MCU X-Men - Part 1

[Rorschach2012]

You know why not. Would you have been cool if they had hired someone like Jadyen Smith or Trevor Jackson to play Peter Parker?

Jaden Smith would suck as Peter. Don’t know the three guy. I’m actually cool with a black Peter and a black Xavier.

Donald Glover would’ve been awesome as Spider-Man in TASM. Garfield was awful.

And Denzel just needs to be in the MCU period. Him as Xavier would be sweet but I would rather see him as a villain.

Professor X - David Oyelowo
Magneto - Daniel Craig

 

[Fincher]

I do like the idea of Daniel Craig as Magneto (not criticizing the notion of a black version).

 

[Mangle77]

Here is a roster for the first film's team that might work, using the "5 Man Band" formula:

Leader: Storm
Lancer: Sunfire
Heart: Kitty Pryde
Big Guy: Colossus
Smart Guy: Forge

Diverse as you could reasonably ask for, no race-bending needed, mostly well known.
Show a few other members at the school, and use the Krakoa storyline, or something similar, with Mr. Sinister as the villain, having captured some if not all of the O5. Tease Wolverine in the credit scene, have him join in the sequel.

 

[Marvel united]

Here is a roster for the first film's team that might work, using the "5 Man Band" formula:

Leader: Storm
Lancer: Sunfire
Heart: Kitty Pryde
Big Guy: Colossus
Smart Guy: Forge

Diverse as you could reasonably ask for, no race-bending needed, mostly well known.
Show a few other members at the school, and use the Krakoa storyline, or something similar, with Mr. Sinister as the villain, having captured some if not all of the O5. Tease Wolverine in the credit scene, have him join in the sequel.

Add Cyclops to make it 6 (Like the first Avengers) and I'm game. Although I want Jean too to be honest

 

[Protar]

I think you need Jean. Presumably at some point the MCU will do the whole phoenix thing. Jean is just too key to the X-men mythos. I suppose that you could start without her and bring her in in a later film as a new character making a big splash.

 

[Marvel united]

Actually, I'd replace Sunspot with Jubilee

 

[CaptainWagner]

What is even the point of putting the X-Men in the MCU if you want them to be less faithful to the comics than the FOX universe was?
Why should we care about Magneto if he can't be the Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver's father and has an unrecognizable origin?

Faithfulness has nothing to do with skin tone and everything to do with the characters acting like themselves and the stories being in line with the source material. Do you seriously think people won't care about Magneto if Wanda and Pietro aren't his kids? Just use Polaris. And the Holocaust isn't the only recognizable real world tragedy out there, you know?

Nope, Magneto would be a hot mess going forward. Writers would be unable to mine his appearances in comics for inspiration, because so many of them are informed by being a minority from WW2 Germany and his relationships with his children (played by white actors).

First off, Wanda and Pietro are not and will not be Magneto's children in the MCU. There's no way they retcon that, especially when (as stupid as the decision was) they changed that in the comics.

And what Magneto stories are "informed" by him being a Holocaust survivor? What matters is that he has witnessed and survived first-hand the evil that humans perpetrate on those who are different from them.

You know why not. Would you have been cool if they had hired someone like Jadyen Smith or Trevor Jackson to play Peter Parker?

I'm not familiar with Trevor Jackson (He doesn't look like a Peter-esque character, though) and Jadyen Smith is the worst. But as someone else mentioned, I would have been all for Donald Glover playing Peter back in the TASM days.

 

[Mad Ones]

Are we at the point where diversity requires white actors being the minority of the cast?

"Sorry, Mr. DiCaprio. You had the best screen test for the character Cyclops, but we've reached our white hero quota."

What you're describing is how actors of colour have been treated for decades in media.

You'd think with the X-men's themes the movie should actually meaningfully address this exclusion.

 

[Marvel united]

Magneto would benefit greatly from a race swap, particularly Arabic. I agree with the sentiment that his origin needs to be updated. That's one race change that just makes too much sense

 

[Chip Chipperson]

Denzel as magneto who grew up during the civil rights movement

That would work for me

 

[Shikamaru]

You're assuming that Marvel is going to create a "white quota" as if to dictate how many white characters they can have on the team before it becomes too much which is kinda ridiculous. Nightcrawler has never been a "white dude" he was born from Raven and Azezel whom are blue and red. So he can be played by any race. Colossus, yeah I agree. He has to be white but just because two other white people are in the team doesn't mean he can't be added because he's white. When you start doing that, you become too focused on a characters skin color as opposed to the CHARACTER themselves and that will make you miss out on some of the best X-Men members. That's just my opinion.

