10 Ways The X-Men Films Nearly Turned Out Very Differently

Since X-Men has been integrated into Disney, now looks like the perfect time to reflect on Fox' run on the beloved superheroes. Even though the franchise may not be as popular as the MCU, their twenty-year run makes the X-Men the longest running superhero movie series ever, which is a staggering achievement.

This accomplishment seems more impressive when you realise how different the X-Men films could've turned out. Some of the films went through over twenty drafts, many of which had next-to-no resemblance to the finished product. In one script or another, we had the Children of the Atom battling Skrulls, Mister Sinister, and, weirdest of all, a living island!

Did you ever wonder how X-Men: The Last Stand would have turned out if the director didn't abandon ship at the eleventh hour? Are you aware that X-Men prequels were created by accident? What was supposed to happen in Dark Phoenix's scrapped ending?

Some of these abandoned plot lines are so crazy, it seems like a blessing they never saw the light of day. But some story arcs sound so interesting, you wonder if it would've been better if the series implemented them.

In the Marvel comics, a cosmic force called The Phoenix bonds with the founding X-Man, Jean Grey, turning her a borderline omnipotent and corrupted entity. Not only was this story epic, it was emotional since the superheroes were forced to battle their friend and teammate to the death. Decades later, The Dark Phoenix saga is still considered one of the best comics ever.

And when X-Men 2 concluded with a phoenix symbol, comic fans went nuts, knowing the follow-up would adapt this iconic story. But when the director, Bryan Singer, abandoned the project to make Superman Returns, the script was heavily rewritten. In this version, the "Phoenix" is Jean Grey's dormant subconscious, which goes into overdrive after she suffers a trauma.

Before Singer left, he intended to follow the original story pretty accurately, depicting the Phoenix as an alien force. After it fused with Jean, she uses its power to free mutants across the globe. After being manipulated by Emma Frost (played by Sigourney Weaver) to join the Hellfire Club, she awakens the darker nature of the Phoenix, turning her evil. After going on a murder spree, Jean takes her own life, causing her to be reborn as a "star-child" being.