12 Easy Solutions To Save The X-Men Franchise
6. The Hobgoblin Of Little Minds
It’s becoming more and more difficult to find consistency with the X-Men in these films. For all their faults, the first three movies gave us the same group of people played by the same actors; as much as the scripts weren’t the greatest, there was continuity.
If you liked Halle Berry’s Storm, then good news! She was playing her in the same way across all three films. If you were a Professor X fan and appreciated Patrick Stewart’s compassionate, gentle take on the character, then you were in for a treat right up until the end of act two of X-Men: The Last Stand (at which point you wanted to throw rocks at Brett Ratner’s head).
In 2016, the only layer of continuity in the X-Men teams we’ve experienced has been Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, who’s been a presence (to varying degrees) in all but one of the X-Men movies to date. But these are the X-Men, not Logan And His Super Friends, and an X-Men movie should be a genuine ensemble piece… and one that keeps the same ensemble together, for the most part.
All of the best and most iconic X-Men stories of the comic books came at a time when the core X-Men team was something that could be relied upon. The characters and relationships were set in stone: we knew that Scott and Jean were soulmates; that Wolverine was drawn to Jean in ways he didn’t know how to articulate, a wild beast worshipping an angel; that Kitty was everyone’s scrappy kid sister and that Kurt had the romantic soul of D’Artagnan in the body of a demon.
Give us a set team that doesn’t change, and then establish that team as people via the way that they speak to one another and relate to one another - beyond what strange abilities they have, and whatever cool look they’ve got going on.
Audiences follow things they can engage with, things they can relate to, and nine times out of ten that’s going to be people, not powers. There’s a reason that Robert Downey Jr made Tony Stark a household name, not just Iron Man.