Sequels Recasting the X-Men for the MCU

[Airwings]

He'd have to be very old indeed to be a direct victim of the holocaust unless you slowed his ageing.

Magneto should be quite old, but not THAT old. What about having him tied to Vietnam war? He could be one of the younger american soldiers. Maybe captured and tortured? Some kind of trauma to wake up his dormant mutant power

Maybe even turn the character asian? He could be a kid in a village in Vietnam, his parents killed etc

 

[Protar]

Magneto should be quite old, but not THAT old. What about having him tied to Vietnam war? He could be one of the younger american soldiers. Maybe captured and tortured? Some kind of trauma to wake up his dormant mutant power

Maybe even turn the character asian? He could be a kid in a village in Vietnam, his parents killed etc

That's another possibility I could get behind. Whichever backstory they go with it just needs to be genuine and well researched. I don't want Magneto (or Xavier) to be too old though. The original trilogy gave us a classic older take on the characters, the First Class saga gave us a look at X and Magneto as young men. For the MCU I reckon they should go somewhere in the middle with actors in their Mid-40's/Early-50's. Experienced, but still with plenty of room to grow in wisdom. Plus these guys are going to be major characters for potentially the next twenty years of movies. Casting too old to start with would be a mistake imo.

 

[JamesHOWLETT]

You're saying Hugh Jackman wasn't a clean cut guy 15-20 years ago?
I remember him doing a live musical number on TV around that time, appearing very "English gentleman" like, dancing and singing. His facial looks was similar to that in Kate & Leopold. And he did this performance when he had already started playing Wolverine.
Not to forget, he returned to the classy musical style not long ago with Greatest Showman.
Why couldn't Zegers also change for a more masculine and tough vibe when it's required?

Radcliffe then, is he androgynous and pretty looking in all of his roles?
Check out Horns!

Honestly, yes, Hugh Jackman was always too traditionally attractive to play Logan. Wolverine is supposed to be a gruff, hairy, badboy and biker guy look not a model looking pretty boy. Why continue doing the ssme thing Fox did? I can't stand when people bring up Zac Efron or even Scott Eastwood for the part.They are too pretty looking imo.

 

[Marvel united]

'The Uncanny X-Men': (Note: This is casting for a 2024-2025 film)

Spoiler

Charles Xavier - David Oyelowo ('Selma')


Scott Summers - Forrest Goodluck ('Indian Horse', 'The Revenant')


Jean Grey - Amybeth McNulty ('Annie With an e')



Ororo Munroe - Karidja Toure ('Girlhood')


Bobby Drake - Marcel Ruiz ('One Day At A Time')

Kitty Pryde - Mia Quiney ('Eva Stories')

Directed by Nia Dacosta ('Little Woods', 'Candyman')

 

[MilkmanDan]

Magneto should be quite old, but not THAT old. What about having him tied to Vietnam war? He could be one of the younger american soldiers. Maybe captured and tortured? Some kind of trauma to wake up his dormant mutant power

Maybe even turn the character asian? He could be a kid in a village in Vietnam, his parents killed etc

Magneto as a soldier doesn't really work. He should be a civilian who lost his family in a genocide. Rwanda, Cambodia and former Yugoslavia are the obvious options if you want to update his backstory.

 

[Airwings]

Magneto as a soldier doesn't really work. He should be a civilian who lost his family in a genocide. Rwanda, Cambodia and former Yugoslavia are the obvious options if you want to update his backstory.

As I wrote in the post you just quoted:

He could be a kid in a village in Vietnam, his parents killed etc

 

[MilkmanDan]

True, but I think Cambodia is a better option than Vietnam if you want to pick an Asian country from that era. That would make Magneto's family victims of a genocide rather than casualties of war.

 

[Airwings]

Marvel united: Did you just post a picture of a director? Should we consider if she looks the part of the director's chair?

 

[JamesHOWLETT]

Hey guys as far as uniforms go I want to have a mix of individual and an overarching connector much like Star Trek (90s) had. In many ways they are like Star Trek. They should be seen as the MCU's terestrial Star Trek much like Gaurdians are Star Wars.

