MCU’s X-Men Introduction Can Undo Fox’s Weirdest Movie Misstep

Summary Hugh Jackman's Wolverine overshadowed every other character in Fox's X-Men movie franchise, starring in every movie he appeared in.

Fox's X-Men franchise missed its chance to build an extensive cinematic universe made up of individual solo movies that lead to team-up films.

Marvel Studios has mastered this approach with the Avengers movies, and the MCU can do the same with its version of the X-Men.

The MCU can do something with the mutants that Fox's X-Men franchise never even tried. With Disney's acquisition of Twentieth Century Fox, Marvel is now able to use mutants and X-Men-related characters freely. However, the MCU's X-Men may take a while to arrive, as the Multiverse Saga first needs to conclude in order for Marvel Studios to do the mutants proper justice. In the meantime, the MCU is bringing back mutant characters from Fox's extensive X-Men franchise such as Patrick Stewart's Professor X, Kelsey Grammer's Beast, and Hugh Jackman's Wolverine.

Various characters had their brief chance to shine throughout the X-Men movie timeline. Mutants such as Alan Cummings' Nightcrawler, Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy's Charles Xavier, and Ian McKellen and Michael Fassbender's Magneto had their time in the spotlight, establishing themselves as popular live-action Marvel portrayals outside the MCU. However, Fox's X-Men movies failed to exploit the full potential of most characters in the franchise — a mistake that sets up the MCU's best possible approach to mutants.

Fox's Solo X-Men Movie Dreams Only Ended Up Focusing On 1 Character

Hugh Jackman's Wolverine Overshadowed Every Other Character In Fox's X-Men Movies

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Wolverine is an undeniable highlight of the X-Men's history in every medium. The clawed superhero made a splash during his first appearance in 1974's The Incredible Hulk #180, participated in the titular team's famous overhaul in 1975's Giant-Sized X-Men #1, and became one of Marvel's most popular heroes even before Hugh Jackman first portrayed him in live-action. Once Fox's 2000 X-Men movie placed Wolverine as the main character, Jackman's Wolverine began a 24-year journey as the indisputable protagonist of the X-Men franchise.

Related Fox X-Men Issues The MCU Must Fix (& Avoid) From not favoring Hugh Jackman's Wolverine to keeping track of continuity, the MCU mutant movies can learn much from the Fox X-Men series' mistakes.

Not only did Wolverine carry the principal point of view in X-Men, X2: X-Men United, and X-Men: The Last Stand, but he also starred in the franchise's first and only spin-off, X-Men Origins: Wolverine. When Fox's plans for more X-Men spin-offs were canceled, a younger cast replaced the original team in X-Men: First Class. Yet, Wolverine soon returned to his protagonist role in The Wolverine and X-Men: Days of Future Past. X-Men: Apocalypse struggled to match the popularity of previous movies. Meanwhile, Hugh Jackman's (original) last Wolverine appearance in Logan received raving reviews from fans and critics.

How Fox's Wolverine Focus Damaged The Franchise (Even If Wolverine Is Great)

Wolverine Prevented Fox's X-Men Franchise From Focusing On Other Characters

Hugh Jackman made Wolverine one of the most popular portrayals of a comic book character in movie history, to the point that three different Spider-Man actors have had their turn at playing the web-slinger multiple times — and crossed paths in the MCU — in the time Jackman went from being cast in 2000's X-Men to joining the MCU in 2024's Deadpool & Wolverine. However, Hugh Jackman's lauded Wolverine portrayal eclipsed every other X-Men character. Wolverine received the bulk of the X-Men movies' screen time and characterization, to the detriment of the rest of the cast.

The lack of X-Men solo movies might be Fox's biggest missed opportunity given the immense diversity of characters in the source material.

Iconic X-Men characters such as Storm, Cyclops, and Rogue have an extensive comic book history that could inspire several individual and team-up movies. Yet, none of Fox's thirteen X-Men movies focused on a solo protagonist other than Wolverine. Deadpool and Deadpool 2 could be considered the only two exceptions, but Deadpool isn't a proper mutant, and neither he nor most other Marvel characters consider him a member of the X-Men. The lack of X-Men solo movies might be Fox's biggest missed opportunity given the immense diversity of characters in the source material.

Fox planned to make a Gambit solo movie starring Channing Tatum, but the project got canceled when Disney acquired the company.

Why The MCU Is Better Set Up To Avoid Fox's Wolverine Franchise Issues

Marvel Studios Is Known For Giving Smaller Characters Their Own Starring Roles

Marvel's X-Men '97 proved that multiple mutants can share the spotlight despite their limited screen time, provided that Wolverine doesn't usurp every memorable line of dialog, action scene, and dramatic moment in the story. What's more, mutants can join and leave the team within the same continuity, and Wolverine can be a mainstay X-Man without overshadowing his fellow heroes. Fortunately for the MCU's mutants, Marvel Studios has mastered the individual approach to its characters since Phase 1.

Just like The Avengers was preceded by each of the titular heroes' solo movies, the MCU can lay out a release plan that consists of various individual X-Men titles centered on each character. Then, X-Men movies can work as Avengers-like crossover events that pay off plotlines from each individual title and set up multiple storylines that will in turn be paid off in solo sequels, spin-offs, and eventual X-Men follow-ups — not to mention different team-up titles like X-Factor, Excalibur, and the Marauders. This web of individual stories is what makes the MCU a true cinematic universe instead of an internally disconnected franchise, and what can set the MCU's X-Men apart from Fox's.