S
SynthesisNY
Guest
1. Realistically speaking, will the public and fox or marvel eventually want to make an X4 (sequel) movie?
YES. X3 has made a lot of money already, and despite being presented as the last movie in the trilogy, there'e still a lot of demand/expectation for a sequel, the two principal actors, Hugh and Halle, recently expressed interest in a sequel. Halle seems pleased with her role in X3.
2. Will depowered or killed off characters like Jean Grey, Scott Summers, Xavier, Magneto, Mystique, and Rogue return?
PROBABLY NOT. For most of them. Remember, the production costs for X3 were so high because of the humongous cast expenditures. I also think that a lot of the actors signed on for 2 movies originally, so to get them back for number 3 probably was more expensive then the past, since they had more salary leverage. Plus there were all these new characters. Thus, there was a need to trim down the cast and end some of the characters arcs.
HOWEVER, I could see 1 or 2 of these returning in an X4 movie or later movies, the most obvious one being Xavier, and maybe Rogue and/or Cyclops (I'll express my ideas later). I'm guessing they'll give Mags, Mystique, and definitely Jean, a rest from the movies for a while.
PREDICTIONS/PLOT IDEAS
They will need to do a "reinvention" or a new "artistic approach" to the movies, a new style, just to make them seem fresh and new, and not yet another sequel. I can see new movie goers see the sign "X4" and be turned off, because they didn't see 1-3. This new x-men trilogy needs to be accessible to new viewers, but still be respectful of past movie continuity. Plus, the X-Men are about evolution anyway, the movie style and approach needs to reflect that.
Some essential X-Men yet to appear? To me, it seems pretty obvious :
EMMA FROST and GAMBIT
EMMA FROST
Without a telepath at the mansion, and the need to use Cerebro to track down new mutants, they need a new skilled telepath. Emma. Not only that, Storm is the new headmistress of the school. Perhaps Storm forms an alliance with Emma and the Hellfire Club ( like she did during the Mutant Massacre era in the comic books), because of some impending threat in their future, or the world has just become even more dangerous, necesitating Storm to form allegiances with other mutant groups. Plus, they just lost three teachers at the school (Cyke, Jean, Xavier), they need replacement teachers, such as Emma, and Beast, etc...
So Emma comes to the mansion as an ally and as a telepath, but she has a vastly different style than previous telepaths and staff members, leading to all types of conflicts. She's a reformed villain, and it's questionable whether she can be trusted, but she is definitely needed.
Emma's joining of the team could cause conflict, because members of the Helfire Club she is a part of are still pretty gosh darn evil, like Selene, Sebastian, etc... However, Sage comes to the mansion with Emma and is a welcome addition, since she's a "living computer," that will aid them in the upcoming struggles. Of course, Sage always works best as a character kinda in the background, not centerstage, but still highly important. Her ability to catalyze latent mutant abilities could come in handy later on in the movies (ideas: to save the dying body that Xavier is in, Sage recatalyzes Rogue's powers so that she can permanently absorb Xaviers mind, until a better solution can be found. Rogue is willing for her powers return to save his life. other ideas: Sage catalyzes Emma's diamond powers, etc...)
GAMBIT
He's the wildcard, the ultimate charmer, the ultimate thief, he's so charming and charismatic, he gains the trust of others easily. Like the comic books, his charming personality can manipulate, coerce, or enchant people. They could either make this his personality, or one of his powers, either way works. Bottom line is, he gains the trust of everyone on the team, except Wolverine, who is very suspicious of the cajun.
Gambit, if portrayed well in the movie, with a great actor, and cool special effects and stunts, could be the next "Wolverine" in terms of popularity. The charged playing cards, the handomse attractiveness, the charm, the wildcard unpredictable nature, he could be the next "shining star" in the movies.
So is Gambit being set up to be a hero or villain, or is really trying to infiltrate the team, this will leave the audience wondering, and it might not be until later movies that his true motives get revealed.
Gambit and Rogue : can be touched upon, but not necessary. The whole "boyfriend can't touch me" plot has been used. However, it would be cool for Gambit to be hitting on Rogue, Kitty, and all the girls in the mansion. Wolverine is protective of these girls, while Gambit may / or may not be up to no good with their hearts.
RETURNING X-MEN MEMBERS
Storm - leader / headmistress, is a great leader, but the world and their adversaries are getting tougher, forcing her to make some tough decisions.