I want Storm and others to stand out with color but overall have a more streamlined look that binds them together like this.

All the Xs are the same silver and the uniforms are this paramilitary grade fabric but they are still colorful if a bit more muted. Things that adorn them can be tailored to each character to make them look more unique and suggest rank on the team etc.

 

[Marvel united]

For Professor X, I'm sure it's been mentioned before but I think David Oyelowo would be a good pick for the role. Who better to play The MCU's Martin Luther King than the guy who played Martin Luther King. I'm definitely a fan of drawing that parallel a bit more strongly in the MCU than in the Fox films.

For Magneto I think there's a few directions they could go. I think his origin should be updated to a more recent tragedy, be it the Rwandan genocide, war in the middle-east or hate crime in the USA. I think his anger and extremism being born from direct experience with cultural oppression is more important than him being specifically tied to WWII. He'd have to be very old indeed to be a direct victim of the holocaust unless you slowed his ageing. And even then I'd rather he be a contemporary of Xavier.

I think it's important that whoever they cast actually be from whichever area they tied his origin to. If he's a victim of the Rwandan genocide cast a Rwandan actor. If they want to keep him Jewish but change him to an Israeli Jew, cast an Israeli actor.

I they play up the MLK/Malcolm X allegory and cast an African American actor I think Jamie Fox could be a good shout. Or Wesley Snipes if they want to go a bit older.

I'm all for this. I also like the idea of Tyler Perry as Charles seeing as he's a great actor outside of the Madea movies and he does bring that supporting star power to the project.

For Magneto, there are unfortunately a lot of examples to choose from:

- Tutsi genocide (Rwandan Civil War)
- Srebrenica massacre (Bosnian War)
- Anfal genocide (Iran-Iraq war)
- Dirty War (Operation Condor)
- Apartheid Crimes (South African Apartheid)
- Camobedian Genocide (Khmer Rouge period)

There are so many injustices and crimes against humanity commited in the last 40 years that Marvel could pull from for an updated Magneto. I liken it to what Watchmen did with the Tulsa race riots, shining a spotlight on some forgotten, but terrible periods in human story. I'm all for X-Men educating people in this way

Marvel united: Did you just post a picture of a director? Should we consider if she looks the part of the director's chair?

Well, I wanted it to be apparent that a poc, a woman and a black woman specifically- is helming/shaping the X-Men for a new generation

Hey guys as far as uniforms go I want to have a mix of individual and an overarching connector much like Star Trek (90s) had. In many ways they are like Star Trek. They should be seen as the MCU's terestrial Star Trek much like Gaurdians are Star Wars.

I want Storm and others to stand out with color but overall have a more streamlined look that binds them together like this.

View attachment 33616 View attachment 33615
All the Xs are the same silver and the uniforms are this paramilitary grade fabric but they are still colorful if a bit more muted. Things that adorn them can be tailored to each character to make them look more unique and suggest rank on the team etc.

Great ideas here Although I'd make them a bit more colorful and comic booky. I said before that the X-Men could look towards the Avengers for inspiration in that, they want to represent the same thing to people so they adopt the colorful outfits. They also serve wider thematic purpose i.e X-Men being the lights in a dark world

 

[fan4stic]

Magneto's from WW2 time. as far as I know the character's jewish. It doesn't need to be changed. easy fix for his age:

Nazi's did experiments, among them was a use of one of the experimental serums they were making that they gave Bucky. Erik, being a mutant, it effects his DNA differently, and slows his aging instead of enhancing him in other ways.

Or Shield captured him. And he's been locked up, trapped in an energy prison made up of his own magnetic field and it's kept him young.

I've seen ideas of his magnetism powers making it so he doesn't age normally or something like that.

 

[JamesHOWLETT]

I prefer Magneto as a consequence of Endgame. It makes sense given that is around the time Cap changes history for his own benefit.

Displacing Erik through space and time when he was a young man right after seeing his parents killed by Nazis. Maybe he falls into a portal or wormhole occuring because time was altered. The portal takes him to the late 80s early 90s where he is orphaned. Meeting his friend Charles after receiving a gifted scholarship to a top university is when he shares his abilities and origin.

