With Disney acquiring Fox Studios, the X-Men are all set to make their MCU debut soon, with the first entry being the Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman starrer Deadpool 3. The X-Men films by Fox Studios have had their share of wins and losses, with great films like X2 and Logan, as well as duds such as Dark Phoenix being in the same franchise.
Now that the mutants’ existence has been officially revealed in the MCU, the beloved characters get a second chance at being epic and Marvel has all the freedom to explore and set them up. Here are five classic stories from the comics that Marvel can adapt to give fans a great X-Men franchise.
Also read: The Marvels: Despite X-Men Debut, Monica Rambeau’s Sacrifice Was Useless
1. House Of M
The House of M story arc is one of the most iconic storylines in the X-Men universe. The story follows the Scarlet Witch a.k.a Wanda Maximoff and her canonical father Magneto creating a reality on the fictional island of Genosha where mutants are the dominant species and look down upon the humans. The story ends with Wanda eradicating most of the mutant-kind from Earth after uttering the infamous line, ‘No more mutants’.
Foundations for the House of M storyline were theorized to be laid in the Disney Plus series WandaVision. Elizabeth Olsen’s Wanda similarly creates a fake reality to house her, Vision, and her kids after the death of Vision in Avengers: Infinity War Adapting the iconic storyline would be the perfect setup for the X-Men to appear as fans theorize the present timeline of the MCU to be a post-House of M reality.
2. X-Men: First Class
While Fox Studios made a film called X-Men: First Class which tracked the origins of Professor X and Magneto, the comic book storyline of the same name is not related to the X-Men film. X-Men: First Class is a series of comic books that track different X-Men such as Wolverine, Cyclops, Professor X, and more, and their missions. While there are sub-plots that track their history and origins, it is not a complete origin story like the film.
Adapting this storyline would give context to the newly emerging superheroes in the MCU while also allowing the characters to go on their missions before teaming up again for a larger threat to the universe.
3. Avengers Vs. X-Men
One of Marvel’s most epic crossover events, Avengers vs. X-Men was a twelve-issue series of comic books which pit the two superteams against each other. Battling over a plan to defeat the Phoenix Force, the epic storyline features characters such as Captain America, Iron Man, Cable, Spider-Man, Wolverine, Thor, Namor, Magneto, and more.
The upcoming team-up film Avengers: Secret Wars is rumored to see the X-Men officially appear in the MCU and join the Avengers to defeat Kang the Conqueror. While many of the characters from the comic storyline have left the franchise, there are rumors of Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans returning to the MCU. An adaptation of Avengers vs. X-Men would be perfect.
4. E For Extinction
The New X-Men series of comics’ storyline E For Extinction is dark and features a massacre that could rival that of the end of Avengers: Infinity War. The storyline follows Cassandra Nova resurrecting a factory of sentinels who are sent to Genosha, the island that acts as a haven for mutants. The evil sentinels massacre millions of mutants on the island, leading to a partial reformation for the X-Men. Adapting the storyline would introduce the X-Men into the MCU in a smooth way as they have been largely absent from the franchise till now.
5. Broodfall
With alien races such as the Kree and the Skrulls seamlessly blending into the MCU, introducing the Broodfall would make for an intense storyline that could make space for the X-Men to emerge. The Broodfall is an alien race that invades Earth in the comics, urging the X-Men to unite and save both humans and mutants. Wolverine gets infected by the aliens in the story and a sub-plot of him dealing with the pain of being infected by a foreign parasite is explored.
