So we re-watched Infinity War and Endgame again. Then started on X men First Class. This opening isn't anything I haven't said before. I don't know how the MCU will make Phase 4 work. Tony and Steve were the heart of it all. Robert and Chris made these characters amazing and I am so not sure where they will go from their. Phase 4 I am sure will be a transition phase to be honest. They seem to be throwing a lot of "B" grade and down material at the wall to see what sticks. Some might, some I am sure won't. I am honestly excited for Dr. Strange and the Multiverse of Madness. I never thought I would say I was excited for a Doc Strange movie. However all my hopes lie in the fact hopefully this can open good plot lines for Phase 4 OR it will simply be a phase to introduce the rights Disney acquired to round out the MCU. That's right, the Xmen and FF. Iron man and Cap are gone. Thor has 1 decent movie. The guardians are good but not a heart and soul. Cap Marvel MAY pan out but so far really wasn't amazing. Ya great box office but I wonder if that was because we all wanted Endgame so bad. Spidey might be a good one, but so far I have much more enjoyed him as an avenger than his own series. Black Panther was another good movie but was it as good as the hype or was it the politics along with the movie? Black widow is dead and Hawkeye, Bucky, Falcon and Scarlet witch are all relegated to TV so again I think the MCU may struggle. However like i said there is hope in the wings... The X men. Twice this franchise has been tried out and both times it started strong and flopped. The MCU family though seems to have nailed movie making. Let's hope if they get a chance and if my thoughts are right and they need a hit or 20 more they do it right.... So here is what would happen IF I ran the MCU and was writing the X story lines. I am going to break down a few story lines and movies. Maybe do some recasting and maybe try and tie it into the MCU. It's okay Marvel you can use my ideas here I just want good movies and maybe some credit! lol
So I give Marvel credit, unlike DC they have made a ton of movies. Mostly good and a ton of money. They do have a formula, I would keep it with X men as well. A big bad that the story builds to, I have one picked. Various independent movies with cameos. Now of course X men would have more team movies but I think A) There should be a couple teams and B) a few individual movies. Also Marvel can cover dark stories but they are always bright color wise. Keep it up, even with dark topics..... ALSO while there is huge and rich history to draw from DON'T make that the only thing. Draw from it but change things up. What has really not worked out (Except Days Of Future) is trying to recreate exact things. Play fast and loose with the stories.....
So I am going to start with Magneto. He needs to be a holocaust survivor BUT that would make him fairly old. I don't know how to fix it, I want him to be young enough to be a main character not 80 something. Maybe he was on Caps ship and was thawed as a young boy. I dunno maybe something to do with the new time machine brings him but he still needs that motivation and I would start with him. A solo story him learning his powers. Roughly set 10 years after first avengers. So 2022 works out great.... I wouldn't recast him, Fassbender is awesome. HOWEVER I would do this showing Charles as well. A mirror of Magneto. You can set it after the events of Endgame and yes now the world is scared of possible threats. Gives motivation for hate and fear of mutants. The other thing I would keep in mind is while Xmen are usually a team they don't have to be. I would have more team movies than the Infinity Saga but I would have my second movie also a stand alone. Hulk Vs Wolverine. Fanboys have wanted this for years. First it ties well into current MCU. Hulk actually gets a movie and Wolvie debuts. Tom Hardy as Wolvie. Right there you could throw in Sabretooth and or others to grow the mutant part of the MCU and the third movie I would make would be a Summers brothers movie. They can be in Sinisters foster home. This opens the door for Mr Sinister, who opens the door for lots of other mutants. Including Gambit, but we will get back to him. You can even tie Wolvie and Sabretooth in here. You can back story the rest of the first team as well. Iceman, Beast, Angel and Jean. End it with Charles getting them together. To me Charles is a Nick Fury type. Sure you want him around as Charles really is the leader but start by using him to tie it all together. From here I propose 2 more single movies. A Gambit movie and a Captain Marvel. Captain Marvel not being an X men but you can really tie it in here. Along with mutants Cpt can have Avengers show up. Gambit WAS such a popular character. He was mysterious, bring that back. First you can tie him to Sinister and I will propose why shortly and second it can be an open world movie. I am saying he should meet an Avenger or two. All these movies are world building. I want Magneto to reappear in this one and offer Gambit a chance to join his brotherhood...... I want Gambit to say no but in the end hook up with Mr Sinister. Then I want a Captain Marvel movie. In the end I want Rogue to take her powers. Just like the comics. NO I don't want that forever but that is how I want to end this first part. You now have 5 movies (At least) just introducing mutants before I promise the first "Xmen" titled movie and yes the villain of course is Magneto and the Brotherhood. Do whatever you want at this point. I have no plot just the first confrontation between these two classic teams. But I want it world building as well. I want there to be a reason for the brotherhood. Be it the purifiers or sentinels being built (Trask and Stark tech? Maybe someone running Stark is worried mutants are a threat and the want to build a "suit of armor, around the world") This I want as a back story thought, hated and feared comes later on... I want Rogue in it with the brotherhood BUT loses her powers. Cpt Marvel gets them back but is angry when Xmen take Rogue in. Conflict building..... Then I want a quick second Xmen movie. The Mutant massacre. Just like the comics I want Thor tied in, to help integrate the two worlds. I think you can throw Wolvie in here, maybe hunting Sabretooth. Sinister being behind it all you can finally hint at the real BIG BAD Apocalypse. I have just given 7 movies call that a full PHASE one of Xmen in the MCU. Keep in mind you can add mutants to the other MCU movies as well. Like I a not even thinking of cameos for them in existing films except maybe Storm showing up in Wakanda. Phase one done.......
