9 Things From X-Men Comics That Must Happen In The Movies

1. Joss Whedon Must Write/Direct

It€™s been on the X-fan wishlist for a good ten years, ever since we found out that Bryan Singer wouldn€™t be returning to the franchise for the third instalment. When brainstorming his possible replacement, one name kept returning to the top of the pile again and again and again: the writer/director/producer triple threat and devoted comics fanboy; the nerd made good; the Geek Who Would Be King€ Joss Whedon. Whedon had just released Serenity, the feature-length, biggish budget attempt at the resurrection of his cancelled TV show Firefly. Critically acclaimed, the film had failed at the box office, pretty much scuppering any chance of a sequel or a new TV show. More importantly, at that moment he was knee-deep in a hugely successful two-year run on writing the Astonishing X-Men comic book. So (the thinking went) he€™s free, right? He€™d be up for it, right? Whether the former was true or the latter was accurate, Brett Ratner filled the chair and the rest is, thankfully, no longer part of X-Men history. In all honesty, at the time Whedon might not have even been offered the job, or wanted it if he was. After all, jumping into the hot seat of a tentpole franchise for Fox after they binned his first X-Men script and then screwed up with Firefly, and after Fox, in turn got to check out Serenity€™s box office and go €œwe told you sooooo€€ Yeah, probably a pipe dream. Fast forward a decade, and Whedon is the writer/director of two of the biggest and best received Marvel movies in the studio€™s short history. Despite a little nitpicking about Avengers: Age Of Ultron, it€™s pretty much accepted that the man can run a major motion picture, especially one like this. Singer directed Superman: why shouldn€™t Whedon get a crack on the X-Men now that he€™s bankable and (possibly) available? Fully two thirds of the points on this list are ones Whedon would probably approve of. There€™s also possible source material from his own Astonishing X-Men run, and of course (who knows?) the man may even have original ideas to bring to the table. That€™s what he does, after all.