Marvel Is Already Deviating From X-Men Movie Tradition, And That’s a Good Thing for the MCU

Across cartoons and live-action, one thing has stayed consistent for the X-Men — The O5 are never together. The O5, made up of Jean Grey, Cyclops, Beast, Iceman, and Warren Worthington III’s Angel, may have been the first X-Men, but they’re the team that got the book cancelled in the ‘60s. As a result, Jean Grey and Cyclops usually stay in the fray, while Angel, Beast, or Iceman get pushed aside in favor of fan favorites like Wolverine, Storm, and Nightcrawler. 

Still, if casting rumors prove true, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is breaking tradition by keeping them together. Over the last two months, casting rumors have surfaced around Angel, Beast, and most recently Iceman, characters that many assumed would be absent from the X-Men lineup. The presence of all these characters suggests an O5 within the MCU, likely to be founded by Sadie Sink’s Jean Grey, and allows for the generational aspect of the X-Men to finally shine on screen. 

A Full Original Five X-Men Line Up

Throughout the X-Men franchise films, audiences got the original five X-Men as characters but never as a team. The first class of the Xavier Institute in the first X-Men film was stated as Jean Grey, Scott Summers, and Ororo Monroe’s Storm, a very small class even by Xavier standards. X3: The Last Stand introduced viewers to Beast — although he aligned with the government, not the mutant cause — and Angel, who has been hiding his wings to fit in with human society. Despite being the same age as Scott and Jean in the comics, the X-Men movies aged down Iceman to make him a peer and love interest for audience surrogate Rogue. 

Moreover, we’re told about the initial team, but we don’t see them in flashbacks or see how they worked together. We also don’t know how much time has passed between the founding of the school and Wolverine and Rogue bursting onto the scene. 

Part of the charm, and inherent confusion of the X-Men movie franchise, is that this first class is rewritten in the prequel X-Men: First Class, making Xavier’s first students Havok, Darwin, the other Angel, Beast, and Mystique. X-Men: Days of Future Past introduced Quicksilver, while Jean Grey, Scott Summers, Nightcrawler, Jubilee, and Storm would all be introduced in X-Men Apocalypse. 

Having the original five in the MCU lets audiences see the beginning of the X-Men and glimpses of what readers liked about Marvel Comics’s Silver Age. The struggles of being a mutant teenager can be front and center, and the messiness of forming a team of those from different backgrounds — it feels notable that Jean Grey’s upbringing was changed for the MCU, and Iceman is also likely different from his comic counterpart. It also goes without saying that it was an excellent, and needed, choice to have Storm cast alongside these mutants, given her position as a fan favorite and much needed black representation. 

A Fresh Villain Linked to Scott and Jean

The casting of Adam Driver as Nathaniel Essex finally brings a villain to X-Men movies that is linked to Scott and Jean. A prevalent critique of the original movie franchise is the centering of Wolverine and how the movies inevitably became about him. Storm was given little to nothing to do and Scott got killed off in the beginning of The Last Stand. 

Having Nathaniel Essex aka Mister Sinister as a villain for X-Men not only centers Scott and Jean in a plot not related to Wolverine, but it also brings genetics and mutation to the forefront. Mister Sinister is obsessed with mutation and unlike other antagonists to the X-Men is a mutant of his own creation. He hadn’t started out that way. 

While X2’s William Stryker was motivated by his son’s status as a mutant, and Magneto consistently acts in the interest of homo superior, Sinister is a man that occupies both human and mutant at once. He’s obsessed with Scott Summers and the offspring that Scott and Jean will create, a plotline that’s been explored in animation but has yet to see a life action adaptation.  

Pre-Existing Audience Surrogate

For the original three X-Men films audiences followed Rogue as an audience surrogate with the later films in the franchise tracking Xavier, Magneto, and Mystique as main characters. The MCU uniquely won’t have the task of setting up one, given that mutants have already been introduced given Jean Grey’s role in Spider-Man: Brand New Day. For a refresher on Jean Grey’s history, check out the video below:

Audience surrogates have long been a part of X-Men stories, with Kitty Pryde and Jubilee taking on the role in the comics during the ‘80s and ‘90s. They allow those new to the franchise the ability to hop on and get to know the universe that’s existed long before they arrived. It’d be interesting to see just how much exposure audiences will get right away and what will be a learn-as-you-go type situation. With Cyclops, Mystique, Xavier, Magneto, and Channing Tatum’s Gambit confirmed for Avengers: Doomsday, Jean Grey will no longer be the only mutant the Avengers will have encountered, even if rumors suggest several of the original X-Men franchise characters will be dead by the end. 

Having Jean as the audience surrogate allows for a centering of the character outside of the overdone Phoenix plot. It’ll allow for a Scott-Jean romance to unfold organically, along with showcasing Jean’s leadership prowess that has often been left out of the movies. Having Jean as the character that the audience follows may also give the franchise a chance to expand its class and follow the X-Men comic tradition of the institute frequently gaining new students. 

With the O5 casting all but confirmed, what do you predict for the MCU’s X-Men? Let us know in the comments below!

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