20th Century Fox’s Marvel movies gave some very odd moments, and we’re looking back at some of the strangest.
Almost 20 years ago, 20th Century Fox debuted their first film based on a Marvel Comics property. Since then, they’ve produced over a dozen Marvel movies. But nothing lasts forever. The Marvel-20th Century era is officially over, as what started with X-Men ended with Dark Phoenix. Throughout this time, there has been some heavy criticism. For instance, Angel looked bad in both movies, Apocalypse’s costume looked cheesy, and certain wise-cracking characters didn’t have mouths. Elements like these made people eager for the rights to be given to Marvel Studios.
Fans typically always attack the actors, probably because they are the face of the projects. But they aren’t the only ones to blame here. Sometimes the casting is spot on. A lot of the time the creative team didn’t put their best foot forward. It could have been straying too far away from the source material or just not understanding the characters themselves. Regardless, it’s made for some terrible moments. That, however, doesn’t clear the blame from the actors, as there have been some Odin-awful performances.
We’ve listed the15 of the biggest mistakes made during the Marvel-20th Century Fox era. You’ll see that some of these are small things that ended up making a huge difference. Others are cringe-worthy moments we all wish to forget. There are also scenes that are downright pitiful.
15. Phoenix…ish
The end of X2: X-Men United gave comic book fans a warm fuzzy feeling. Jean Grey sacrificed herself to save her family and, as the movie ends, we see a fire-link bird moving through the water. The entire movie hinted at Jean becoming the Phoenix, and this scene solidified what we were hoping for. We were all excited (or X-cited). This was before the 20th Century Fox movies started letting their fans down, and boy, did they drop the ball. The Phoenix, in this case, was more mutant powers than cosmic entity, which wouldn’t be so bad if they didn’t tease us with the possibility of something greater.
The design of the Phoenix itself wasn’t bad, even if it did look more like evil Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer than cosmic destroyer of worlds. The problem stems from the way they teased her throughout X2. If Jean just went crazy due to her powers, no one would have batted an eye. It would have made sense since she’s a telepath. There were a few scenes when Jean looked amazing. Her destroying everyone at the end of the movie was terrific. She looked like one of the most dangerous beings in the world. But that wasn’t the Phoenix, and we definitely noticed how lackluster it was.
14. Mystique the hero
Jennifer Lawrence is one of the best actors in Hollywood. Even in movies that stink, she shines (looking at you, Mother). Her performance as Mystique wasn’t bad, either. She was given a script, and she played the part. No one can fault her for playing the role she was given. But that doesn’t mean it was good. In fact, it was pretty bad.
I’m not the guy who will hate a comic book movie because it isn’t accurate. The majority of comic book movies don’t follow the source material. However, this was just terrible. Rebecca Romijn remains an underrated character in the 20th Century Fox-Marvel era. She was every bit the Mystique from the comic books. It doesn’t help that we saw Jennifer Lawrence play the villain in X-Men: Days of Future Past and do it well. Yet instead of building on that, they continued this horrible adaptation.
Jennifer Lawrence could have been looked at as one of the great characters in a comic book movie. Instead, her Mystique was viewed as bland. The audience was actually happy when she died in Dark Phoenix. They were bored with her. If they made her the lead antagonist she may have saved some of the movies. Mystique – “Leader of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants” – is more interesting than Mystique – “Teacher of Mutants.”
13. Fantastic Four: Rise of Awkwardness
A lot of people didn’t like the first two Fantastic Four movies. This writer is not one of them. They’re entertaining movies. That said, Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer wasn’t without its share of cringe-worthy moments. Let’s take Reed’s bachelor party, for example.
Reed could be seen talking to some women in the club about science. It was funny and cute, and he acted just like Reed would in that situation — awkward and unaware of the atmosphere he’s in. Then, things get weirder. Reed starts to dance with them. That part was OK. What makes this bizarre is him using his stretching powers while this was going on and the creepy face that went along with it. But wait, there’s more
There’s also Johnny “The Super Skrull” Storm, which gave everyone a taste of the Super Skrull without an actual Super Skrull. It’s hard to forget the weird “Rockslide” joke from Johnny Storm, which was a gross image to imagine. Another weird element was Dr. Doom not having his face and then having it again (more on him later). Lastly, let’s not forget Silver Surfer hitting on Susan Storm. Just, why? You may think Batman and Robin was bad, but there were scenes Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer that give it a run for its money.
