I've given this combination of two recent posts it's own thread as rather than being a reboot suggestion or a merger suggestion this idea is about how to take a pick and choose approach to the Fox X-Men universe Disney has acquired in a way that allows for the smoothest possible transition to an amalgamated big screen franchise ...... We're looking for the win-win scenario here, so here goes...
I'd like to see the X-Men continuity fixed but it IS a mess unfortunately...
X-Men Origins: Wolverine / X-Men / X2: X-Men United / X-Men: The Last Stand / The Wolverine
...all works as a single continuity, but then it goes all over the place...
X-Men: First Class COULD have been taken as a prequel to that timeline if subsequent films had taken it in that direction but NEITHER version of events in 1973 in DOFP take us via the original trilogy to present day ... mutants don't have the long-established public profile in the original trilogy that takes us to the dark future of DOFP, nor does the altered future timeline follow from the events of the original trilogy.
With that in mind, one could assume that a divergence in the timeline COULD take place after First Class, meaning it still stands as part of the original continuity or it could happen before, but it that divergence DEFINITELY happens before 1973.
Logan takes place in it's own continuity where, as he says himself regarding Laura's X-Men comics, ...about a quarter of it actually happened... which is an in-story guide to how we should view the rest of the franchise' narrative in relation to Logan, but as past events described reference the original trilogy, one could suggest that this continuitys past is closer to that series of events than the current rebooted continuity is, which is why I would consider this the SECOND alternate timeline, after the original one before coming back to the rebooted timeline.
The current standing timeline, including this years movies, runs as follows...
First Class / Days Of Future Past / Apocalypse / Dark Phoenix / Deadpool / New Mutants / Deadpool 2
... but is both preceded by AND cancels out an alternate version of that where the dark future we see in DOFP follows from a version of 1973 where future Wolverine wasn't present so that's aonother TWO timelines giving us FOUR alternate timelines in all.
Coming to the series, The Gifted would actually appear to fit better into the cancelled DOFP timeline considering the high public profile of mutants, whereas the scenario in Legion would actually seem to fit better with the status quo in the original trilogy.
What you then have is pretty much how the comics have dealt with it over the years...
There are multiple alternate timelines and cancelled futures from which time-travelling mutants like Cable and Bishop can come back but not return to, but those alternate futures events still happen somewhere within the infinte "multiverse" of universes and these alternate universes cross over in titles like EXiles.
You can then take Foxes other Marvel movies and throw them into these alternate timelines, mostly that of the original trilogy, though the FF reboot can be neatly buried by throwing it into the cancelled timeline from the beginning of DOFP.
That puts everything Fox have done with their Marvel properties from the first X-Men movie to date into 4 alternate universes...
TIMELINE 1a
X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE
X-MEN
DAREDEVIL
X2: X-MEN UNITED
ELEKTRA
FANTASTIC FOUR
X-MEN: THE LAST STAND
FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER
THE WOLVERINE
"LEGION" series
TIMELINE 1b
LOGAN
TIMELINE 2a
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS
FANTASTIC FOUR (reboot)
"THE GIFTED" series
X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST (original future)
TIMELINE 2b
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS
X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST (70s)
X-MEN: APOCALYPSE
X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX
DEADPOOL
NEW MUTANTS
DEADPOOL 2
DAYS OF FUTURE PAST (altered future)
... so in theory, the mess could actually be picked up as a plot point and addressed in the same way the Marvel comics, and the X-Men stories in particular, have for years, but then the question is How, If at all, To Incorporate The Fox X-Men Universe into the MCU?
"Legion" if anything would be the easiest thing to say just happens in the MCU going only on S1, so that isn't a major issue.
"The Gifted" could be directed into a DOFP scenario and then get a soft reboot that puts those characters in the MCU if it continues to be popular. It would be awkward to have that be the only thing that ran as a standalone entity IF the movies started to cross over with the MCU so that would be the best way of keeping it going in that situation.
