the potential of a reboot.
Schwartz’s involvement isn’t really new. Back in May he was quoted by bbook.com saying “I’m very well aware that I’ll be bludgeoned by purists, but I love its
mythology, and it comes with a pretty hefty paycheck… It’s not like
I’m adding new characters like Toaster Head, or anything like that.” The quotes, which referred to a potential prequel film, were retracted. But in light of this news, that retraction rings even more strongly of damage control than it originally did.
Obvious questions include: will this be an ‘original team’ film? In lieu of those characters, will it go the New Mutants route? Will this be more (a) Gossip Girl (b) Smallville (c) Twilight?
Variety says: Resulting film would likely draw from elements of the Marvel comic
of the same name, launched in 2006, and enlist such characters as
Iceman, Rogue, Angel, Colossus, Jubilee and Shadowcat, who have
appeared prominently or made cameos in prior pics.
Given
Hollywood’s penchant for reboots with new actors playing familiar
roles, pic could also reintroduce characters. Comicbook revolves around
the Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Beast, Iceman, Angel and Professor X.
THR takes basically the same tack: First Class could serve as a prequel and focus on certain X-Men
characters like Cyclops but as teens, or it could focus on some of
the students attending the mutant school introduced in the “X-Men”
movies. Marvel Comics ran a short-lived comics series with the same
name several years ago.
12 comments
I hope it's a Iceman, Rogue, Angel, Colossus, Jubilee and Shadowcat type of movie with the major X-men serving as cameos
Jo$h $chwartz is fired! You're fired! Who fired you? Every fan in the Marvel Mutliverse, Clairmont's beard and the omnipotent ghost of Jack Kirby. If Fox were smart, and they ain't, they'd do the days of future past storyline and release it as shortly after the Watchmen as possible. Of all the franchise properties that Fox has the X-Men may be the most textured and diverse, yet we know the long line of bad decisions and choices. Well, if you're going to really go and really fuck it up as we already know Fox already will, why not go with a full on comedy? The whole genre of underwear-on-the-outside spandex wearing superpeople needs the cinematic equivilant of staring deeply at a Bill Sienkiewicz panel from Stray Toasters. What are the psycho-sexual connotations of dressing up little mutant kids in identical yellow and black skin tight suits? *sigh* we can expect instead a plastic candy coated L.A. heartless thoughtless advertisement for the aggrandizement of violence with a youngish pretty face. There will never be a Doctor Strange/Nightcrawler interaction on film. Why? Lawyers and $. However, you can go to a local shop and pick up a half dozen issues with the two of 'em for about $1.25 now in the bargen bins. Why the fuck should we care about your new X-men movie at this point? Because we're muthafuckin' fans and we pay the bills at Fox.
Invoking Gossip Girl, Smallville and Twilight is pretty off base tonally. Schwartz is actually a very talented guy, and Chuck is possibly the best hourlong on network TV at the moment. Yes he created Gossip Girl as well, but it is in effect a genre piece and doesn't seem as in tuned towards his normal sensibilities. He is a markedly better writer than anyone who has worked on Smallville, and it would only be Twilight-esque if Rothman got involved and fucked the whole thing up.
Yawn… Unless they hire an exciting director. Or Ellen Page is involved again. She's pretty. God this sounds like the one superhero film too many. It's going to hurt Avengers. Can someone wake up Christopher Nolan from his nap and pass him a script titled MAN OF STEEL? I want to get excited again.
There's no hope for X-Men. Mr. Singer and Mr. Ratner made what they thought was compelling "entertainment" from the material, it made outrageous box office and so the template is set. And "I'm Just Saying" makes an interesting point: "The Dark Knight" left us with Batman being Public Emeny#1; we don't another pair of villians for the third installment. Nolan has everyone's attention at this point AND Warner's want to re-boot Superman…The conclusion seems pretty simple.
So a guy who creates shows where young actresses wear skimpy clothes is going to make a movie about young characters that wear skimpy clothes? I don't see the problem. Any X-movie that isn't directed by Ratner has a shot…
This is pretty much the worst case scenario I could have envisioned coming off X2. If Wolverine is a misfire, it sounds like they are trying, the franchise is in absolute shambles.
The X-Men are Cyclops, Wolverine, and Professor X. The other parts are interchangable. If those 3 charcters aren't there it's a waste of everybody's time and the license. Nobody cares out prequels, side groups , or secondary characters.
What a waste. X3 outgrossed the other two and they stopped. Give the audience what they have responded to. Why change what works? They should name this new X movie "New Coke" the movie and be done with it.
Speaking of Toaster Head, I would love to see a movie with some of the lesser known mutants like Syphillus Cockburn(pronounced COH-Burn perverts), Seema Vag, Harry Bungpiece, Herpes Face, Robert Pattinson, Cum Chuggernaut(who Pattison turns into any time he is awake), IRS man, Mundane Tasker, and Fast "Eddie" Reader. It would be great to have their backstories fleshed out a bit and give them a little shine…
Yeah, just what we need – a (middling) TV guy bringing his TV sensibilities to cinema. It'll suck, along with pretty much everything else from Fox that has sucked for years now.
I'll only see this movie if it sets us up for a Toaster Head spinoff.
Yeah, the only interesting fragment of that news piece was "Toaster Head" and the fond remembrances of Stray Toasters back in the day.
Fox should hand this franchise over to Joss Whedon. It's obvious. I don't think it will happen, though, as Fox are douchelords.
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