Pitch Time: The MCU X-Men Movie

The X-Men is one of the excessive and thematic comic book franchises around. It has hundreds of characters and has people who are discriminated against for having powers. Now that Disney has brought 20th Century Fox the world of the X-Men is set to join the Marvel Cinematic Universe which delights Marvel fans but raises questions on how mutants could be incorporated in the franchise. I will pitch my proposal.

When the X-Men were created there were designed to be an allegory for the Civil Rights movement and have since been used as a metaphor for many minority groups. Mutants are feared because they are people with powers and this is the biggest dilemma for Marvel because how can a whole group with superpowers be discriminated against when characters like Iron Man, Thor, and Spider-man are celebrated as heroes.

They have been fan theories on how to introduce the X-Men into the MCU like Xavier had erased everyone’s mind about the presence of mutants or there would be a reserve “House of M” event. However, these ideas do require rewriting of the MCU so a large number of mutants could suddenly pop up. The best way to organically introduce mutants into the MCU is to keep the numbers small, no more than a few hundred thousand around the world. But the numbers are growing with a spike of mutants being born from 2008 onwards.

The reasons why I pick the 2008 date are three-fold. First they would be time for young mutants to grow up to become teenagers and young adult. Second is it would be a little homage to when the MCU started. Finally because of the events of the MCU the rise of mutants could go under the radar. The original X-Men in the ’60s were teens and making mutants into teenagers can lead to Marvel addressing issues of puberty, teenage sexuality, and tap into a current issue – generational conflict. They would be a lot of adults and parents distrusting teenagers, fearing a whole generation that might have powers. They would be older mutants as well, Apocalypse, Mystique, and Wolverine would have lived for hundreds of years old, legends about gods and witches could have been mutants, and there needs to be some adult mutants present like Xavier and Magneto.

I would go for a fairly standard team for the first MCU X-Men film. Xavier would be the old, wise teacher, Cyclops would have been his first student and the leader in the field, Jean Grey would be Cyclops’ rock, Beast is the scientific genius, and Storm would be the powerhouse. Cyclops, Jean, and Beast were in the original First Class and all four characters were the original team in the Ultimate X-Men series. It would supply a fair balance of powers, skills, and genders. Storm would take the place of Iceman because he has been reinterpreted as a younger character. These characters should be in their 20s. This team would give the X-Men two characters with notable physical mutations and two who have to restrain themselves because they are so powerful.

In previous X-Men films Cyclops was not the best represented. In the first film he was a douchy boy scout who antagonised Wolverine and in following films he was given little screentime. The new film needs to reinterpret him and I would make him a more conflicted character who wants to be a good leader but doubts he is capable. Jean would act his support and the future film series should develop the relationship between Cyclops and Jean.

There should be some teenage characters in the film and emphasis on the school life but there should be no more than 20 students at the institute. The film would need a point-of-view character and Kitty Pryde AKA Shadowcat would be my pick. This would be a homage to the Chris Claremont era – she introduced the 1980s as a 13-year-old who was just developed her powers. She was also used as a POV character in the Pryde of the X-Men pilot. She would play a similar role to Rogue in the original X-Men film but I would make a point that the character is between the ages of 12 to 15. She would be scared because of the sudden change but her powers wouldn’t have a negative side-effect like Rogue had. Kitty, along with her classmate would grow up as the film series progresses.

Any good superhero film needs a good villain. The go-to villain for the previous films was Magneto but he was overused. His presence wasn’t needed in Dark Phoenix. So a new villain is needed and I would go for Mister Sinister. Sinister was born Nathaniel Essex and lived in Victorian England. He was obsessed with Darwin’s ideas on evolution and would have been one of the first scientists to discover mutants but would have been seen as mad by his contemporaries. Similar to what happened in the ’90s Animated Series. He would also be interested in eugenics and have spent a lifetime searching and grooming mutants, getting them to breed so he can accelerate the growth of mutant numbers. He would form a small but powerful group of mutant followers and they would be the first real test for the X-Men.

Mister Sinister also has a connection to Cyclops and Jean. He’s obsessed with them and his presence would allow that couple to be front-and-centre of the film. Mister Sinister could sow the seeds for the Dark Phoenix, saying that Jean holds herself back. Obviously Marvel shouldn’t rush to the “Dark Phoenix” saga – they should be at least a three-film build up before Jean becomes the Phoenix.

Mister Sinister has led numerous groups in the comics including the Marauders and the Nasty Boys. This would give the people making the film a large roster of supporting characters they could use such as Multiple Man, Gorgeous George, and Scalphunter. The two mutants I would have on his team in this movie would be Vertigo and Gambit. Vertigo is a mutant with the power to disorientate people and I picked because she could have a seductive quality. I would reinterpret her background to be someone from Eastern Europe (other nationalities are available) instead of the Savage Lands.

Gambit is a fan favourite who also had a poor time with the X-Men cinematic universe. He’s only movie appearance was in X-Men Origins: Wolverine where he was shoehorned. In this film Gambit would be a thief hired or forced by Mister Sinister to work with him. Gambit would be a cynic but has a conscience and he would turn against Sinister to join the X-Men. He could fill the roguish, individualist role that Wolverine had in the previous film series.

Now time for the story for this proposed film. As stated the numbers of mutants is rising, there would be news reports of people from the age of 12 starting to develop powers or have physical mutations. One young mutant would be Kitty Pryde and her family would be approached by Xavier about his school for gifted youngsters. Instead of being a runaway Kitty would be slowly introduced to the school and given the choice between joining the school or staying with her parents.

Cyclops and Jean would be the characters who take particular care for Kitty, helping her through doubts with her developing powers. But they would also have their own hang-ups due to their issues with controlling their abilities, their past, and their budding relationship.

Sinister would be a scientist who has lived for around 200 years and wants to create the perfect lifeform. He would be tracking mutants to see if they are viable candidates for his genetic and breeding program. He would be drawn to Cyclops, Jean, and Kitty who have a connection to him. When Sinister finds out there is a school of mutants he would target Xavier and the students and the X-Men would have to protect their home.

I would be the first to concede that is a rough idea and it would need to be developed a lot more and there would be some similarities to X-Men (2000), X-Men: First Class and Deadpool. But you can see that basic premise and themes I want to look at. This film would be able to introduce the X-Men and mutants without altering the MCU’s continuity. This film would put Cyclops and Jean front and centre of this film, being the emotional focus of the film.

Some fans would want the X-Men to face off against aliens or inner-dimensional threats but the first film in the MCU needs to be a smaller, more grounded adventure to help build them up.