The series' are of lesser importance though, It would be sad to see them go, but they could be let go for the greater good if necessary.
What IS important is to have the X-Men brought into the MCU with it being CLEAR to the audience where the MCU X-Men stand as a completely separate narrative to what they've seen from Fox since 2000 whilst at the same time maintaining that they are at their core the same characters.
It can't be done by just saying the Fox X-Men as they are have always been part of the MCU,
But neither do I think it would be wise to have a confusing scenario where the Fox X-Men disappear, their spin-offs continue, and right away a new bunch of new actors pop up as the X-Men in the MCU.
I do think it's possible though, to find a workable middle ground that ties up the Fox X-Men Universe, distancing the timeline mess from the MCU narrative, but also keeping some recognisable fan favourites, and at the same time giving a respectful nod to storylines from the comics themselves and to the original trilogy's contribution to the popularity of comic book movies in the 21st century.
If anything at all of the Fox X-Men universe is to persist, first and foremost the continuity mess needs to be addressed in-story.
The MCU is far neater, and whilst in the comic book "616"universe, characters age at about a fifth the rate they do in the real world, the MCU doesn't mirror this the way the X-Men movies have seemed to over recent years.
Have the concept of alternate timelines and universes discussed within the main line of X-Men movies, with reference to some of the possibilities that have given us the continuity conflicts we've seen in the past decade, and have the multiverse concept discussed in similar fashion in the MCU, with Strange's and Wanda's powers, Ant-Man's access to the "quantum realm" and devices like the Reality Stone being possible keys to cross-universe interaction of some sort.
Hold back on re-booting the Fantastic Four but take advantage of the consolidation of a character rights to put Reed Richards to use...
There's precedent in the comics for alternate versions of Richards from different universes in the multiverse communicating with each other, So introduce an MCU version of Richards who whilst being an acknowledged genius, has kept his powers under wraps so far, and have the same actor play the X-Men universe version of Richards who is a member of a Fantastic Four who are known to the X-Men, eventually with post-credits scenes where the two versions communicate.
If we are to get any more X-Men movies in the current continuity, then give the Fox X-Men movies a grand finale with an AGE OF APOCALYPSE movie, with possibly one other X-Men movie in the main line first following Dark Phoenix set at the time the first X-Men's events occurred, demonstrating the timeline variation.
An AOA movie could then finish with a timeline cancelling event that says goodbye to the Fox X-Men universe but allows for an EXiles spin-off that could use whatever characters it wanted from each of the timelines in the Fox X-Men universe, so for instance you could use this to keep X-23 from Logan even with a different Wolverine introduced in the MCU.
The 616 universe has featured characters from alternate futures and alternate universes such as the "Ultimate" universe, and comic-book movies are essentially about translating comic-book concepts onto the big screen, so as far as the wider Marvel comics narrative goes and what the MCU can do to portray it then acknowledging the multiverse is surely the next step, so the need to rectify the X-Men continuity mess actually becomes something that can be put to use to facilitate the introduction of a new but familiar X-Men into the MCU without having to have a long break after winding up the Fox timeline to give audiences time to accept what would otherwise be an all too immediate hard reboot of the X-Men.
Many fans are concerned about how this will affect Deadpool, but considering his habit of breaking the fourth wall and Cable being from an alternate future, there's more than enough scope there to explain in dialog that most of what we've seen of him happened in the MCU, albeit with less X-Men interaction, so his future isn't really a concern at all, In fact we'll probably get to see Bob working for HYDRA now so that's a cherry on the cake in itself.
Nor do I think continuing New Mutants as a franchise will be an issue if it's a hit as it sounds like it's going to work as a pretty contained movie, so like "Legion" I think it might be possible to just say it's in the MCU, we'll see.
So then with Deadpool, New Mutants, Legion and Gifted (given a soft reboot if it's kept going) safe from needing to be sidelined, and X-23 and other fan favourites from the X-Men movies salvageable on a pick and choose basis using the EXiles as a jumping off point, and scope for some of the same actors portraying the MCU versions with retconned backstories, where do we take it from there?...
