Bill & Ted Creator Reveals Why He Took His Name Off Original X-Men Movie

As the co-creator of Bill & Ted on the eve of the release of the long-awaited third installment of the franchise, writer Ed Solomon has no problem in admitting he's made mistakes in his career. This is especially true in the case of X-Men, the Marvel movie that helped re-start the popularity of modern superhero films and launch the career of Hugh Jackman. And though Solomon regrets distancing himself from X-Men after helping write the script alongside Christopher McQuarrie, the filmmaker says he wouldn't have it any other way.

During an interview with ComingSoon about the release of Bill & Ted Face the Music, Solomon made it clear that he was more hard-headed earlier in his career, which lead to him deciding to distance himself from X-Men — and it's all the fault of Super Mario Bros.

"Well, Chris McQuarrie and I were originally given credit on the movie and we both believed David Hayter deserved credit as well," Solomon told us. "Probably the appropriate credit would've been the three of us. I took my name off of it in an act of immature hubris because I had had an experience on Super Mario Bros where I worked two weeks on it, and then another week or two on set. I was away when the arbitration happened. I didn't deserve credit on that movie. I was seventh of nine writers. I was given credit probably because no one else wanted credit."

Solomon added, "And so, when X-Men came along, I thought, I don't want my name on a movie that I wasn't the sole writer or at least the last writer on. Where I was making these choices. So I took my name off it. That was immature. It was self-indulgent, immature hubris. It was stupid on a business level and it was stupid on a creative level. It was just juvenile, but it taught me a lot. It taught me a lot about myself, and it actually changed my own relationship with my ego and with my work."

Solomon said he's proud for working on the movie and that he knows he's "an idiot" for taking his name off the project, adding that he wouldn't have it any other way.

"But at the end of the day, would I be a happier person? No, because it forced me into a kind of self-analysis and retooling of my own inner experience of work that made me a healthier person and maybe a better person overall. So in hindsight, it probably wasn't a bad decision, but only because I chose to turn it into something that would hopefully in the long run be healthier for me. If I were to do it all over again, of course, I wouldn't take my name off it."

Bill & Ted Face the Music premieres in theaters and on demand tomorrow on Friday, August 28th. The last of the X-Men movies from the era of 20th Century Fox is also set to hit theaters when The New Mutants premieres on August 28th.