Back in the 90’s there was a group of individuals who dominated everything from video games to Saturday morning cartoons. The X-Men are the children of Stan “The Man” Lee and artist Jack Kirby. Marvel’s mighty mutants have been through everything from series cancellations, movies that never got off the ground, and movies that didn’t even look like the X-Men. God I hate Brett Ratner.
In 1991, with the help of Jim Lee’s 'cool as ice' comic run, the X-Men were everywhere. Later, Spider-Man took center stage in the Marvel Universe, but now is the time for X-Men fans to step back into the light. Here are several reasons I’ll be celebrating X-Mas this year.
Games
X-Men the Arcade Game
The 1992 arcade smash hit is back, but you don’t have to keep paying 25 cents every 15 minutes to play. For ten bucks you can bring the childhood joy to your Xbox or PS3. Sure the game isn’t much compared to the graphics of today’s video games, but you can switch difficulty levels and team up with other mutants through online playing and defeat Magneto as part of a team. The only problem is when you fight with people on the other side of the world you tend to not work well together. In any event, it’s awesome.
X-Men Destiny
Not much is known about the upcoming game from Activision. I’ve only seen brief teasers for it, but from what I understand you may able to become your own mutant, choose a side, and go crazy in a world full of X-Men and Sentinels. Here is a link to the website and trailer:
Movies
X-Men: First Class
I haven’t been a big enthusiast of X-Men movies since X3 ruined the Fox franchise for me. God I hate Brett Ratner. I have small hopes for this film. However Snatch and Kick-Ass director Matthew Vaughn is helming this project so that raises my hopes a little. Next is the casting of James McAvoy as a young Charles Xavier, Kevin Bacon as Hellfire Club leader Sebastian Shaw, and January Jones as Cyclop’s future lover, and one day Head Mistress of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, Emma Frost. Also, Chuck creator Josh Schwartz and former X-Men and X2 director Bryan Singer helped write the script. I’m trying not to get excited but with a crew like that I can’t help but dream.
The Wolverine
The sequel to the 2009 film and X-Men spin-off, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, is set to start shooting in April. Hugh Jackman is already hitting the gym to buff back up for the role as the man who is the best at what he does, but what he does isn’t very nice. This film is set to look at Logan’s samurai past and his time in Japan. Darren Aronofsky is directing this film after just coming out with the Golden Globe nominated film, Black Swan. Aronofsky also directed The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke and the sci-fi classic Robocop. I’m always a little biased on anything X-Men because I’ve been a fan since I was a kid, so we’ll see how a Wolverine movie holds up without Ryan Reynolds jokes.
Comics
Ultimate X
It's been months since the last issue as come out but writer Jeph Loeb is finally continuing his tale of X-Men 2000. After the events in Ultimatum all mutants are considered outlaws so the surviving X-Men go into hiding. Jean Grey dyes her hair black and changes her name. But she is soon found by Wolverine's son and they begin collecting astranged mutants. That's pretty much the last thing readers know. I'm a big fan of Loeb so I'm curious to see where he'll take the heroes who have sworn to protect a world that fears and hates them.
Age of X
Over ten years ago Marvel gave us The Age of Apocalypse. This was an alternate reality where Charles Xavier never lived to form the X-Men and his best friend Magneto fought the good fight against the villain Apocalypse in a dystopian future. Now Marvel seems to be bringing that back, sort of.
The Age of X begins in January and is set to be a world where Xavier never formed the X-Men. I’m not sure how this is different from The Age of Apocalypse, but I love alternate reality storylines. In this world Jean is also still alive as the Phoenix and she has destroyed all of Albany, New York, Oops.
End of the Heroic Age
This year has been a good one for the X-Men. Captain America himself got the team recognized by the president as heroes, and a new Hope has come for the dwindling mutant race. But I’m going to leave you with a promo image I found yesterday online. This is one of several that suggest the Heroic Age may be ending sooner than expected. Now if you’ll excuse me I’m going to put on my ruby red sunglasses, get in my car with an Xavier school parking pass attached to the dash, and go to the comic book store. Merry X-Mas everyone!
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