I'd like to see the X-Men continuity fixed but it IS a mess unfortunately...
X-Men Origins: Wolverine / X-Men / X2: X-Men United / X-Men: The Last Stand / The Wolverine
...all works as a single continuity, but then it goes all over the place...
X-Men: First Class COULD have been taken as a prequel to that timeline if subsequent films had taken it in that direction but NEITHER version of events in 1973 in DOFP take us via the original trilogy to present day ... mutants don't have the long-established public profile in the original trilogy that takes us to the dark future of DOFP, nor does the altered future timeline follow from the events of the original trilogy.
With that in mind, one could assume that a divergence in the timeline COULD take place after First Class, meaning it still stands as part of the original continuity or it could happen before, but it that divergence DEFINITELY happens before 1973.
Logan takes place in it's own continuity where, as he says himself regarding Laura's X-Men comics, ...about a quarter of it actually happened... which is an in-story guide to how we should view the rest of the franchise' narrative in relation to Logan, but as past events described reference the original trilogy, one could suggest that this continuitys past is closer to that series of events than the current rebooted continuity is, which is why I would consider this the SECOND alternate timeline, after the original one before coming back to the rebooted timeline.
The current standing timeline, including this years movies, runs as follows...
First Class / Days Of Future Past / Apocalypse / Dark Phoenix / Deadpool / New Mutants / Deadpool 2
... but is both preceded by AND cancels out an alternate version of that where the dark future we see in DOFP follows from a version of 1973 where future Wolverine wasn't present so that's aonother TWO timelines giving us FOUR alternate timelines in all.
Coming to the series, The Gifted would actually appear to fit better into the cancelled DOFP timeline considering the high public profile of mutants, whereas the scenario in Legion would actually seem to fit better with the status quo in the original trilogy.
What you then have is pretty much how the comics have dealt with it over the years...
There are multiple alternate timelines and cancelled futures from which time-travelling mutants like Cable and Bishop can come back but not return to, but those alternate futures events still happen somewhere within the infinte "multiverse" of universes and these alternate universes cross over in titles like EXiles.
You can then take Foxes other Marvel movies and throw them into these alternate timelines, mostly that of the original trilogy, though the FF reboot can be neatly buried by throwing it into the cancelled timeline from the beginning of DOFP.
That puts everything Fox have done with their Marvel properties from the first X-Men movie to date into 4 alternate universes...
TIMELINE 1a
X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE
X-MEN
DAREDEVIL
X2: X-MEN UNITED
ELEKTRA
FANTASTIC FOUR
X-MEN: THE LAST STAND
FANTASTIC FOUR: RISE OF THE SILVER SURFER
THE WOLVERINE
"LEGION" series
TIMELINE 1b
LOGAN
TIMELINE 2a
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS
FANTASTIC FOUR (reboot)
"THE GIFTED" series
X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST (original future)
TIMELINE 2b
X-MEN: FIRST CLASS
X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST (70s)
X-MEN: APOCALYPSE
X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX
DEADPOOL
NEW MUTANTS
DEADPOOL 2
DAYS OF FUTURE PAST (altered future)
... so in theory, the mess could actually be picked up as a plot point and addressed in the same way the Marvel comics, and the X-Men stories in particular, have for years, but then the question is How, If at all, To Incorporate The Fox X-Men Universe into the MCU?
"Legion" if anything would be the easiest thing to say just happens in the MCU going only on S1, so that isn't a major issue.
"The Gifted" could be directed into a DOFP scenario and then get a soft reboot that puts those characters in the MCU if it continues to be popular. It would be awkward to have that be the only thing that ran as a standalone entity IF the movies started to cross over with the MCU so that would be the best way of keeping it going in that situation.
The series' are of lesser importance though, It would be sad to see them go, but they could be let go for the greater good if necessary.