Wolverine - second in command, combat trainer, distrusts Emma and Gambit,
Beast - teacher, government laison, scientist
Kitty - the X3 actress was great, further expansion of Kitty. Kitty always seems to become a prominant character in X-Men after Jean dies, let's follow that tradition, and introduce her high intellectual abilities as well.
Colossus - give Daniel Cudmore the chance to act, and have a story! If he can't act, hire someone else. Colossus is an important X-Men character, always has, let's hear him speak up! They could really play up the idea that Peter is this strong invulnerable Colossus, but has a pure heart, is highly sensitive, and is very artistic.
Rogue - maybe she sticks around the mansion to be with her boyfriend, but people hate her, because she represents the person that took the cure, that wasn't strong enough to accept herself as she is. People reject her, especially Storm. There could an increasing contrast/conflict between the
Rogue character (who is hated in the mansion), and the Kitty character (who is shining and loved by all). Rogue redeems herself later, eventually gets flight and strength powers, and starts to become more assertive ans sassy. She and Kitty eventually become friends.
Angel - you could go the direction of Archangel transformation, though I think at first, it might be good to flesh out his millionaire playboy personality. It would also be interesting if Nightcrawler and Angel ever met.....
Iceman - no ideas here, except further development of his powers.
PLOTLINES
Well, I think what will intrique and pull in the audience are themes and plots that are universal to the human experience. The first 3 movies explored prejudice, minorities, rejection from family, self-hatred, etc.. These next three movies, at the core, should take these themes to even deeper levels, times ten!!!!!!
1. MORALITY : Religious Plot : Utilize elements of the God Loves Man Kills storyline where the highly religious people view mutants as spawns of the devil. We all know how inflexible some hihgly religious people can be, there dedication to the words of the Bible. Many people have been judged immoral or sinful, just for being themselves (gay people) or for controversial behaviors, this could be a powerful plotline. NIghtcrawler could be centerstage in this plot. I really liked the ending of GLMK. Great way to end a movie. Any x-character could be that spokesperson (since Cyclops is dead). Someone simply taking a stand, using their voice, their heart, their reasoning.
2. EXTINCTION : Morrison's E is for Extinction ideas were great. Introduce the idea that Homo Superior might really be a species set to replace Homo Sapiens? Human respond violently, maybe with Sentinels, as a means of survival of their own species. Genosha - give the mutants a country of their own, only to later annihilate them with the Sentinels. The human race petty much wants mutants extinct becasue they don't want to be replaced.
3. INTEGRATION : They could have a "resocialization" approach, where they try to reintegrate mutants (who can control they powers) back into society. Charles's dream is for peaceful coexistence. Right now, the mutants are isolated away in their mansion. Mutants reintegrating into society face the trouble of not reacting to rascist remarks, but instead must use assertive problem solving, rather than using their powers as weapons.
4. REDEMPTION. Magneto as hero? Magneto feels he went too far in encouraging/using Phoenix, a girl he's known since she was a child. He feels guilty that Charles died. He's had time to experience what it's like to be a human, and has been forced to reassess the idea that humans inherently want mutants dead. Perhaps he's made a human friend too. He plans on honoring and continuing Charles's dream. Maybe when Magneto returns to these movies, he changes his ways and becomes headmaster of the mansion (Charles and Erik built Cerebro together, maybe Erik has some "ownership" in the mansion as well, or maybe Xavier's "will" states that the mansion be passed on to Erik?). They can also have the "trial of Magneto" where he willingly goes on trial with the authorities for his actions.
5. EXTREME PREJUDICE AND HATE: Shadow King. With the increased prejudice and negative energy across the world, energy that the Shadow King feeds on, he becomes more powerful and starts to taint the world, and raise negativity. He is Xavier's ultimate adversary, and with Xavier out of the picture, and the mansion reorganizing itself, the King corrupts susceptible mutants, and takes control of them, and multiplies the existing prejudice and hate in the world. Things escalate (remember the Muir Island Saga (that could have been)).
Refined versions of popular villains like Apocalypse and Sinister could be in these stories too.
Other villains they could cameo or use : Blob, Destiny, Avalanche, Cameron Hodge, Friends of Humanity, Reavers, Marauders. the Hand, etc,,,
Other heroes they could cameo or use : Banshee, Longshot, Dazzler, Psylocke (let's pretend that X3 psylocke wasn't her), Moonstar, Magma, Cecilia Reyes, Stepford Cuckoos, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Sunspot, Bishop, Forge, Boom Boom, Gateway, Chamber
Well that's all for now.