The next thing I would do is the "Classic" Xmen team. Colossus, Storm, Nightcrawler, Wolvie, Kitty. I would base the entire "second" phase around that. The most famous team. I would use them to introduce the Hellfire club. Now the Hellfire while mainly an X villain would work fine throughout the MCU. I would again rely on the current MCU to introduce the Shi'ar empire. Maybe a guardian movie, again maybe a Cpt Marvel. The main point though of "phase 2" would be the original premise of the Xmen. Hated and feared. After the events of Endgame humanity doesn't want unchecked power. Mutants are that. I would put sentinels in here. The God Loves, Man Kills story. Marvel is getting big into this "social justice" I am not going to rant about it but this would be a great time to push that. Also God loves is just an amazing story that I think would lend itself well to the Silver Screen. Magneto can be used all over for this. While I would make less individual movies in this phase, I would make him a core part. Maybe even more than Charles, as he can see whats coming. I would put some villains like the MLF in here. Another reason to hate mutants right? As a side bar you can introduce Cable here. The fact is he can set up stories for many more phases. 2 things I would put into this "phase" Start the Phoenix saga. Jean does whatever they write to get the power in her but leave it at that. Mention for the next couple movies that her power seems to be getting stronger. The Phoenix saga has never been done right and I think to do it right, it requires a few movies. It is a sub plot. I have to do a small side rant here.... There is a local movie podcast I love that just did a great episode on the newest Phoenix movie. Of course they were right, it was awful. However there was something implied I can't get behind, this isn't really that great an X story. WRONG! It is one of the best. I totally agree with studio do what fans go nuts for and that's why it has been done. Fans went nuts because it is great. Not everything known is great but this one is. The reason it has never been done well though is what I am trying to get across, it is the Dark Phoenix Saga. Like any saga it should be told over multiple movies. Like the MCU infinity stones, I would have this slowly grow in the background for a long run. The fact is this story doesn't lend itself well to one movie. SO if we can stretch a single book lie the Hobbit to 3 movies I am sure with another kick at the can we can make this saga right. End it with Avengers Vs Xmen. You know that is what it is building up to. Get it done, I dunno maybe Sentinels? It doesn't have to be Civil war or Winter Soldier but some of the same themes. Avengers support a registration for mutants? That brings them into conflict BUT Master Mold or something starts targeting everyone who may even produce a mutant? Then they can have a big fight, but in the end work together. By now you have a massive universe and really you can mix mutants into any MCU project. I would however keep them some what separate. In the end of this phase I would give mutants a home. Maybe not like they currently have in the comics but something..... A home for them
I am going to take a quick break here and talk about cast. I love the "reboot" cast. I would keep them all if I could. I don't see Disney doing that, which is too bad. I mean I do get it, they may want a clean slate just saying I think the casting was very well done. I would lean away from stars to play them. Look at any great series and it usually doesn't have a ton of star power to start. Who the hell was Mark Hamill before A New Hope? What about Daniel Radcliffe before Harry Potter. To be very fair and honest Robert Downey wasn't even big before Iron Man. He had been, yes. BUT he was gamble. Hell the Simpsons spoofed him as being in a gun fight with the cops. I have heard Tom Hardy for Wolvie and I do love that one. 5'9" is even perfect. From previews and stuff I see Marvel looking more and more into star power. I swear that will not turn out good in the end. MacAvoy proved you don't need to be bald to play professor X. So I have Tom Hardy as Logan. Or Clayne Crawford, I think he would rock as Logan. My third pick is Daniel Radcliffe. Hear me out, I think he would do a great job. HOWEVER if he didn't it would really hurt the series. I heard so many Broke Back Joker jokes until the world saw Heaths performance. Not just comic movies, Heaths was one of the best performances ever and silenced the critics. I truly believe Dan could do this with Wolvie but if it went wrong it would crush the series (And we really don't need to do a 4th reboot, that's past spider man numbers!). So I wouldn't risk it. Jonathon Tucker gets Angel / Death for me. I think he can nail the cocky Warren and has played amazingly creepy and dark roles like Death as well. Jason Clarke I might cast as Magneto or Mr Sinister. I think he would do either rather well. Magneto would be a much bigger role but less of a villain but Clarke is always such a good villain. 100% I would Cast Walton Goggins or Josh Holloway over Channing Tatum for the role of Gambit. I feel they are MUCH better actors but they are maybe too old. So I might cast Frank Dillane as Gambit. I would try and find a role for both those guys though! Kaitlyn Dever gets my cast as Kitty, or Jean since she is maybe the main X woman if you don't count Storm. I got it! Jason Clarke is my Mr Sinister and Ben Barnes is Magneto. I do have to say if they stick with a young cast to play a young group of X men I have no idea who the up and comers are. They would be doing it at the right time to start though. Both casts from Stranger Things and IT are stellar and would lend themselves to these stories great. Hell take Jaeden Martell (Bill in IT) & Sophia Lillis (Bev) They cast over perfect as we have seen as a young leader and his red headed girlfriend... Scott and Jean. I was going to put more into casting but then I realized I don't know anyone actors names. But you see what I did there?? Tried to put some of my fav B actors into a mega series.
