10 Most Essential Characters In The Marvel Cinematic Universe
7. The X-Men
Marvels mutant super-heroes have too much of an established presence for them to be cut out of the MCU; too much, in fact, to limit their importance to just one character. The X-Men are essentially a single unit with a membership that requires more stories either about the team, or just one character. Either way, the X-Men need to exist as a whole for these stories to establish their importance. These essential characters have historical value; not only in the comic universe but also in the MCU. They were recognized as the earliest successes in the MCU. Their absence would be keenly noticed, especially by the legions of comic-fanboys who would expect and demand their interactivity with Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four and the other Manhattan-based super-heroes, despite their own base of operations out of Westchester County. Still, think about the possible interactions with the other characters. Given the current level of interaction the X-Men have with the Avengers in the Marvel comic universe, there are plenty of possible interactions with the cinematic Avengers. In the comics, Mystique rated a secret covert position within the American defence department. Imagine what fun Mystique would be as a joint X-Men/Avengers villain? Taking the X-Men out of the MCU would be saying good-bye to years of previously established history. This is called canon, and its something that comic fans hold on to with great obstinacy. Knowing what heroes did in previous adventures is like sports fans statistical knowledge. Its essential to their nature. But saying good-bye to the X-Men would also prevent other, amazing stories from coming to light and denying these canon-driven fans of another vital experience to their natures: the Marvel Team-Up.
John Kirk is a Teacher-Librarian and currently a History/English Teacher with the Toronto District School Board.
But mostly, John teaches Geek.
Comics, Sci-Fi (Notably Star Trek), Fantasy and Role-Playing and table-top games all make up part of John’s repertoire, There is a whole generation of nerds-in-embryo who rely on him to make sense of it all, to teach that with great power comes great responsibility, that the force will be with us always and that a towel IS the most useful thing to have in one’s possession.
When John isn’t in the classroom, he can be found in his basement writing comic reviews for www.popmythology.com and features for Roddenberry Entertainment's www.1701news.com.
