James Marsden Reflects on the X-Men Franchise's Legacy After 20 Years

X-Men's James Marsden is in a mood to reflect as the movie series turns 20. The actor sat down with Cinemablend to discuss the milestone and he spoke to the power that the early films have managed to keep. X-Men and its sequels basically cornered the market on the "superhero look" in every one of the genre's films outside of Batman. (This really wouldn't be legitimately challenged until the Marvel Studios movies came onto the scene.) In a lot of ways, you can thank X-2, along with The Matrix, for how every mid-tier action movie in the mid-aughts looked and felt. The appeal of the slick re-imagining is basically undeniable at this point.

"I think we all hoped it would become what it's become, and we knew it had the power to with the legacy of the X-Men universe. They've been around since 1962, 1963? And so when we first started, it was 40 years of backstory and superfans," Marsden said. "So we knew if we do this right, this could be something forever, for a long, long time. I'd hoped, but I did not anticipate that they'd still be making them. I mean, I thought maybe they'd make 4 or 5 of them in its success, but how many have they made now, 10? So it's kinda crazy and really cool."

"Obviously I'm not a part of all of them, but you exist in that universe and it's always something I've been really proud of. It was definitely the first time in my career I was like, 'Now I'm a part of something really special right now, and this is a once in a lifetime kind of opportunity.' It's rare to know you're a part of something special while you're shooting," he added. "Oftentimes you shoot it and it becomes some sort of surprise success, i.e. like The Notebook or something like that, where no one knew when you were filming it. But during the X-Men movies, it was like, 'Okay, this is something unique. This is something special.'"

Unfortunately, for fans of the series. The New Mutants have been postponed yet again. There is no word on where the movie will land yet. Comicbook.com reached out for comment about the film, but hasn't heard back. X-Men: Dark Phoenix is out in the world to watch if you're waiting for your mutant fix. Marvel Studios has not released their plans for whatever's next for Charles Xavier's group of gifted youngsters.

Did you love the X-Men films back in the day? Let us know in the comments!