Xavier being the first to believe him due to his abilities they become inseparable.

It adds another angle because lets say he only sees one of his parents murdered he could have enormous amount of guilt for not being able to help his parents or save his people at all.

Not only that it adds another dimension to the Endgame storyline and plothole of his Caps uncharacteristic selfishness and paves the way for a Steve Rogers return.

 

[Airwings]

JamesHOWLETT:
I like your comparison with Star Trek. The TNG pic was spot on.
Maybe next X-Men should draw inspiration from the ST reboot films?

You said that you don't want good looking actors as Wolverine, and claim that even Hugh Jackman was kinda the wrong guy for the part.
But he was universal loved, he's even synonymous with the character. Part of the success depends on him. And when he gave his final performance in Logan, a truly praised film, he was more tough and weathered than ever.
Do you still considered him a failure?

Why can't another actor change that much for the role?

 

[Protar]

Magneto's from WW2 time. as far as I know the character's jewish. It doesn't need to be changed. easy fix for his age:

Nazi's did experiments, among them was a use of one of the experimental serums they were making that they gave Bucky. Erik, being a mutant, it effects his DNA differently, and slows his aging instead of enhancing him in other ways.

Or Shield captured him. And he's been locked up, trapped in an energy prison made up of his own magnetic field and it's kept him young.

I've seen ideas of his magnetism powers making it so he doesn't age normally or something like that.

You can definitely explain things away like that but I still don't like it. For starters WWII is so played out in the media that it just doesn't hit audiences the same way any more. Having Magneto experimented on by HYDRA agents or similar is a fantasy. It's important to me that Magneto's suffering be very grounded and real. This is a chance to educate audiences and update the story.

Second, I'd rather that Charles and Erik be contemporaries.

 

[Airwings]

I wanted it to be apparent that a poc, a woman and a black woman specifically- is helming/shaping the X-Men for a new generation

It shouldn't matter if the director is male or female, white or colored. What matters is if the director
a) can handle a big property like X-Men
and
b)could bring some great vision for the film

 

[fan4stic]

You can definitely explain things away like that but I still don't like it. For starters WWII is so played out in the media that it just doesn't hit audiences the same way any more. Having Magneto experimented on by HYDRA agents or similar is a fantasy. It's important to me that Magneto's suffering be very grounded and real. This is a chance to educate audiences and update the story.

Second, I'd rather that Charles and Erik be contemporaries.

Hence the other options. But nazis did experiment. that's not fantasy. and it doesn't have to have that be his sole experience. I think there's talks from some on MCU X-Men thread about the eternals having those things make mutants. I mean, come on. those things can be done, without changing the character's origin. it's what the character's from.

Having in recent years viewed things about those situations, I am still sickened by it. it's not played out.

They can be men who respect eachother and see eachother as peers, whether born at the same time or not.

 

[Protar]

Hence the other options. But nazis did experiment. that's not fantasy. and it doesn't have to have that be his sole experience. I think there's talks from some on MCU X-Men thread about the eternals having those things make mutants. I mean, come on. those things can be done, without changing the character's origin. it's what the character's from.

Having in recent years viewed things about those situations, I am still sickened by it. it's not played out.

They can be men who respect eachother and see eachother as peers, whether born at the same time or not.

Of course Nazis did in reality perform countless experiments. But they weren't whipping up super soldier serums. Make Magneto the victim of some Hydra-esque super soldier programme and his trauma becomes removed from reality. Insisting on keeping his origin in WWII wouldn't educate or resonate with people. It would just create yet another cheapened, fantastical version of the war. However fantastical Magneto and the X-men stories get, Magneto's origins should draw from completely real human tragedies, without any added superhero stuff. And you just can't do that with WWII anymore unless you cast an actor in their 80s/90s (which causes other issues).

 

[Protar]

It shouldn't matter if the director is male or female, white or colored. What matters is if the director
a) can handle a big property like X-Men
and
b)could bring some great vision for the film

Of course anyone could helm an X-men film, but as the X-men are an allegory for minority discrimination, I think a POC and/or a member of the LGBTQIA community could best tell that story for the MCU.