Any commitment to doing a multi-ethnic team is going to have white quotas (as well as black quotas, Asian quotas, etc. - diversity doesn't mean adding one other ethnicity and ignoring the rest). You can't commit to having diversity otherwise, especially if you want to be realistic and have the X-Men be Millennials.

 

[Marvel united]

Any commitment to doing a multi-ethnic team is going to have white quotas (as well as black quotas, Asian quotas, etc. - diversity doesn't mean adding one other ethnicity and ignoring the rest). You can't commit to having diversity otherwise, especially if you want to be realistic and have the X-Men be Millennials.

This is still a Comic book movie, though. And while yes, there are themes of oppression and racism in the franchise, this isn't a biopic film about 1960s America. To exclude iconic members of the team because they would make the team too white is just ridiculous. Making sure yhe team is equally diverse and checking off every single minority box evenly should not take absolute priority over telling an awesome, badass X-Men story. Because once you start trying to make everyone equally represented, SOMEBODY is going to be or feel left out if they aren't represented as much as another group- and that should absolutely not be Marvels top priority when making their first X-Men film.

 

[fan4stic]

Denzel as magneto who grew up during the civil rights movement

That would work for me

He could be from the holocaust. Make him black and jewish, if we're going with him.

 

[Shikamaru]

This is still a Comic book movie, though. And while yes, there are themes of oppression and racism in the franchise, this isn't a biopic film about 1960s America. To exclude iconic members of the team because they would make the team too white is just ridiculous. Making sure yhe team is equally diverse and checking off every single minority box evenly should not take absolute priority over telling an awesome, badass X-Men story. Because once you start trying to make everyone equally represented, SOMEBODY is going to be or feel left out if they aren't represented as much as another group- and that should absolutely not be Marvels top priority when making their first X-Men film.

Why can't they tell an awesome badass X-Men story and have a lot of diversity at the same time? They're not mutually exclusive, you know.

And you're right, it won't be a biopic about 1960s America. It will be a film taking place in a contemporary America dealing with current issues. As a result it would look dated and awkward if a vast majority of X-Men are white. How would something like that even be believable when half of Millennials aren't white? (And before you say "it's a comic book movie", both 616 and MCU have had a touch of realism to their universe since inception).

 

[MasterCat]

Well Xavier and Logan are not millenials. Kick Angel out of the original 5 in favor of Storm and cast Beast Asian or Iceman Latino or something. Ta-da, realistic demography.

 

[Mangle77]

Add Cyclops to make it 6 (Like the first Avengers) and I'm game. Although I want Jean too to be honest

I was thinking Scott and Jean would be among the captives; not unlike Giant-Size X-Men #1. Plus, if Scott's there, he takes the leadership by default.

I'd like to see Havok done right, and his personality conflicts with Scott would make him a perfect candidate for the Lancer position, but I'm also trying to find a good way to handle the diversity issue. Having both Summers brothers in the first movie means another white guy. I recognize that you can't please everyone, but I'm trying to find a good compromise.

Earlier today, I had a kooky idea about how Krakoa could be introduced, and tied into an existing event in the MCU: remember the scene in GOTG2 when Ego was causing that biomass to grow? Living planet; living island?

 

[Lip]

Why can't they tell an awesome badass X-Men story and have a lot of diversity at the same time? They're not mutually exclusive, you know.

And you're right, it won't be a biopic about 1960s America. It will be a film taking place in a contemporary America dealing with current issues. As a result it would look dated and awkward if a vast majority of X-Men are white. How would something like that even be believable when half of Millennials aren't white? (And before you say "it's a comic book movie", both 616 and MCU have had a touch of realism to their universe since inception).

Amen

Also, let Beast, Kurt and Raven be played by white actors, please. Castig POC just to hide their skin under makeup and CGI doesn't help much.

 

[Marvel united]

Why can't they tell an awesome badass X-Men story and have a lot of diversity at the same time? They're not mutually exclusive, you know.

Right, but when you start excluding characters because of their skin color, you become a slave to diversity- limiting yourself and not telling the story you want to tell because you have to exclude certain characters.

And you're right, it won't be a biopic about 1960s America. It will be a film taking place in a contemporary America dealing with current issues. As a result it would look dated and awkward if a vast majority of X-Men are white. How would something like that even be believable when half of Millennials aren't white?

Because this isn't an Oscar bait biopic movie about real life. The issues mirror our society but it's still a fictional series that already has pre-established characters and stories. Marvel's main objective when rebooting the X-Men shouldn't be making sure that every single real life minority group gets equally represented. It is important to make sure there is more representation but I think what you're proposing is going too far.

(And before you say "it's a comic book movie", both 616 and MCU have had a touch of realism to their universe since inception).

Yet Doctor Strange, Peter Parker, Peter Quill and a slew of other characters are still their original race from the source material. Going by this logic, nobody in the MCU that resides in NYC would be white because of how multi-cultural it is in real life.

