9 Deleted Scenes That Explain Confusing Movie Moments

9. What Happens To A Toad... - X-Men

20th Century Fox

As the first entry in the modern superhero genre that has gone on to define blockbuster cinema, people tend to go rather easy X-Men, forgiving its more ridiculous, borderline-camp leanings as a product of a shifting time. It's a good thing too; there's so much to like in the film, evidenced by the series' endurance. However, there is one thing audiences have proven to be less forgiving about.

Do you know what happens to a toad when it's struck by lightning? The same thing that happens to everything else.

With that one line the whole wave of comic book movies could have failed at the first hurdle. Delivered in monotone by Halle Berry, whose turn as Storm didn't connect too well with fans, it's a cringeworthy, eighties-style quip that comes out of nowhere and feels just as out of place. Originally, however, it was something a lot less offensive, just the payoff of a running joke that would have spanned the whole film.

Ray Park's mutant was going to keep making little asides about what happens to a toad in various situations, presumably to unsubtly explain his powers and character, with Storm's barb acting as a final put down. For some reason it didn't make it all the way through production, leaving us with the punchline, but no set-up.

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Contributor

Film Editor (2014-2016). Loves The Usual Suspects. Hates Transformers 2. Everything else lies somewhere in the middle. Once met the Chuckle Brothers.