So the mutants all feel safe, and it gets ruined. Phase 3.... Start with New Mutants, bringing more out making them feel safe and happy. Then the horsemen come out and do something terrible. Actually start pushing your big bad Apocalypse. Have the world turn on mutants again. Also run the Dark Phoenix Saga now. Kill off Jean. Again her actions can feed the fear of mutants. This will make Apocalypse feel safe to finally move. In the end the X men are the only ones who can save the world. While it doesn't endear them to the world it at least calms some of the madness. I would very much like to see a good Arc Angel in this since the last one was awful. So kill of Jean, have them heart broken and then have Sinister come begging for help. Keep him mysterious up until now. Have him tell his story and warn them that to defeat Apocalypse they are going to need to work with Magneto. I know I have been doing a shitty job of explaining it but I want all these X stories going in different directions. Hell if Wolverine and Gambit never even join the team that's fine. I want a bunch of threads all over that have to come together for this showdown. Hell I would throw in some of the other MCU for this showdown. His ideas aren't just a threat to mutants but all life and I guess that makes it an "Avengers" level threat... It might be pushing it BUT I would make an Age Of Apocalypse movie, showing what will happen if he isn't defeated. Days of future past was SO WELL done I think you could do AoA movie. If not small scenes showing it at least. (Also I would never re-do Days as that was amazing. Leave it as a classic so people aren't comparing!) Like Infinity War make it a two part movie. The final showdown with Apocalypse. Ya this is a bit plagiarized. This formula worked for the "Infinity Saga" I would keep it. Hell it worked for Harry Potter! Start off light, sure there is bad guys and stuff but nothing World ending until much later on. There are more than enough X villains for that build up. I would put more into teasing the big bad. I would love to have seen more of Thanos, I did like how Guardians 1 has him. Even if he is just a tiny part. This is were I tie things together, when I say a million stories going a million ways that's what I want. Draw from all the lore out there but in phase 3 drive them all together to take on the biggest baddest mutant out there.
Last thing I want to say is this was all around the X men. If you are bringing them into the MCU it might be good to cameo them. I would use Thor for sure, he is the only big 3 Avenger still around and if he is around then the Mutant Massacre story works great. As I said I would totally have Rogue in a Cpt Marvel movie. Storm very easily can be in a Black Panther movie. Charles is easy enough to be in any movie the Avengers might need to talk to a leader in genetic mutation. Wolvie lends himself to any series and a Vs Hulk would be a blockbuster. Friendly neighborhood Spiderman can have any mutant show up. They are all supposed to be teens like Peter. I guess I am laying down the bones for mutant stories but I didn't blend them well. I would litter all the main stories with Cameos. You know for a fact when mutants are discovered Nick Fury is going to want to know all about them. I feel like I said this BUT two things I would stick to are draw from existing material. A single google search and you will find a TON of excellent story lines. I mean I have always preferred "Classic" X stories from Claremont era, however there are lots of stories from 1990 - on! BUT not to a tee, change it up like Avengers did. A lot of X material lends itself PERFECT to a lot of world situations today. Literally right now is almost the perfect time to leap into X universe for MCU. Avengers has wrapped up but this could be the next golden goose. Lastly MORE mutants! Go grab a current issue and see how many mutants live together now. I would say Marvel has literally created hundreds.... maybe thousand mutants but the movies have literally focused on a dozen? Reused them over and over. I am not saying they all need to have major parts but one thing I can say about the Wolverine movie is it TRIED to introduce other characters from Blob to Gambit and even the worst Deadpool ever. Not one of those guys had a big part but as a fan boy it was nice to see and as a film fan it is just cool to have a big universe. Plus as writers the more you introduce the more you can do later on. The fact is I have laid out my plans for a decade of movies and I barely scratched the top of source material. If I am 100% honest my mutant knowledge comes from the 80s "Classic" Xmen stories and the 90s - early 2000s story lines. I have MASSIVE gaps in the beginning and from say 2002-2019. I am certain there are a TON more story lines you could write for phase 4,5,6..... My only worry is super movies are on the way out. Did 2009-2019 over saturate the market? I truly believe if a new genre (Cause that really what sup movies are. Their own genre) came along MCU could be dethroned. I just hope we can see some good X men before that happens.
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