12. Don’t you know who I am?
The Juggernaut has been attacking the X-Men for decades. Because he’s been around so long and his look is recognizable, it wasn’t surprising that he ended up becoming an internet joke. A group of people got together and created a video and called it “The Juggernaut B****!” They dubbed over old X-Men cartoons and made them say outrageous things. It was hilarious. The creators of X-Men: The Last Stand got ahold of that video and used it in their movie.
During the last fight scene in X-Men: The Last Stand, Kitty Pryde phased Juggernaut into the ground. Juggernaut then looked at her and said, “Don’t you know who I am? I’m the Juggernaut, b****!” and broke out of the ground. It was cringy, completely unnecessary, and just poorly done.
Sometimes taking things from pop culture and adding them to TV and movies works. At other times, it comes off pandering. Unfortunately, this was the latter. It’s A forced moment that screamed, “See?! We aren’t completely out of touch!” Maybe it was when he said it that made it seem a bit forced. It would have gone over better if he said it to Wolverine while he was fighting him in Jean’s house. Instead, it was shoehorned in against Kitty Pryde. It’s simply another moment from this movie that was just poorly done.
11. You know happens to a toad…
Halle Berry is one of the most recognized actors of all time. In the 1990s, she was insanely popular. So it makes sense that she would be cast her in the first X-Men movie to hit theaters. Her presence was enough to sell tickets but, after the first movie, we found out casting her was a bad idea. It wasn’t so much her acting that made her bad, however. It was the embarrassing African accent she used. What’s worse is that it bounced in and out. Sometimes she flat-out sounded American. Thankfully, they did away with that in the movies going forward.
Everyone is going to talk about her, “Do you know what happens to a Toad”? scene in the first X-Men movie. Yes, it was terrible. However, the right actor could have pulled that off. Gina Torres or Angela Bassett would have made that line iconic, as they have the presence to make that scene look and sound tough. Halle didn’t, at least not yet.
Halle Berry is great at what she does. It’s been 19 years since she was in the first X-Men. You give her that line right now, and she would kill it. We’ve seen how much better she’s gotten over the years. John Wick 3 is a perfect example. It could have been that she wasn’t as good as she is now. If you go back and look at her from the first X-Men to Days of Future Past, you can tell she kept improving. Maybe it was just too soon for her to play Storm.
10. Is that Galactus?
Galactus is probably the scariest being in the entire Marvel Universe, a threat on a galactic level. And It’s not just the massive size that frightens people. It’s what he does when he arrives. If you see Galactus, he’s there to literally eat your planet. On top of his immense stature, he has all sorts of powers to take people down. Sometimes he doesn’t even notice he’s being hit. A species as tough as the Skrulls and their mighty army were no match for The Devourer of Worlds. Eventually, the second Fantastic Four movie was given the subtitle, Rise of the Silver Surfer. This meant we’d get to see the mighty Galactus. We did, in fact, get to see Galactus. It just wasn’t what we wanted.
To put it nicely, Galactus was a major disappointment. He wasn’t intimidating or scary. He was a giant, intergalactic dust bunny. The entire movie we waited for the big reveal just to be let down. His form was teased. Sometimes it looked like a hand reaching out but, in the end, he was just a giant space fart. Galactus will go down as one of the biggest character disappointments of all time. What’s scarier is that he barely broke the top ten.
9. The Thing has no thing
Ben Grimm can be noticed from a mile away. His giant rock form is easily recognized. If you don’t know who he is, you’d know he was something. It must have been difficult for the creators to try and develop a decent look for the Thing. After the first two Fantastic Four movies, the Thing’s design was going to be looked at carefully. One newspaper said that Michael Chiklis looked like a giant Rice Krispie Treat. That means there could be nowhere to go but up, especially with improvements in CGI since the first two movies. I’m certain a lot of people wish they could go back to the orange sugary treat.
The Thing’s design in the 2015 reboot was just bad and kind of lazy. It was like they watched The NeverEnding Story, copied the rock monster’s design, and then gave him spiked shoulders and a frown. They could have at least given him the classic Ben Grimm short shorts or pants. Speaking of pants, the Thing didn’t have a thing. Why did they do that to him?! He was running around starkers! All of that could have been avoided if they just gave him pants. Seriously, give the guy some dignity.
8. Kitty Pryde: Time-traveling psychic
The Days of Future Past story is a classic X-Men tale. In this future, most of the mutants were either dead or in internment camps guarded by Sentinels. Even Magneto was imprisoned and in a wheelchair. The plan was to go back in time and stop the assassination of Robert Kelly. Rachel Summers used her psychic powers (don’t ask me how) to send Kitty Pryde’s consciousness back in time. Their plan worked, and that timeline was erased. The same premise was used in the movie X-Men: Days of Future Past. Except there was no Rachel Summers. They used Kitty Pryde, and that made absolutely no sense.