What IS important is to have the X-Men brought into the MCU with it being CLEAR to the audience where the MCU X-Men stand as a completely separate narrative to what they've seen from Fox since 2000 whilst at the same time maintaining that they are at their core the same characters.
It can't be done by just saying the Fox X-Men as they are have always been part of the MCU,
But neither do I think it would be wise to have a confusing scenario where the Fox X-Men disappear, their spin-offs continue, and right away a new bunch of new actors pop up as the X-Men in the MCU.
I do think it's possible though, to find a workable middle ground that ties up the Fox X-Men Universe, distancing the timeline mess from the MCU narrative, but also keeping some recognisable fan favourites, and at the same time giving a respectful nod to storylines from the comics themselves and to the original trilogy's contribution to the popularity of comic book movies in the 21st century.
If anything at all of the Fox X-Men universe is to persist, first and foremost the continuity mess needs to be addressed in-story.
The MCU is far neater, and whilst in the comic book "616"universe, characters age at about a fifth the rate they do in the real world, the MCU doesn't mirror this the way the X-Men movies have seemed to over recent years.
Have the concept of alternate timelines and universes discussed within the main line of X-Men movies, with reference to some of the possibilities that have given us the continuity conflicts we've seen in the past decade, and have the multiverse concept discussed in similar fashion in the MCU, with Strange's and Wanda's powers, Ant-Man's access to the "quantum realm" and devices like the Reality Stone being possible keys to cross-universe interaction of some sort.
Hold back on re-booting the Fantastic Four but take advantage of the consolidation of a character rights to put Reed Richards to use...
There's precedent in the comics for alternate versions of Richards from different universes in the multiverse communicating with each other, So introduce an MCU version of Richards who whilst being an acknowledged genius, has kept his powers under wraps so far, and have the same actor play the X-Men universe version of Richards who is a member of a Fantastic Four who are known to the X-Men, eventually with post-credits scenes where the two versions communicate.
If we are to get any more X-Men movies in the current continuity, then give the Fox X-Men movies a grand finale with an AGE OF APOCALYPSE movie, with possibly one other X-Men movie in the main line first following Dark Phoenix set at the time the first X-Men's events occurred, demonstrating the timeline variation.
An AOA movie could then finish with a timeline cancelling event that says goodbye to the Fox X-Men universe but allows for an EXiles spin-off that could use whatever characters it wanted from each of the timelines in the Fox X-Men universe, so for instance you could use this to keep X-23 from Logan even with a different Wolverine introduced in the MCU.
The 616 universe has featured characters from alternate futures and alternate universes such as the "Ultimate" universe, and comic-book movies are essentially about translating comic-book concepts onto the big screen, so as far as the wider Marvel comics narrative goes and what the MCU can do to portray it then acknowledging the multiverse is surely the next step, so the need to rectify the X-Men continuity mess actually becomes something that can be put to use to facilitate the introduction of a new but familiar X-Men into the MCU without having to have a long break after winding up the Fox timeline to give audiences time to accept what would otherwise be an all too immediate hard reboot of the X-Men.
Many fans are concerned about how this will affect Deadpool, but considering his habit of breaking the fourth wall and Cable being from an alternate future, there's more than enough scope there to explain in dialog that most of what we've seen of him happened in the MCU, albeit with less X-Men interaction, so his future isn't really a concern at all, In fact we'll probably get to see Bob working for HYDRA now so that's a cherry on the cake in itself.
Nor do I think continuing New Mutants as a franchise will be an issue if it's a hit as it sounds like it's going to work as a pretty contained movie, so like "Legion" I think it might be possible to just say it's in the MCU, we'll see.
So then with Deadpool, New Mutants, Legion and Gifted (given a soft reboot if it's kept going) safe from needing to be sidelined, and X-23 and other fan favourites from the X-Men movies salvageable on a pick and choose basis using the EXiles as a jumping off point, and scope for some of the same actors portraying the MCU versions with retconned backstories, where do we take it from there?...
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