I’ve been re-watching the X-Men movies this week in
anticipation of finally going to see X-Men:
Day of Future Past. It’s hard to believe that 14 years have gone by since
the original X-Men first hit
theaters, and a lot has changed in the genre since then. Prior to X-Men, few superhero films experienced
very much critical or box-office success. And especially thanks to the
campiness of the Joel Schumacher Batman films, few thought that anyone would
take superhero movies very seriously. And only the die-hard fans questioned 20th
Century Fox’s decision to tone-down some of the comic elements in X-Men, most notably forgoing colorful
spandex suits in favor of black-leather costumes – a fact that Cyclops even
jokes about just before the movie’s climax.
But I think X-Men’s
attempt to appeal to a more mainstream audience ultimately succeeded and paved
the way for a slew of superhero movies in the years to follow. And as the genre
grew, it seems that the general public’s acceptance of all aspects of
superheroes did as well. We now have two Spider-Man franchises where his blue
and red suit is no issue at all. And the masses flocked to see The Avengers without batting an eye at
watching a massive battle against an alien army. If only we hadn’t rolled our
eyes to such things back in 2000!
But now that it’s acceptable for superheroes to exist on
screen just as they do in the comics, isn’t it time that we saw Wolverine in
his iconic yellow and blue (or brown and tan) costume? Oh wait – maybe that
does pop up in X-Men: Day of Future Past!
Don’t spoil it for me!
Until next time,
-Steve
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