As I sit here to write this, X-Men: Dark Phoenix sits with a lowly 24% rotten score on Rotten Tomatoes. Nearly 20 years of the X-Men brand is coming to an end with this film as the franchise faces a bit of an uncertain future. We know that because of the Disney-Fox merger, the X-Men will eventually be introduced into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but the how has yet to be determined and who will be involved is also still a mystery. Primarily the X-Men films as we know it ends with Dark Phoenix which is the 12th film of the franchise, including spinoffs featuring Wolverine and the “Merc with a mouth” Deadpool.
20th Century Fox created its universe within the X-Men films, so why doesn’t this franchise seem to get the respect that it deserves? I ran across a review written by Keith Phillips for “The Verge,” and his headline read “The X-Men is still Marvel’s weird, mutant cinematic stepchild.” The review itself wasn’t such a scathing indictment on the brand, but that headline seems to be the sentiment of many people across social media and various media outlets. Go to any story about the current X-Men film, and you will see a comment section filled with comments like “X-Men is trash” or “these films have never been good” or “I just want Marvel to do this over, so we get them in the MCU.” Everyone is entitled to their opinion, and I understand the desire to get the gang into the MCU because that universe has been the undisputed MVP of putting these stories and characters together in a compelling fashion. Hell, I’ve seen Avengers: Endgame three times and teared up each time based on its ability to grab me emotionally. Don’t get me wrong, I GET IT, but one has to recognize that we wouldn’t be here without franchises paving the way and X-Men is one of those franchises.
Before the MCU became the toast of the comic book film world, Marvel didn’t have a presence whatsoever at the multiplex. In the 70s, DC and Warner Bros. released Richard Donner’s Superman which is still considered a classic of the genre and spawned its share of sequels that resulted in diminishing quality. In 1989, DC once again gave us Tim Burton’s take on Batman and it essentially gave birth to the summer blockbuster, at least in the sense of how significant tentpole releases are marketed to the masses. Like Superman, Batman had several sequels released up until 1997, with each also showing shades of diminishing quality. Even if their quality wasn’t always reliable, DC was still the one actual comic book presence at the box office.
Marvel’s first attempt at box office domination came in 1986 with the release of Howard the Duck, an instant misfire out of the gate that was instantly destined for Mystery Science Theater 3000. After that bomb, Marvel stayed quiet on the theatrical front, letting DC earn all the cash with many fans of Marvel Comics wondering when they would see some of their favorites appear on the big screen.
Marvel’s first real success came in 1998 with the release of Blade. The Wesley Snipes-led vehicle was relatively well-received by critics and embraced by fans. Perhaps it was smart to start things off with one of their lesser known properties to test the waters a bit because if it failed, the sting wouldn’t be as sharp. Budgeted at $45 million, Blade grossed $131.2 million worldwide and gave Marvel their first taste of box office dominance which probably made them confident enough to adopt one of their more prominent properties next.
X-Men followed Blade in 2000, and it was such a sure thing that it would work. One success doesn’t always equal another, and it was clear that the film wasn’t following the comic book by strict fan standards. What the film did do was attract prominent talent. You had vets like Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen leading the charge and a young Oscar winner a part of the lineup in Anna Paquin. For other roles, it captured performers on the cusp of bigger things such as Halle Berry, James Marsden, & Famke Janssen. Behind the camera, it had Bryan Singer, a young up and coming talent that was coming off directing the critically acclaimed The Usual Suspects. This was way before the public knew of alleged behavior that has made him a bit of a tough sell today. Back in 2000, this a bold choice before bold choices were fresh. Think Matthew Vaughn taking on X-Men: First Class after smaller efforts like Layer Cake and Kick-Ass or Jon Watts tackling Spider-Man: Homecoming with only a couple of indie projects under his belt. There was no indication they could handle the scope of these projects, but their creativity transcended the big-budget effects. In this modern age of you need established action directors to take on projects such as this, Bryan Singer was probably one of the first to show that this isn’t always the case.
X-Men was quite the success when it was released in July of 2000. The film opened to $54.5 million, and this may be crazy to think, but it was the biggest opening for a superhero film at the cinema, eclipsing the $52.7 million opening of Batman Forever in 1995. By the end of its run, the film grossed $157.3 million at the domestic box office and $296.3 million worldwide. This was the big box office Marvel was looking for, and I’d make the argument that this started the real re-emergence of comic book and superhero films.
I say this because the success of X-Men leads Marvel to try things out with Spider-Man in 2002 which broke its share of box office records and was even more massive than X-Men. It also wasn’t just the box office factor. X-Men was critically well-received, standing at an 81% on Rotten Tomatoes and primarily considered a compelling cinematic introduction to the brand. You need that success to be confident in what’s coming next.
