How to Get the X-Men TV and Movie Universe Right

The X-Men Franchise has had a hard time finding its way to blockbuster franchise success in the way that Marvel Studios has – despite having a thick bench of iconic Marvel Comics characters and a roster of big name stars on payroll.

Videos by ComicBook.com

It’s almost baffling that Fox hasn’t been able to do more with its X-Men franchise – especially since it was X-Men that led the way for the superhero movie revolution in the early 2000s. Even now, with new films headed to the screen (Logan); new films in production (Legion and Matt Nix’s Untitled X-Men Series), it still does not feel like the golden era of a live-action X-Men Universe. As one of Marvel Comics’ oldest and most popular entities, the X-Men deserve something better.

Here’s How to Get the X-Men Franchise Right.

Clarify Continuity

This is the no. 1 thing that needs to happen with the X-Men franchise: the continuity is a mess.

Superhero fans (and even mainstream moviegoers) are now used to getting invested in these multi-platform cinematic universes – they delight in being immersed in the mythos, spotting connections, and watching big crossover events come together.

Ever since X-Men Origins: Wolverine, the X-Men movie continuity has been convoluted – and even the soft-reboot effects of Days of Future Past, there is still major confusion about how the First Class continuity will eventually link up to the Original Trilogy; how The Wolverine fits with Logan; how Logan fits with X:Men: The Last Stand, etc. TV isn’t much help (so far), with Legion separating itself from the X-Men movie continuity, and the Matt Nix show’s movie connections still unclear, making its placement in overall continuity still unclear.

For fans to truly get into this X-Men Cinematic Universe, it has untie this continuity knot.

Invest In Big Characters

Fox has (no pun) played it too conservatively when it comes to investing time and development in its X-Men characters – and then, giving them a suitable platform to stand on.

Too many great characters have been cameo or one-off characters in the films (Angel, Gambit, Juggernaut, and many others), and so far the TV shows we’ve seen haven’t put major characters from the comics front and center. Meanwhile, films with major characters like Gambit have stalled, and it took a miracle for Deadpool to ever get made.

With Hugh Jackman stepping away after Logan, the X-Men franchise needs major actors to lead the way, and talented actors to play them. With DC and Marvel Studios and Star Wars all rolling the dice on establishing new types of characters and films, Fox needs to stop playing it safe and actually move forward with an ambitious plan to put major characters in some major TV/Film projects.

Embrace the Comics

There’s been a growing divergence between Fox (owner of the X-Men movie/TV rights) and Marvel Comics (owner of the characters’ comic book rights), the due studios’ inability to find common ground for sharing the characters.

Marvel has understandably been concerned with how Fox has presented the X-Men and their plans for the live-action universe, while Fox hasn’t been critical of Marvel’s rumored suppression of Fox-owned characters in the comic books.

But most Marvel fans – even those who love the X-Men movie franchise – would agree: the films have not been as faithful to the comics as fans would like. If the live-action X-Men universe embraced more of the comic book aesthetic and mythos, then it would be good for fans, probably a much-needed bridge between Fox and Marvel, and a great guide for Fox to build a much stronger onscreen universe.

Create Big Events

One problem with X-Men franchise is that there are no big “events” that will make fans fully invest in all of the studio’s projects. With little connective tissue between projects, and a continuity that’s near-impossible to follow, in some ways each X-Men project ends up being a “standalone.”

The simple fact is that the X-Men franchise needs a destination on its road map – a big event that fans will work their way up to – all the way through any related TV or movie projects that pave the way there.

The X-Men comic book universe has some of the most popular and iconic event storylines in the Marvel imprint – so let’s start making use of more of them. Worked out pretty well for Days of Future Past…