10 Great X-Men Stories That Haven't Been Adapted
-
Mutant Massacre
The "Mutant Massacre" was the first major X-Men crossover and it is also one of the franchise’s defining moments. A large population of mutants known as the Morlocks were attacked and slain by a group calling themselves the Marauders.
On a surface level, the Marauders were just another group of superpowered villains. Several X-Men were seriously wounded by the Marauders and the surviving X-Men actually resorted to murder to save themselves and others. But the Marauders were acting on the orders Sinister, an immortal man obsessed with own agenda for mutants and their genetic potential.
A "Mutant Massacre" movie wouldn’t be able to include Thor and Daredevil like the original story, but it would give the X-Men several new dangers to face as their world becomes a lot more dangerous.
-
Scarlet in Glory/To Have and Have Not
Even comic book fans may have trouble remembering the title of this two part story. But it’s one of the best remembered moments in X-Men history as the team goes to Japan for the marriage of Wolverine and Mariko.
This was a direct sequel to the famous Wolverine miniseries that inspired last summer’s The Wolverine. In the comics, this story took place immediately after Rogue joined the team and nobody really trusted her because she was a member of the Brotherhood and she had seriously hurt Carol Danvers, a close friend of the X-Men.
However, Rogue earned Wolverine’s respect when the rest of the team was incapacitated and he repaid Rogue’s efforts by saving her life. In the X-Men movies, Rogue is the only living person that Wolverine still really cares about. She doesn’t need to win him over, but Rogue would be a natural sidekick/partner for another Wolverine adventure set in Japan.
-
Lifedeath 1 & 2
There was a period in the ‘80s when Storm was stripped of her powers and forced to live as a normal human being while attempting to maintain her place with the X-Men.
"Lifedeath" and its eventual sequel fleshed out Storm as the stories literally brought her down to Earth while she struggled to redefine who she is. Storm also developed romantic feelings for the mutant known as Forge, only to discover that it was his invention that depowered her.
Hallie Berry’s Storm was one of the least developed characters in the original X-Men trilogy despite Berry’s status as a Hollywood star. Catwoman notwithstanding, Berry could hold her own in a Storm solo movie if it was based on the "Lifedeath" storyline. That could go a long way towards making Storm an A-list character in the minds of the public.
-
Riot at Xavier’s
Charles Xavier and his X-Men have always taught their mutant students to follow his dream of peaceful co-existence with humanity. But what if the next generation of mutants doesn’t buy into Xavier’s vision of the future?
That was the premise of "Riot at Xavier’s" during the Grant Morrison era. A powerful telepath named Quentin Quire radicalized himself and others into human hating extremists who advocated mutant supremacy and they nearly brought the X-Men to their knees. More troubling to Xavier was the idea that his hopes and dreams were outdated and rejected by his own students.
"Riot at Xavier’s" would probably work best as a subplot within another film rather than taking up an entire movie. But it raises a point about Xavier’s dream that challenges the very notion of the X-Men. For that reason alone, it deserves to be explored.
-
SuperNovas
"SuperNovas" was Mike Carey’s first arc on X-Men and he placed the focus on Rogue and her bizarre team of former villains (Sabretooth, Lady Mastermind, Omega Sentinel and Mystique) and X-Men mainstays Iceman, Cannonball and Cable as they took on the Children of Humanity, a new superpowered race that was targeting humans and mutants for destruction.
This is a story that could easily be told without Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, if he is serious about stepping away from his iconic role after the third Wolverine film. But if Anna Paquin’s Rogue and Jennifer Lawrence’s Mystique were to headline their own film with Liev Schreiber back as Sabretooth and a few other familiar faces then "SuperNovas" could help reinvigorate this franchise.
Think of Rogue’s team as the X-Men’s version of the Expendables. They’re a little dirty, but they’ll get the job done at any cost.
-
Messiah Complex
In the X-Men comics, there was a brief period in which no new mutants were manifesting, until a young girl of immense power was born. Her name was Hope and she was believed to be the Mutant Messiah who could save her race; which meant that the X-Men and Sinister’s Marauders fought a war over who would take Hope and shape the future.
