5 Things About Fox’s X-Men Films That Have Aged Poorly
The X-Men franchise has a reputation of being somewhat inconsistent. Fox has managed to keep the franchise alive but the reception from both, critics and audience has been average. Regardless, the characters we have got from it are great. Some of them are Wolverine, Professor X, Magneto, Mystique, and such. Now that the mutants are coming to the MCU, it’s time we revisit the X-Men films and look at some of the things that aged poorly. Check it out.
1. Original Deadpool
Ryan Reynolds has been a subliminal part of the franchise for a long time. He first played Wade Wilson X-Men Origins: Wolverine and fans really didn’t like the take on the character. This Deadpool was so mocked that he didn’t see the light of day until Fox decided to revive the character again. Now, Deadpool 3 is happening, and that too within the MCU.
2. Prequel Cast That Didn’t Age
Some of the actors have nailed their roles and it’s clear why Fox decided to keep them for their films. However, in Dark Phoenix, which is placed 8 years before the X-Men films, the cast looks the same as they did in X-Men: Apocalypse. This is something that the movies conveniently ignore.
3. Bland Costumes
Believe it or not, costumes play an important role in the visuals. In many of the X-Men films, the costumes are straight-up bland and watching the superheroes in action just gets boring. For example, fans never got to see Wolverine‘s iconic yellow costume. Something like that would have definitely worked as pure fan service. If we look at other superhero movies, the costumes are well-defined and when it comes to MCU, the know the fine line between inspiration and cringe.
4. Fox Botched Phoenix Saga Twice
Fox never really did justice to the famous Phoenix Saga. In X3: The Last Stand, Fox decided to adapt the timeline which involved Jean becoming the deadliest X-Men villain. However, it was more of a subplot in a trilogy that ended abruptly. Later on, Fox decided to adapt the storyline again in X-Men: The Dark Phoenix and the movie was equally despised and it somewhat killed the X-Men movies. If it wasn’t for Disney, god knows where the mutants would be.
5. Bad Use Of Cyclops
Fox literally turned one of the most iconic X-Men characters into a jealous boyfriend who could almost never control his powers. Cyclops has a huge history in the comics and Fox somehow managed to shelf aside the character and not give him enough moments to shine. This is something that the fans didn’t jibe with and definitely one of the things that didn’t age well. Apart from Cyclops, Nightcrawler and Ice-Man too weren’t used well. All this didn’t go unnoticed by the fans and is one of the many reasons why fans are happy that the mutants are back with Marvel, exactly where they belong.
