10 Things The X-Men Franchise Wishes It Could've Done Differently

10. Ditched Bryan Singer After X2

Bryan Singer X-Men
20th Century Fox

There's absolutely no denying the vital role that director Bryan Singer played in popularising both the X-Men property and superhero movies, but given the Singer has become an increasing liability to the IP over the years, Fox probably wishes they'd washed their hands with him after X2.

After making the first two X-Men films, Singer sat out the third to direct Superman Returns instead, eventually returning almost a decade later to helm Days of Future Past, during the production of which the filmmaker's historic sexual abuse allegations came to light once again.

Despite Singer reportedly disappearing from that movie's set without notice, he was re-hired to helm X-Men: Apocalypse two years later, only for the director to again go AWOL.

Between Singer's increasingly erratic on-set behaviour and the ever-mounting pile of allegations leveled against him, Fox decided to quietly distance the X-Men brand from him, shepherding in franchise writer Simon Kinberg, who took over as director during Singer's unauthorised absences, to become the new "Godfather" of the series.

Though Singer admittedly did a solid job of helming Days of Future Past, he was clearly mentally checked-out by the time Apocalypse came around.

Honestly, the franchise as a whole would've benefited immensely from some fresh filmmaking voices once the prequel movies kicked off.

While there's no guarantee that booting Singer after X2 would've been to the series' net benefit, in the very least it would've kept the stink of his legal troubles well away from the movies.

And if Apocalypse had a more attentive, focused director at the helm, it might've been a little more interesting to watch.

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Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes). General video game, TV and film nut. Occasional sports fan. Full time loon.