4 Ways X-Men Film Franchise Showed How To Do A Prequel (And 4 Ways They Messed It Up)

And How Not To Do It

4. Pick An Approach To Continuity (And Don€™t Stick With It)

x-men wolverine claws

Unlike First Class, Origins: Wolverine is never entirely certain if it€™s a traditional prequel or a semi-reboot, though it touted itself as a prequel that fitted in with continuity. The secrecy and lack of security for mutants is a clear indicator of the latter, the wasted introduction and use of Scott Summers points to the former. The inclusion of Stryker and his son ties the film in with X2, but the detailing of the relationship between Victor and Logan just make the interactions between Sabtretooth and Logan in the trilogy seem bizarre. Logan gets his iconic adamantium claws in a sequence reminiscent of what we saw in the original trilogy €“ though arguably it was much creepier and disturbing in flashback rather than playing out before our eyes in the film, fits. As in X-Men: The Last Stand, Charles is bald but can walk in his appearance at the end of the film. This would be better if he hadn€™t also claimed to have looked after Scott, Jean and Ororo since they were children and taught them to hone their powers. Logan gets his iconic jacket from the random Mr. and Mrs. Kent€“expies, but proceeds to lose it before the film ends and his memory is shot, and that does not fit. Trying to fit this movie in with the rest of the franchise is like hammering nails with the heel of a shoe. It works, but damn is it awkward. If they€™d called €˜reboot€™ it€™d be okay by me. If they€™d made more of an effort to fit in with continuity, it would be okay with me. As it is, Origins doesn€™t just step on the toes of the rest of the franchise, it shoots it in the back and leaves it paralyzed on a beach.
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I'm a 19 year old Arts student from Melbourne Australia, who finds it really awkward to write in third person. Other things I do awkwardly are watch TV and write far too much about fictional characters.