In 2003, When X2: X-Men United was released, it seemed like Marvel, and all the talent behind the project felt even more sure of themselves. X2 was bigger and better than its predecessor, and in the years since its release, some consider it one of the better comic book movies of all-time as well as one of the better sequels of the comic book world. There has since been a slew of well-received comic book films to be released, and X2 has gotten lost in that shuffle, but I suggest giving it a re-visit, it’s that good. X2 performed even better than the first film with a massive opening of $85.5 million on its way to $214.9 million domestic and $407.7 million worldwide. When it’s all said and done, X2 is a real balancing act of ensemble characters and compelling story that hits all the right notes by being highly entertaining and emotionally resonate as it reaches its conclusion.
In 2006, we hit our first speed bump with X-Men: The Last Stand, a rushed effort that seemed more motivated by the money it could make rather than the actual quality of the project. I’d argue that this entry is one of the reasons some don’t think back on franchise fondly because it is a real misfire and made even more frustrating because X2 was so good and it just squanders all the goodwill made by that film. Bryan Singer wasn’t behind the camera on this one and instead, we got Brett Ratner who had box office success with Rush Hour but none of the nuance to make this story fly. The Last Stand made money (oddly enough it’s the highest-grossing X-Men film at the domestic box office even today with a gross of $234.3 million), but reviews were very mixed with the film receiving a 58% rotten score, down considerably from X2‘s 85% fresh rating. An argument can be made that the critical failure stuck with this film until they rebooted everything with X-Men: First Class.
The start of the spinoffs didn’t help. X-Men Origins: Wolverine seemed like a good idea on paper, but its execution was even more off-putting than that of The Last Stand. With its 37% on Rotten Tomatoes, this represented a new low for the franchise, although when I think of the X-Men films, I tend not to view them as their separate entity.
The X-Men films got a creative resurgence with the release of X-Men: First Class in 2011, a reboot of sorts that focused on the younger years of the X-Men, notably the relationship between Charles Xavier and Magneto as they begin as friends before their ideologies start to make them clash. There is something wonderfully lowkey about First Class because it’s not as big and brazen as we would expect from a film like this because it needed to take baby steps to get back in our good graces, but it offers up the same excitement that made the first two X-Men movies so good. The film is driven more by character rather than action and an impressive cast led by James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender go a long way to give the movie a pedigree that may have otherwise been lacking. I do believe it’s a comic book film that gets lost in the shuffle of other more considerable efforts because I’d say it’s just as good as some of the MCU efforts that were coming out at the time. The film was well-received by critics with an impressive 86% on Rotten Tomatoes, and it proved to be financially successful with a gross of $353.6 million at the worldwide box office.
This leads us to X-Men: Days of Future Past, a bright blend of the past and present that is arguably one of the best comic book movies of all-time. The X-Men films have often been criticized for its timeline, which is admittedly all over the place but Days of Future Past toys with the timeline just enough to set things right. The film brings together the cast of the original X-Men films (in the future scenes) and the new cast of the rebooted brand. The film is focused enough to tell its own story and move its current characters forward while also going a long way to right the wrongs committed against the characters that were suffered during X-Men: The Last Stand. It’s a self-assured effort that benefits from bringing Bryan Singer back as director while he was still at the top of his game. It sort of plays like a passing of the torch. The director that started all of this gets to put his stamp of approval on the new regime that has more than proved itself as we enter this second film. Critics truly embraced Days of Future Past, bestowing it with a 90% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes and many fans believe that not only is this the best X-Men film, but it’s also one of the better comic book films of all-time. Its $748.1 million worldwide gross is also the best global showing for the franchise to date.
2016’s X-Men: Apocalypse and seemingly the recently released Dark Phoenix, has seemed to negate the positive feedback earned by First Class and especially Days of Future Past. Some despise Apocalypse while others, like myself, don’t think it’s nearly as bad as people say. It’s not on the level of Days of Future Past, but it’s not at the bottom of the comic book movie totem pool either. Critics didn’t embrace Apocalypse and many of its internal issues we didn’t learn about until well after it was released. Bryan Singer returned to direct Apocalypse, but when he was fired from Bohemian Rhapsody for his unprofessional behavior, we learned he did the same thing on Apocalypse which included showing up late and unprepared or not showing up at all, leaving the assistant director to take on some of the project. The fact that Apocalypse came together in some kind of cohesive way is a miracle considering what was going on behind the scenes.
I bring up the past of the X-Men franchise because as I look back on it, there is way more good than bad and way more evidence on how it likely influenced or at least encouraged the development of future comic book films. 20th Century Fox didn’t squander the brand. If you want to see, them waste a brand look no further than what they have done with The Fantastic 4. I believe that this franchise nurtured and secured some grade A talent to make some great films with a few missteps along the way. I know there are issues with timeline and continuity and we could deep dive into all of that and pick it apart until we’re blue in the face, but strictly as comic book films, I think the excellent X-Men films really paved the way, and they should be respected for what they have brought to the genre.
