The X-men are coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, that is a fact. And you can’t dispute facts so with that in mind I started to think what storylines I would like to see on the big screen whenever possible.
The X-men in short
The X-men have been around since 1963 and in short this is what the X-men are:
The X-men are a band of mutants who, thanks to the X-gene, are born with extrahuman abilities such as teleportation, optical beams or changing your body into organic steel. Because of that the world hates and fears them, the same world they are trying to protect from evil mutants and extra terrestrial threats.
The X-men are led by Professor X or Professor Charles Xavier who is the strongest mutant telepath in the world. The X-men fight for equality and against bigotry. And while the roster has undergone numerous mutations, the original X-men were:
- Scott Summers with alias Cyclops and his mutant powers were optical beams that shoot from his eyes
- Bobby Drake with Iceman and he can do anything with ice.
- Warren Worthington III alias Angel, he has wings and fly like a bird.
- Jean Grey, alias Marvel Girl, the power of telekinetics and later telepathy
- Henry “Hank” McCoy, alias Beast, the epitome of humankind; superstrength, agility and stamina and so much more.
Their first adversary was Magneto. Magneto is an interesting character; he started out as a one dimensional villain but over the years writers have given him so much background that he is a fully developed 3D character now. His powers are magnetism.
Over the years the X-men have had numerous encounters with several enemies such as the aforementioned Magneto but also the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, The Hellfire Club, the Phalanx, Genosha and the Sentinels.
Ever since Kevin Feige mentioned that the X-men are coming to the Marvel Cinematic Universe albeit with one character at the time, there are storylines I would love to see in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
The X-men vs Proteus
The X-men versus Proteus was a storyline from 1979 and it pits the X-men versus the son of their friend and researcher Moira McTaggert. Proteus is considered to be one of the biggest and baddest villains in the history of the X-men. His powers were so powerful that he could change reality with them. The downside of that was that he would need a new host body after a while.
In the X-men comics, Proteus was anything but a love child. In fact, Moira McTaggert got pregnant after her husband Joseph McTaggert raped and beat her. After he did that, she left him and never told him that she is pregnant with his child.
While on Muir Island at the Mutant Research Center , Proteus , who’s name is Kevin McTaggert, powers started to manifest. Proteus powers’ however formed an immediate danger to his direct environment so Moira built a room that helped contain his mutant abilities. The downside of that was that he lived his life locked up in a cell.
While the chamber’s esoteric energy fields kept Proteus safe and healthy , one day after the X-men fought Magneto, the door accidentally opened allowing Proteus to escape and he took over the body of one Angus MacWhirter.
Proteus soon realized that anyone else’s body but his own detoriated very fast leaving him to reason that he should try and takeover the body of Phoenix, who then was blissfully unaware of her darker side.
In the days that followed, Proteus stalked Jean Grey and waited for the perfect moment to strike. However by the time a window of opportunity opened up, his body was too weak to even make a dent and he was easily brushed off by Jean’s psychic attack. With his body on the decline real fast because of the use of his powers Proteus possessed and drained one body after the other. Proteus even tried to take over the body of Mistress of Magnetism and also Magneto’s daughter Polaris but utterly failed.
At some point Proteus runs into Wolverine and Nightcrawler and a fight ensued. Proteus tried to take over Wolverine’s body but turned out to be allergic to metal. Despite his weakened state, he managed to alter reality in the most powerful way leaving especially Wolverine dazed confused and scared.
With the training of Cyclops, Wolverine became himself again and the team took on Proteus in Edinburgh where Colossus struck him in his metal form dispersing Proteus all over.
Why turn this story into a movie?
This story would show how powerful mutants can be and what happens if an evil person turns into a mutant. The mutants would be hated and feared, especially feared by powers such as Proteus’ powers.
The team would also have to come together for this. With the X-men coming into the Marvel Cinematic Universe slowly and gradually. It is just possible to introduce the characters one by one. I mean who’s to say that Moira McTaggert is not hired by the government to help with research into mutants and meeting Charles Xavier that way.
Cyclops and Jean Grey could be introduced as the first students. But what of Wolverine. When we meet him back in 1975 he works for the Canadian government at Department H. Right after the events of Weapon X.
While I mentioned the original roster of the X-men earlier in the article, I also mentioned that the roster has gone through numerous changes in the past 57 years. Meaning that the roster could be very flexible from this point on.
We have met Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Gambit, Storm and many more already during the years at Fox. But mutants that we have not seen yet are Colossus, or at least not very prominent. The same goes for Gambit, he only starred in Wolverine origins and was mentioned on a computer screen in the X2 movie. Dazzler would be another one that deserves screentime in my opinion. She made her debut and was inspired during the disco era in the late 1970s but with the current Tik Tok rage, she could be one of the X-men that would still be true to the comics albeit in a way.
But what of Longshot, Shatterstar and BoomBoom? There are so many things that you can do with the X-men roster that it becomes almost impossible to pick the perfect team for a potential movie.
The Mutant Massacre
The Mutant Massacre was a storyline that ran in the 1980s and was started when the Marauders killed a certain Tommy in order to find the secret location of an underground mutant community that lived in the sewers of New York called The Morlocks. The Morlocks are essentially mutants who were born with looks so scary that society rejected them.
The Marauders were hired to wipe out the entire Morlock community.
The following X-teams that consists of old and new members of the X-men teamed up and fought the Marauders at high cost. Many Morlocks were killed, The X-men were severely wounded and the Marauders mostly got away. This also goes for Gambit.
The story itself is very invigorating and violent. Especially in the 1980s the comics became a little more violent but with good reason; a war was raging and people die in war. That is logical. Unlike the 1990s comics where people were just showing off their powers and there was not much of a follow up.
The Mutant Massacre storyline could potentially introduce Mr. Sinister and link him to Cyclops and Jean Grey. But also Sabretooth and The Marauders ofcourse. And the Morlocks to further establish why mutants are hated and feared.
Since the Avengers played a prominent role in the Mutant Massacre storyline you can tie them in as well. Meaning that you can have Thor cleanse the Morlock tunnels by burning it to the ground using Stormbreaker or Mjolnir. Just like he did in the comics.
The Imperial Guard
The Imperial Guard guard the throne of the Shi’Ar, a space race originally in the X-men comics. With the Marvel Cosmic Phase we could be introduced to the Shi’Ar through the Guardians of the Galaxy or AsGardians of the Galaxy as Thor calls them at the end of The Avengers: Endgame movie.
The Imperial Guard also have a huge roster but the most prominent member is Gladiator who is essentially Superman with purple skin. The catch is however, Gladiator is only strong when his confidence is sky high. When that fades he will become weaker. Much like a person with a strong charisma. It is only as strong as their confidence allows it.
The Shi’Ar have featured heavily in the X-men comics since the 1970s and with the Marvel Cosmic Phase coming it would be an excellent time to introduce them. Lilandra , the empress of the Shi’Ar Empire has a love relation with Professor Xavier, the founder of the X-men so that can be tied.
The Shi’Ar are very powerful and have technology at their disposal that has never been seen on Earth so that could turn into a war story with Earth or they could help against the Kree. The post credits scene of Nick Fury in space at the end of Spiderman: Far from home hinted that he is going to war with the Kree. So it would be the perfect time to take the Shi’Ar empire into account.
What would you like to see in the upcoming X-men movies in the Marvel Cinematic Universe? Please let us know in the comics.