 

[Shikamaru]

Right, but when you start excluding characters because of their skin color, you become a slave to diversity- limiting yourself and not telling the story you want to tell because you have to exclude certain characters.

I think you're misinterpreting it. Like with Spider-Man, Marvel will want to make something that looks and feels contemporary. Having X-Men that look and feel more contemporary will just be a natural outcome out that vision. From the way you're describing it, it sounds like you think they'll first throw in some minorities and then start to brainstorm X-Men stories. It will probably be the other way around - they'll start paralleling mutants to discrimination in current America, and then select the ethnicities and quotas to fit those parallels.

Because this isn't an Oscar bait biopic movie about real life. The issues mirror our society but it's still a fictional series that already has pre-established characters and stories. Marvel's main objective when rebooting the X-Men shouldn't be making sure that every single real life minority group gets equally represented. It is important to make sure there is more representation but I think what you're proposing is going too far.

Saying "this isn't a movie about real life" is just another way of saying "it's a comic book movie", which I already said isn't a valid reason. Ever heard the cliche expression "extraordinary characters in an ordinary world"? That was Marvel's MO since day 1. They literally built their entire brand (both in comics and movies) on placing superheroes in what looks and feels like our world - same people, cities, politics, etc. It's not like the DCU where it's ambiguous if 9/11 happened, if Trump is president or if the demographics are the same. Marvel has always more-or-less been our world plus all the fantasy stuff.

Yet Doctor Strange, Peter Parker, Peter Quill and a slew of other characters are still their original race from the source material. Going by this logic, nobody in the MCU that resides in NYC would be white because of how multi-cultural it is in real life.

Lack of diversity is already a problem with the MCU, but it would be significantly worse with the X-Men. Mutants are in every ethnicity and culture. Xavier is supposed to assemble a team of mostly 15-30 year old mutants from everywhere. How would a majority of the team be white?

 

[Mangle77]

Actually, I'd replace Sunspot with Jubilee

The problem with that is that Jubilee is too young to fit the bill as "Lancer": the idea is someone who could reasonably act as second in command of the team, or the wild card, or sometimes just the one that argues with the Leader. I'm quite fond of Jubilee, but Sunfire's arrogance makes him a better fit for the role.

First off, Wanda and Pietro are not and will not be Magneto's children in the MCU. There's no way they retcon that, especially when (as stupid as the decision was) they changed that in the comics. Just use Polaris.

I would be OK with that.

And the Holocaust isn't the only recognizable real world tragedy out there, you know? And what Magneto stories are "informed" by him being a Holocaust survivor? What matters is that he has witnessed and survived first-hand the evil that humans perpetrate on those who are different from them.

Magneto would benefit greatly from a race swap, particularly Arabic. I agree with the sentiment that his origin needs to be updated. That's one race change that just makes too much sense

Someone brought a recent atrocity to my attention; have you ever heard of the Yazidis?

 

[MasterCat]

Erik Lehnsherr the Arab?

 

[Protar]

Right, but when you start excluding characters because of their skin color, you become a slave to diversity- limiting yourself and not telling the story you want to tell because you have to exclude certain characters.

There is no need to exclude characters if you open up the possibility of racebending. You can have a black Cyclops that is still true in personality to comicbook Cyclops. Changin Cyclops's race doesn't affect the story in any way, but it means you can have that iconic character and still be diverse.

 

[Shoppy]

Of all Marvel's properties the X-Men has probably had the most racially diverse membership of their team over the years...

...With that in mind why on earth are people talking about taking active steps to change the race of characters?

 

[Abudefduf]

It's because almost all of the major X-Men, the ones that people really want to see, are white. It's kind of a problem.

 

[Protar]

Of all Marvel's properties the X-Men has probably had the most racially diverse membership of their team over the years...

...With that in mind why on earth are people talking about taking active steps to change the race of characters?

If you actually look at the X-men cast...most of the big names are still white. Storm is obviously an iconic minority character but who's next after her? Jubilee? Psylocke? They're cool characters but that's a big jump down in fame.

You can definitely assemble a cast of let's say six racially diverse X-men without race changing anyone but it would be primarily b-listers. Which could still work, but the A-list X-men are more fleshed out and have more fan appeal. Certainly, if they want to do the original 5 they will have to race change half the cast if they want to stay true to the spirit of the franchise in any way.

I don't know if they will go down the OG 5 route, but it seems likely that Professor X, Cyclops and Jean Grey will all be main characters. And at least one more OG member like Beast or Iceman seems likely. At that point, you've only got a couple more slots for main characters (much more than six heroes will be hard to balance). Ergo we'd end up with a core of three white stars with some secondary minority characters.