 

[fan4stic]

Of course Nazis did in reality perform countless experiments. But they weren't whipping up super soldier serums. Make Magneto the victim of some Hydra-esque super soldier programme and his trauma becomes removed from reality. Insisting on keeping his origin in WWII wouldn't educate or resonate with people. It would just create yet another cheapened, fantastical version of the war. However fantastical Magneto and the X-men stories get, Magneto's origins should draw from completely real human tragedies, without any added superhero stuff. And you just can't do that with WWII anymore unless you cast an actor in their 80s/90s (which causes other issues).

Him being experimented on with that wouldn't be where his trauma would come from in these scenarios that I'd prefer for the character.

WWII resonates with me. Why wouldn't it with others?

hence the other options.

The character being that age, even if I were to position that, doesn't mean the actor has to be.

 

[Airwings]

Of course anyone could helm an X-men film, but as the X-men are an allegory for minority discrimination, I think a POC and/or a member of the LGBTQIA community could best tell that story for the MCU.

Don't forget that X-Men actually is superhero material. The director has to be able to handle that too.

 

[Protar]

Him being experimented on with that wouldn't be where his trauma would come from in these scenarios that I'd prefer for the character.

WWII resonates with me. Why wouldn't it with others?

hence the other options.

The character being that age, even if I were to position that, doesn't mean the actor has to be.

If he was part of some superserum project, that would be a big part of his trauma, because being experimented on would naturally be pretty traumatic. And I'd rather that his trauma be grounded entirely in something real.

And the fact is that people have seen WWII done a hundred times before in movies, tv, video games. People are just desensitised to it at this point. If you want a character whose origin is rooted in a real world tragedy, WWII is just too overplayed, especially if you're going to add fantasy elements.

 

[Protar]

Don't forget that X-Men actually is superhero material. The director has to be able to handle that too.

Most of the MCU's big directors have not had any prior experience directing superhero flicks. The important thing is an understanding of plot and character development and in the case of an allegorical film an understanding of the central issue.

 

[Airwings]

But they still had something going for them and weren't hired JUST because of nationality or any social background

 

[Protar]

But they still had something going for them and weren't hired JUST because of nationality or any social background

At no point did I say just hire the director based on their nationality.

 

[Airwings]

No you didn't. But I'm saying it.

The logic discussed here would, for example, make an african director best choice for any Hollywood film that takes place in Africa because he/she best understands the culture of the continent, and that previous experience for doing something similar to that particular film (let's say it's just a vacation comedy/drama) comes second hand.
Or an american romantic film taking place in the Italian/Greek countryside should have a Italian/Greek director. Doesn't matter there's no such genre on the director's CV before that, but only completely different stuff than romance/romcoms.
That were examples of nationality. Now we go to backgrounds

Have a former police-turned-director to make a film about cops and/or crimes. Even give him/her known properities in the genre (Lethal Weapon, Sherlock Holmes etc etc) as his/her first major film. Just because the background is such an important trait for getting the job.

Or war films should only be made by directors who have many years of military background, a real former career there, having been stationed in several different problem zones, not just doing the basic military service.
Because no other directors, how famous or skilled they are, understand the terror and pain of war.

Sometimes there's more to making a film than the director's nationality and background. We can ask: Has he/she done something in the genre, or similar, before? That would help!
If the property is big, has the director done something of the same scale?
With scale, I mean than someone who's done a grand adventure, or a grand sci fi, or a grand historical epic, could most likely also handle a grand fantasy film or grand superhero film. Atleast the size of the film won't be a problem for the director.
The grand director whould have the upper hand, if the only other director choice for a big blockbuster film has only done smaller projects in one single genre before.
Just an example here.

X-Men being partly about minority groups shouldn't only favour directors from minority groups just for the sake of it. X-Men is also a typcial "genre film" and several minority directors would maybe crash it. Being minority doesn't equal the ability to handle X-Men, to actually understand the property (supernatural angle and stuff).
When hiring the director, there's more to him/her than just social background. The studio should be sure they have got the right one with the right skills..