YES. X3 has made a lot of money already, and despite being presented as the last movie in the trilogy, there'e still a lot of demand/expectation for a sequel, the two principal actors, Hugh and Halle, recently expressed interest in a sequel. Halle seems pleased with her role in X3.
2. Will depowered or killed off characters like Jean Grey, Scott Summers, Xavier, Magneto, Mystique, and Rogue return?
PROBABLY NOT. For most of them. Remember, the production costs for X3 were so high because of the humongous cast expenditures. I also think that a lot of the actors signed on for 2 movies originally, so to get them back for number 3 probably was more expensive then the past, since they had more salary leverage. Plus there were all these new characters. Thus, there was a need to trim down the cast and end some of the characters arcs.
HOWEVER, I could see 1 or 2 of these returning in an X4 movie or later movies, the most obvious one being Xavier, and maybe Rogue and/or Cyclops (I'll express my ideas later). I'm guessing they'll give Mags, Mystique, and definitely Jean, a rest from the movies for a while.
PREDICTIONS/PLOT IDEAS
They will need to do a "reinvention" or a new "artistic approach" to the movies, a new style, just to make them seem fresh and new, and not yet another sequel. I can see new movie goers see the sign "X4" and be turned off, because they didn't see 1-3. This new x-men trilogy needs to be accessible to new viewers, but still be respectful of past movie continuity. Plus, the X-Men are about evolution anyway, the movie style and approach needs to reflect that.
Some essential X-Men yet to appear? To me, it seems pretty obvious :
EMMA FROST and GAMBIT
EMMA FROST
Without a telepath at the mansion, and the need to use Cerebro to track down new mutants, they need a new skilled telepath. Emma. Not only that, Storm is the new headmistress of the school. Perhaps Storm forms an alliance with Emma and the Hellfire Club ( like she did during the Mutant Massacre era in the comic books), because of some impending threat in their future, or the world has just become even more dangerous, necesitating Storm to form allegiances with other mutant groups. Plus, they just lost three teachers at the school (Cyke, Jean, Xavier), they need replacement teachers, such as Emma, and Beast, etc...
So Emma comes to the mansion as an ally and as a telepath, but she has a vastly different style than previous telepaths and staff members, leading to all types of conflicts. She's a reformed villain, and it's questionable whether she can be trusted, but she is definitely needed.
Emma's joining of the team could cause conflict, because members of the Helfire Club she is a part of are still pretty gosh darn evil, like Selene, Sebastian, etc... However, Sage comes to the mansion with Emma and is a welcome addition, since she's a "living computer," that will aid them in the upcoming struggles. Of course, Sage always works best as a character kinda in the background, not centerstage, but still highly important. Her ability to catalyze latent mutant abilities could come in handy later on in the movies (ideas: to save the dying body that Xavier is in, Sage recatalyzes Rogue's powers so that she can permanently absorb Xaviers mind, until a better solution can be found. Rogue is willing for her powers return to save his life. other ideas: Sage catalyzes Emma's diamond powers, etc...)
GAMBIT
He's the wildcard, the ultimate charmer, the ultimate thief, he's so charming and charismatic, he gains the trust of others easily. Like the comic books, his charming personality can manipulate, coerce, or enchant people. They could either make this his personality, or one of his powers, either way works. Bottom line is, he gains the trust of everyone on the team, except Wolverine, who is very suspicious of the cajun.
Gambit, if portrayed well in the movie, with a great actor, and cool special effects and stunts, could be the next "Wolverine" in terms of popularity. The charged playing cards, the handomse attractiveness, the charm, the wildcard unpredictable nature, he could be the next "shining star" in the movies.
So is Gambit being set up to be a hero or villain, or is really trying to infiltrate the team, this will leave the audience wondering, and it might not be until later movies that his true motives get revealed.
Gambit and Rogue : can be touched upon, but not necessary. The whole "boyfriend can't touch me" plot has been used. However, it would be cool for Gambit to be hitting on Rogue, Kitty, and all the girls in the mansion. Wolverine is protective of these girls, while Gambit may / or may not be up to no good with their hearts.
RETURNING X-MEN MEMBERS
Storm - leader / headmistress, is a great leader, but the world and their adversaries are getting tougher, forcing her to make some tough decisions.
Wolverine - second in command, combat trainer, distrusts Emma and Gambit,
Beast - teacher, government laison, scientist
Kitty - the X3 actress was great, further expansion of Kitty. Kitty always seems to become a prominant character in X-Men after Jean dies, let's follow that tradition, and introduce her high intellectual abilities as well.
