That's more subtle than "Mutant and Proud" (and "You didn't ask so I didn't tell") and didn't involve Mystique shouting across the beach to a Beast who did all he can do to not roll his eyes (along with the rest of the audience). Not like the make-up and prosthetics would've allowed him to roll his eyes to anyways!
And I think the majority agrees that scene at Bobby's house was a very powerful scene and one of the many highlights of X2.
is more appealing a new movie like Chronicle, with no comic book characters?
This is cinema. The movies can be funny and cool without the need to be an adaptation of a comic, novel or tv show.
It just deppends on how the director, writer and co. handle the characters.
Comic fans care about comic characters, general movie viewers care about cool stuff and a cool movie.
But I dont want to start another endless discussion about how X4 is a better option than a FC sequel with Banshee, Havok, Polaris and co.

But being the mutant leaders (and in Charles' case, a teacher) is a very important part of who these two characters are. If there's no team for them to lead/teach in the movie, you lose that aspect and all the team interactions as well. Maybe less so for Erik because he doesn't really become a leader until the end when he fully comes into his powers, but definitely for Charles. Especially since Charles himself is not particularly action-oriented.
Like I said before, when the movie was in production I always defended the filmmakers' decisions regarding the cast they chose. And I loved FC. It's only in retrospect that I've come to realize it was IMO probably a mistake. And just because I say one thing doesn't mean another. I can most definitely enjoy a movie without Logan, Scott, Jean, and Storm.
It's just a matter of the filmmakers being kind of wussy. They didn't have the balls to make a compelling movie that focused only on Xavier and Magneto. (They could've just made that, called it "X-men: Beginnings" or something, and put in mutant villains that inspired them to create the X-men).
They didn't have the energy to make a movie that introduced Xavier and Magneto AND Scott, Jean, and Storm.
Instead they chose to do a movie about Xavier and Magneto and sprinkle in a bunch of mutants that would "fill" up the movie.
And I repeat, I loved the movie, but it kind of left them stuck on where to go next.
Also, I didn't mean to say that Singer and Vaughn are not competent. Quite the opposite actually. They just didn't quite step up to the challenge.
Well, I dunno know about that, unless I'm misunderstanding you here.
These are comic book films. Therefore we (fan community, comic readers, etc.,) are what provide the legs and positive word of mouth to hook the non-fans into the mix. We provide the repeat business weeks and weeks after the initial release and the general audience has moved on to other movies. It lives or dies with us first.
The producers of FC appealed to a very small percentage of X-Men fans by heavily pushing fairly less popular and/or less interesting characters. If they want the house filled, they need to bring the original big guns. It's just that simple. It's a formula. F*** with it, and it blows up in your face. LOL![]()
The more hardcore fanboys all wanted the Original Five of the comics so that First Class the film was like First Class the comic. The mainstream (and most of the X-Men filmfans on here) wanted the Original Three of the films (Scott, Jean, Storm) as mentioned in X1.
The film could have opted for three of those five (Scott, Jean, Beast) or added Storm to make it line up with what was said in X1. Banshee could still have been added too.
The first X-Men is a tough decision - do you go for the Original Five of the comics, the Original Three of the films, do you include or ignore the backstory we have seen for Scott and Jean in the other films?
The more hardcore fanboys all wanted the Original Five of the comics so that First Class the film was like First Class the comic. The mainstream (and most of the X-Men filmfans on here) wanted the Original Three of the films (Scott, Jean, Storm) as mentioned in X1.
The film could have opted for three of those five (Scott, Jean, Beast) or added Storm to make it line up with what was said in X1. Banshee could still have been added too.
Why do people also assume singer had such a massive hand in first class? He was a producer (they foot the bill) and vaughn directed and still had alot of control. And Im sure singer had more involvement than most producers, but everyone seems to want to credit singer for everything and that's not the case. FC was not "his" film
Singer came up with the story and characters used, but when Vaughn was hired he rewrote the whole thing. So yeah, I think Singer let Vaughn do whatever he wanted to. Vaughn wouldnt have came on board otherwise. That guy doesnt seem interested in making other peoples visions.
I think XM: DOFP will move back to the vision that Singer had for the series in the beginning, before it got derailed by the past 3 films (The Last Stand, Origins: Wolverine, First Class).
The more hardcore fanboys all wanted the Original Five of the comics so that First Class the film was like First Class the comic. The mainstream (and most of the X-Men filmfans on here) wanted the Original Three of the films (Scott, Jean, Storm) as mentioned in X1.
The film could have opted for three of those five (Scott, Jean, Beast) or added Storm to make it line up with what was said in X1. Banshee could still have been added too.
I would really, really, really hope not. FC felt so fresh and new, I think it would be a real pity to then just put it aside and go back for the sake of nostalgia or continuity or Singer wanting to do the X3 he never got to make.
But if I remember right, in X1 Xavier says that Scott and Jean were his first students. Whereas in FC Banshee etc. were not really his students - they were there as CIA recruits and the school wasn't even started yet.
As for characters backstories, I think FC wanted to concentrate on the relationship between Erik and Charles rather than what each of them got up to separately over the years. We didn't see much of Erik's past life either apart from that one crucial event in the prologue.
Sure, I don't expect DoFP to have the same approach as First Class - which I don't think would have been the case anyway even if Vaughn remained as a director. DoFP seems like a very different kind of story, I don't think that all the "60s James Bond" touches would have remained and it seems like a darker kind of story as well. But at the same time I hope it's not a complete throwback to Singer's own films, if only because both the 60s setting and the post-apocalyptic world are something different to the original films, and something that I would hope demand a different approach.
Sure, I don't expect DoFP to have the same approach as First Class - which I don't think would have been the case anyway even if Vaughn remained as a director. DoFP seems like a very different kind of story, I don't think that all the "60s James Bond" touches would have remained and it seems like a darker kind of story as well. But at the same time I hope it's not a complete throwback to Singer's own films, if only because both the 60s setting and the post-apocalyptic world are something different to the original films, and something that I would hope demand a different approach.
I would really, really, really hope not. FC felt so fresh and new, I think it would be a real pity to then just put it aside and go back for the sake of nostalgia or continuity or Singer wanting to do the X3 he never got to make.