5 X-Men Netflix Series Marvel Fans Would Love

We’ve recently gotten on opportunity to see what’s possible for the X-Men franchise on the small screen, thanks to FX’s acclaimed new series, Legion. That X-Men TV invasion will continue with X-Men: Gifted, an upcoming network TV series that’s directly tied to the X-Men movie continuity.

Aside from expanding into television, the X-Men franchise has broken some bold new ground on the big screen, as well. Thanks to Fox’s movie franchise leading the way with films like Deadpool and Logan, superhero fans now have more adult-themed offerings coming their way. In order to help the X-Men brand continue to expand and great ways, here are X-Men Netflix Series Marvel Fans Would Love.

Fantomex

Created in the 2000s, Fantomex has become a quick fan-favorite of the X-Men Comics – and would make for one hell of a weird, Legion-style X-Men Netflix series. 

As a product of the Weapon Plus program, created as a “Super Sentinel” to wipe out mutants, Fantomex comes with a wide arc to travel toward his current superhero status. But what would really make the series unique are the bizarre details of the character’s backstory:

His home is an artificial reality called “The World”; his powers include creating illusions (or “reality skews”) in people’s head, super-spy physicality, healing factor and marksmanship; his nervous system is a techno-organic flying saucer called E.V.A. that he’s psychically linked to – and oh, he has three brains, to boot. 

As a crook turned X-Force operative, Fantomex is weird and violent enough to make him a perfect fit for Netflix. 

The Morlocks

The Morlocks are a community of mutants living underground in NYC, and are basically the Freaks and Geeks of the X-Men universe. They shelter mutants too hideous, crazy, or unstable to exist in the world; too unsightly to even be part of Professor Xavier’s beloved X-Men. 

What makes The Morlocks perfect for an X-Men Netflix series is that they are a self-contained world within the X-Men universe, with their own mythos and culture. Their race-on-race friction with the X-Men over appearances and status quo is a compelling new point of view, and a great metaphor for poverty, mental illness, income inequality, and the social stigmas that come with them. 

A Netflix Series could explore the dark holocaust that struck the Morlock community (more on that next), and the resulting rise of extremist factions like The Gene Nation. 

Marauders

Since the X-Men Netflix shows would exist in the same sandbox, a great sister series to Morlocks would be Marauders. 

What makes The Marauders such interesting subjects is that they are a team of mutant assassins assigned to kill other mutants. The extra wrinkle of interest is that the Marauders are owned body and soul by Mr. Sinister, who uses the team as pawns and enforcers in his chess-like schemes (from genocidal killings to political manipulation), and clones them back to life whenever they fall in battle. 

A Netflix series could get fully dark and bloody with the idea of superpowered assassins, as well as the sci-fi premise of clones caught in a disturbing cycle of death, mayhem, and rebirth. Given the Marauders’ many lifetimes of service, the show could be wonderfully non-linear, jumping to different dark milestones in the Marauders’ mission log. 

…That includes an epic episode dedicated to recounting the Morlock massacre. 

The Multiple Man

Jamie Madrox used to be known as “The Multiple Man” because his mutant power involves creating duplicates of himself. He declined membership in the X-Men, but was a part of the government’s X-Factor team of mutants. After nearly dying, he became a private eye in mutant town, and opened X-Factor Investigations.

The character has always been a prime choice for a Netflix series because Madrox’s duplicates are actually independent, fully-formed beings with thoughts (and sometimes lives) of their own. That has resulted in weird storylines where duplicates have tried to replace the original Madrox, or have caused him to take on mental/emotional trauma from duplicates that have suffered terrible traumas and/or deaths. 

A Netflix series based on Madrox could go full Black Mirror with its sci-fi head-trips, keeping viewers guessing about which Madrox is on screen at any given point, and playing with some pretty messed up ideas of sex and violence using his duplicates. Sounds fun to us!

Mystique

Rebecca Romijn made Mystique a mainstream villain in the original X-Men trilogy, while Jennifer Lawrence made the character into a mainstream X-Men anti-hero during the second trilogy (the First Class continuity). However, hardcore Marvel Comics fans know that neither of these depictions of Mystique is faithful to the character’s legacy in Marvel Comics canon.

Mystique is a character who exists in a gray area somewhere between main character and recurring character – anti-hero and villain – and she needsa platform that properly examines her character in that way. A Mystique Netflix series could be the ultimate espionage thriller (sex, lies, betrayal, violence), with a unique psychological component, as well. 

The character has led a few interesting solo series in the comics, so a Netflix series could deliver on the character’s potential, filling in X-Men movie continuity gaps, or serving as a clever interquel to upcoming films, as we learn just how much behind-the-scenes influence Mystique has had on the X-Men universe.