Colossus - give Daniel Cudmore the chance to act, and have a story! If he can't act, hire someone else. Colossus is an important X-Men character, always has, let's hear him speak up! They could really play up the idea that Peter is this strong invulnerable Colossus, but has a pure heart, is highly sensitive, and is very artistic.
Rogue - maybe she sticks around the mansion to be with her boyfriend, but people hate her, because she represents the person that took the cure, that wasn't strong enough to accept herself as she is. People reject her, especially Storm. There could an increasing contrast/conflict between the
Rogue character (who is hated in the mansion), and the Kitty character (who is shining and loved by all). Rogue redeems herself later, eventually gets flight and strength powers, and starts to become more assertive ans sassy. She and Kitty eventually become friends.
Angel - you could go the direction of Archangel transformation, though I think at first, it might be good to flesh out his millionaire playboy personality. It would also be interesting if Nightcrawler and Angel ever met.....
Iceman - no ideas here, except further development of his powers.
PLOTLINES
Well, I think what will intrique and pull in the audience are themes and plots that are universal to the human experience. The first 3 movies explored prejudice, minorities, rejection from family, self-hatred, etc.. These next three movies, at the core, should take these themes to even deeper levels, times ten!!!!!!
1. MORALITY : Religious Plot : Utilize elements of the God Loves Man Kills storyline where the highly religious people view mutants as spawns of the devil. We all know how inflexible some hihgly religious people can be, there dedication to the words of the Bible. Many people have been judged immoral or sinful, just for being themselves (gay people) or for controversial behaviors, this could be a powerful plotline. NIghtcrawler could be centerstage in this plot. I really liked the ending of GLMK. Great way to end a movie. Any x-character could be that spokesperson (since Cyclops is dead). Someone simply taking a stand, using their voice, their heart, their reasoning.
2. EXTINCTION : Morrison's E is for Extinction ideas were great. Introduce the idea that Homo Superior might really be a species set to replace Homo Sapiens? Human respond violently, maybe with Sentinels, as a means of survival of their own species. Genosha - give the mutants a country of their own, only to later annihilate them with the Sentinels. The human race petty much wants mutants extinct becasue they don't want to be replaced.
3. INTEGRATION : They could have a "resocialization" approach, where they try to reintegrate mutants (who can control they powers) back into society. Charles's dream is for peaceful coexistence. Right now, the mutants are isolated away in their mansion. Mutants reintegrating into society face the trouble of not reacting to rascist remarks, but instead must use assertive problem solving, rather than using their powers as weapons.
4. REDEMPTION. Magneto as hero? Magneto feels he went too far in encouraging/using Phoenix, a girl he's known since she was a child. He feels guilty that Charles died. He's had time to experience what it's like to be a human, and has been forced to reassess the idea that humans inherently want mutants dead. Perhaps he's made a human friend too. He plans on honoring and continuing Charles's dream. Maybe when Magneto returns to these movies, he changes his ways and becomes headmaster of the mansion (Charles and Erik built Cerebro together, maybe Erik has some "ownership" in the mansion as well, or maybe Xavier's "will" states that the mansion be passed on to Erik?). They can also have the "trial of Magneto" where he willingly goes on trial with the authorities for his actions.
5. EXTREME PREJUDICE AND HATE: Shadow King. With the increased prejudice and negative energy across the world, energy that the Shadow King feeds on, he becomes more powerful and starts to taint the world, and raise negativity. He is Xavier's ultimate adversary, and with Xavier out of the picture, and the mansion reorganizing itself, the King corrupts susceptible mutants, and takes control of them, and multiplies the existing prejudice and hate in the world. Things escalate (remember the Muir Island Saga (that could have been)).
Refined versions of popular villains like Apocalypse and Sinister could be in these stories too.
Other villains they could cameo or use : Blob, Destiny, Avalanche, Cameron Hodge, Friends of Humanity, Reavers, Marauders. the Hand, etc,,,
Other heroes they could cameo or use : Banshee, Longshot, Dazzler, Psylocke (let's pretend that X3 psylocke wasn't her), Moonstar, Magma, Cecilia Reyes, Stepford Cuckoos, Wolfsbane, Cannonball, Sunspot, Bishop, Forge, Boom Boom, Gateway, Chamber
Well that's all for now.
I LOVE this idea. I love the way you bring Nightcrawler back into the movies. I was of the opinion that since Nightcrawler wasn't in X3, that he shouldn't come back in X4. You changed my mind. If they brought a religious thing into the next movies it would work perfectly for NC. People did love his character in X2.
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