"Messiah Complex" is a story that would probably have to be simplified in order for the mainstream audience to accept it. That means that the subplot about the X-Men’s two primary time travelers, Cable and Bishop fighting each other over Hope’s survival would probably be the first thing to be dropped.
That said, the stakes of "Messiah Complex" are much bigger than the X-Men themselves. Everything that they’ve been fighting for hinges upon the safe recovery of Hope, who may be everything that she was predicted to be. I think that would be a pretty great movie.
-
Fatal Attractions
I’m not going to deny that "Fatal Attractions" has some uneven and shaky writing. But it is a famous moment in X-Men history because Magneto used his powers to forcefully remove Wolverine’s adamantium skeleton; which nearly killed him and it severely reduced his healing factor for a long time.
"Fatal Attractions" wasn’t a great story, but the Wolverine stories that came after it were amazing. Writer Larry Hama got a lot of mileage out of the much weaker and vulnerable Logan that emerged from his ordeal. This storyline also originated the idea that Wolverine had bone claws underneath his metal.
The Wolverine proved that Logan can be even more compelling when he is no longer invulnerable. "Fatal Attractions" could demonstrate that Logan remains dangerous even without his famous metal skeleton and claws.
-
The Trial of Magneto
In the middle of the ‘80s, X-Men writer Chris Claremont was crafting a redemption storyline for Magneto that would see the X-Men’s greatest adversary join the team as their new mentor. But first, Magneto had to answer for his crimes as one of the most feared mutant terrorists in the world.
For the X-Men films, a trial for Magneto could be an extremely dramatic moment for the franchise as even the X-Men themselves doubt whether Magneto can be given a fair trial. And what would happen if Magneto is tried and executed? Would he finally be the ultimate martyr for his cause?
Either way, this is a courtroom drama that could erupt into an all out war between mutants and humanity. Sounds like a good movie to me.
-
E Is for Extinction
The “Wolverine and the X-Men” animated series picked up on one aspect of Grant Morrison’s "E Is for Extinction" storyline when it dealt with a Sentinel attack on Genosha, the defacto mutant homeland ruled by Magneto. However, that show barely scratched the surface of this storyline and it didn’t even include Cassandra Nova, one of the greatest X-Men villains of all time.
Cassandra Nova was the unborn sister of Charles Xavier who was able to manifest herself years later as an adult. Cassandra had immense powers of her own, which she used in her attempt to destroy Xavier’s dream while using his own body. To top everything off, Cassandra orchestrated the slaughter of millions of mutants in Genosha.
If this storyline is ever brought to the big screen, Glenn Close is the perfect choice for Cassandra Nova. Close can more than hold her own opposite Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen; which would immediately make Cassandra Nova into a formidable screen presence. It’s almost too perfect to pass up.
-
Utopia
I don’t think that "Utopia" is a better storyline than "E Is for Extinction." And this story is also problematic in that it includes Norman Osborn and his Dark Avengers; which absolutely would not be included in any adaptation of this story. It’s just not gonna happen that way.
That said, "Utopia" is a very watershed moment for the X-Men and for the mutant race. While the remaining mutants had been welcomed into San Francisco with open arms, Osborn attempted to get the mutants under his thumb by starting up his own team of Dark X-Men to serve as the public face of his mutant agenda.
The most significant moment of "Utopia" is the one that would make it ripe for a feature film. Cyclops (bring him back to life already!) and the X-Men took a stand against the corrupt government official who was attempting to strip them of their basic human rights. Rather than submit, the X-Men raised Magneto’s sunken base and turned it into their own autonomous nation off the coast of California. And they called it “Utopia.”
For the first time in the X-Men franchise, nearly every mutant alive was united as citizens of Utopia. Even Magneto swore loyalty to Cyclops as a show of mutant solidarity. At that moment, there were no more Acolytes or Brotherhood members. They were all mutants and everyone of them was an X-Man.
