10 Cancelled X-Men Movies We Almost Got

Fox’s time with the X-Men has been a bit of a rollercoaster. There’s been some great movies from the studio’s production of the franchise, but some utter stinkers too, as well as far more tepid movies than you’d expect from a blockbuster factory.

Through this era, there’s been a lot of proposed projects cancelled, as well as some which have had their hopes crushed by the Fox-Disney merger and some which existed as ideas before the first X-Men in 2000.

Though the movies haven’t all aged well (even the ones that were good to begin with), the early ones played a huge role in the revival of the superhero flick. The FoX-Men leave behind a decent legacy, even if it ended with a whimper.

Undeniably though, it’s a legacy of missed opportunities. Remember, X-Men cast Will.i.am in a serious acting role, passed over Josh Holloway for Gambit because an executive wanted more of a ‘High School Musical’ look, and botched Dark Phoenix’s storyline, even with two bites at it.

We can’t ever know if these films would have made the FoX-Men any better, but some of them had serious potential.

This spin off movie sounded pretty good, but with the Fox-Disney merger it’ll unfortunately end up in the trash can.

The movie was pitched by Byron Burton, the assistant composer to X-Men: Apocalypse. Given his lack of screenwriting experience, he was met with skepticism. However, after pledging to get a draft together in two weeks, he was given a shot.

Lead composer John Ottoman was then impressed enough by the script to shop it with Fox. They too were on board, but only if Simon Kinberg would sign off on it.

Kinberg, as director of Dark Phoenix, said he wouldn’t read it until after wrapping to avoid his own movie being influenced. Considering the janky story and direction though, he could have used some inspiration. With the Fox X-Men coming to a close soon after, Fear The Beast will never see the light of day.

It’s a shame too, because the ‘80s era flick had potential. Inspired by The Thing, the movie starred Professor X, Beast and a new Wolverine, taking place in an Inuit village. Mister Sinister was to be a multi movie villain for the spin off, and it would deal with Hank’s struggle to contain his mutation.