12 Easy Solutions To Save The X-Men Franchise
4. Cancel The Chuck & Erik Show
It may surprise fans of the X-Men movies who don’t read the comics to realise this… but Professor Charles Xavier isn’t the hero of the X-Men comics. He’s not the leader, he’s not the protagonist. He never has been - and there’s a reason for that.
Charles Xavier is the X-Men’s avuncular mentor/stern grandfather/adored father figure, depending on the generation of X-Men you're talking about. There’s a reason some supporting players don’t step into the limelight, and there’s a reason some protagonists aren’t the most charismatic or the most complex: the protagonist carries the narrative, and often it’s easier if they’re less idiosyncratic, and more relatable.
Most of the X-Men movies that aren’t Wolverine solo flicks (I know, I know - it’s sometimes difficult to tell) feature Xavier in a prominent role as the protagonist… and his greatest nemesis and best friend Magneto in a prominent role as either co-protagonist or antagonist, seemingly switching between the two as and when he feels like it.
It’s already been touched upon… but it’s time for a new paradigm in the X-Men movies. This whole ‘frenemies’ thing has been done to death. Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy, Sir Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender - they’ve all been great in the role(s), often with very little to work with. But both Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr need to take a back seat now.