So, it's finally happened. The X-Men movie rights are back in the hands of Marvel and now everyone's favorite mutants can join the other heroes of The Marvel Cinematic Universe! Well, seeing the opportunity in front of me, I've decided to tell you loyal readers what my plan for an MCU X-Men would look like! I won't be doing movie pitches every week, and I only have about four X-Men related properties to have films. Characters like Wolverine and Deadpool and the team Weapon X will get their own posts down the line in regards to how Disney/Marvel should handle them, but for now I want to talk about the prequel series that would come out before my ideal X-Men Film.
First and foremost, where have the mutants been? Well, it's quite simple. Mutants have always been in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Good mutants helping people in need of help, bad mutants causing destruction, the X-Men themselves have been around since the first Avengers film. But they have a certain psychic on their side. Yes, using Cerebro, Professor X has used his telepathy to keep mutants hidden from public knowledge. Hiding and twisting the world's memories of mutants to a point where people never learned of a human sub-species. And as far as the internet? One of X's loyal students-Sage-uses her technopathy powers to hide mutants even on the internet. But this post isn't about the X-Men who lay in the shadows, but instead about three potential heroes they recruit. This 12-episode series would be streamed online and feature four episodes for our three main characters, exploring their lives before The X-Men. And the show would be called "The New Mutants".
Nightcrawler
Nightcrawler's story conveys to the viewer the same thing they've seen from every X-Men story; people fear mutant-kind. It takes place in Paris, France, as a travelling German circus makes it way into the city. Kurt Wagner is but one of many performances at the circus, alongside his adopted sister and brother he is an acrobat, the star acrobat called "The Amazing Nightcrawler". People think he's just wearing a costume, but after he and his siblings are captured by a mutant slavery ring, he has to use his newly discovered powers to escape. During the course of the story, his sister's own latent mystical abilities aid their escape, but slowly effect their brother. By the end, Kurt's brother is driven into madness, spearheaded by his jealousy of Kurt and his sister's talents. Many members of the circus, including Kurt's adoptive mother and sister are killed by the brother. When the townspeople see Kurt mercy killing his brother they assume he's a demon and he's responsible for the deaths. Kurt hides and is helped by Professor X and his student Angel. Angel's inclusion is to push the religious subtext of the story and to show angels and demons are not as black and white as people assume. He leaves with his new friends, taking the fencing swords of his dead siblings and swearing to treat his new family with the same love and respect. As for a "main villain" there is a Marvel villian called The Ringmaster who could run the slave circuit and have psychic control over his henchmen via a hypnotic device. A cameo by Mystique (Kurt's mother) disguising herself as background characters would also be included.
Storm
Our next story takes us to Kenya, Africa where an accomplished street thief named Orono has been living the life of a sly, cunning criminal. She owes her success to her newly discovered powers of weather manipulation. Nothing big, just a few gusts and static shocks. She tries to rob some rich-looking socialite when he catches her, has her arrested, and then delivers her to his mansion. It is revealed this man is the rumored crime lord of the country "The Shadow King". He reveals his powers of psychic manipulation and his group of treasure hunters from around the globe. With Orono's ability to alter weather he can finally part the sandstorm hiding the hidden city of Wakanda, home to technology and metal material beyond comprehension. She agrees to join him, falling for his fake charm. Orono's original plan was to betray him at the last second, but she cannot escape his control. With help from distant followers Professor X and Marvel Girl, Orono escapes control and uses the sandstorm to take down the hunters one by one, using her abilities to new levels. The Shadow King eventually captures the mind of Marvel Girl and makes her fight Orono while he finds "his old rival" Professor X. Using her powers, Marvel Girl overcomes the control and gives Orono the ability to defeat Shadow King from within their minds. Shadow King is paralyzed in a state of comatose as Orono leaves with Marvel Girl. Before leaving the country, Orono decides to give back to her people by causing a rainstorm. They call her a goddess as she leaves with her new friends. Storm's story displays the abuse of power some mutants experience and how only a lucky few get a chance to realize their mistakes and make up for them.
Colossus
Piotr Rasputin was just a humble farm-boy living in the plains of Russia when his little sister was almost ran over by his father who-while driving a mowing machine-was distracted. Piotr ran in front of his sister and took the hit, activating his mutant ability of forming metal skin. From there he becomes a local hero, using his newfound strength to repair broken homes and his invulnerability to rangle strong animals. But this isn't the story of a folk hero, this is a story of how a government responds when one of their citizens becomes a weapon. Piotr is whisked away from his town to serve his country as Agent Colossus. They teach him how to fight, how to shoot, and how to be the perfect soldier. They use him to collect escaped operatives. Former members of the "Black Widow" program, Nazi robots confiscated by the Soviets, their own super-soldier known as The Red Guardian, and finally their last mutant soldier Omega Red. Red was a mutant whose powers were enhanced by the Soviet Union and he was made into an unstoppable killing machine. Deemed too dangerous he was supposed to be put on ice similar to their "Winter Soldier" program, but he escaped. In his quest to find and kill Omega Red, Colossus meets Professor X and Cyclops. He and Cyclops relate on a soldier/student level, but it is Cyclops' perspective on serving your beliefs before your government that gets Colossus thinking. Omega Red is eventually defeated, but Colossus suggests they put him on ice and get to work psychically rehabilitating him. Meanwhile, he ditches his superiors to go live with his family. When he sees his family they tell him to join Professor X's team, knowing their son was always meant for more in life. As he leaves, his sister promises to meet him again. Next time, she says, she'll be strong like him!
And with that I invite you to The Panel Biter's X-Men Pitch (PBXP), a new series of posts with my recommendations on how Disney/Marvel show handle using The X-Men in their universe. Hope you enjoyed! Thanks for reading!
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