7 'Unadaptable' Comic Book Storylines (That Are Already Becoming Movies)

4. The Dark Phoenix Saga

Dark Phoenix Saga
Marvel Comics

Undoubtedly the most famous X-Men story out there, 1980's Dark Phoenix Saga has already been the subject of two adaptations, once in X-Men: The Animated Series, and another time (loosely) in X-Men: The Last Stand. The nineties show actually produced a faithful adaptation of the comic, as it frequently did with other series during its time on air, but The Last Stand - as we all know - most certainly did not.

Despite the third X-Men film's failure to really do Chris Claremont and John Byrne's storyline any justice, next year's sequel to X-Men: Apocalypse is being built up as a straight adaptation of the series, and will be set in the nineties to accentuate the comic book's synonymy with that decade. It's certainly not 'unadaptable' by any means, but, given the lack of success The Last Stand experienced when it attempted to adapt the storyline - as well as the grandiose nature of the book itself - it's easy to see why people are skeptical at best regarding the chances of the story making a successful page-to-screen transition.

That said, there is cause to be optimistic. Even though Apocalypse debuted to a lukewarm reception, the nineties is very much the X-Men's decade, and the saga is arguably the franchise's greatest story. It's a massive leap for the films to take, but, with the right approach in mind, there's every chance that it could work.

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Content Producer/Presenter

WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well. In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.