It’s understandable that you have to suspend disbelief while watching comic book movies or go in knowing that comic book movies aren’t going to follow the source material exactly. However, this is ridiculous. Kitty Pryde’s powers allow her to phase her physical self through solid objects. In what world does that correlate with psychic abilities? And that’s not the worst part. They could have easily just cast someone to play Rachel Summers or have a telepath like Xavier create the link. Instead, they used Kitty Pryde for no reason at all. If she had to be in the movie, why not just have her fight? Instead, she used her powers to phase Wolverine into the past. Sorry, not buying it.
7. Hula Hoop Havok
The first thing people thought of when they saw the cast of X-Men: First Class was: “Where are Cyclops and Jean” They were older in the original X-Men trilogy, so it would make sense that they’d be part of the original roster. Instead, Havok (Cyclops’ brother) was used. Not a big deal. The average fan isn’t going to care which Summers brother was used in this movie. Plus, Havok’s powers will look good on screen. At least they should have. Instead of blasting them through his hands (which would have made sense), Havok had to Hula Hoop to make his powers appear.
Havok was showing his new teammates how his powers worked and told everyone to stand back as he awkwardly swiveled his entire body to create his power, red energy rings. This was the silliest way anyone has used their powers. In order to teach Havok how to use his powers, he made himself move like he was stiffly using an invisible hula hoop. Then, he could make his energy blasts work. Thankfully, a harness was created for Havok to control his powers. At least he didn’t have to twerk to use his powers. If 20th Century Fox was still making Marvel movies, that would be how Jubilee used her powers.
6. No fighting from Rogue
Rogue will always be one of the most popular X-Men. Her southern charm, one-liners, super strength (that she borrowed from Carol Danvers), and her trademark white streak are all things fans loved. In the 1990s X-Men cartoon and comics, Rogue could always be seen slamming Sentinels or knocking their enemies on their butts. When the public found out that Rogue was going to be in the X-Men movies, most assumed she’d have the same powers, even if Carol Danvers couldn’t be mentioned. There was no super strength or flight. Well, at least she’d fight. The closest we got was when she aggressively took her glove off in the Black Bird.
How does Rogue of all people go through three movies and never throw a single punch? She has always been one of the toughest X-Men, even when she lost her super-strength. The movies focused so much on her ability to absorb powers that they didn’t bother to do anything else. What’s weirder is she barely used those, either. It’s not as if she had to have a knockdown drag-out with Magneto (which would have been cool), but three movies and nothing? To quote Stephen A. Smith, that’s so disrespectful.
5. You’re not the Shi’ar
Dark Phoenix was the last Marvel movie to be made by 20th Century Fox, as Marvel Studios now officially has the rights to Marvel’s Mightiest Mutants. There have been some incredible moments in the X-Men era (I’ll discuss those in a future article). There have also been some big misses, as well. The D’Bari will go down as one of the worst villains in comic book movie history.
First, we didn’t know what to make of them. Some of them seemed to be as strong as Colossus, have dense skin, and super speed. Others just seemed like agile humans. It was just odd and not consistent. Second, and most importantly, Marvel missed a grand opportunity by using them instead of the Shi’ar Empire.
The Shi’ar would have been the perfect way to end the X-Men’s time with 20th Century Fox. Give the X-Men a big-time team full of colorful beings to fight and make it as flashy and spectacular as possible. And, here’s a novel idea — actually have the fight in space. Instead of that, we were given a forgettable fight scene on a train with the X-Men fighting villains no one cared about. We didn’t need the entire Shi’ar Empire; just enough to make the fight interesting. If we’re being honest, you’d only need Gladiator and a few others to make this special. Hopefully, Marvel Studios will give us “The Dark Phoenix Saga” we’ve been looking for.
4. Cyclops deserved better
Cyclops may be the most underused X-Man in the first three X-Men movies. He had a good outing in the first one. He got the shot that took down Magento, which allowed Logan to take out Erik’s machine. In the second movie, he was beaten up by Lady Deathstrike and then mind-controlled, which was a complete waste of time. And then there was the third movie. He may have had a total of four minutes of screen time and was killed off-screen by Jean Grey. Cyclops may not be the most popular X-Man, but he deserved better than this.
James Marsden was a better Cyclops than he’s given credit for. You can see it in the first movie. The way he responded to Logan whenever they interacted, he was just as stiff and uptight as you’d assume Cyclops would be, and he looked the part, as well. They completely missed the boat on Marsden. We could have gotten a movie with him and Hugh Jackman. That would have been incredible. But what did we get instead — a worthless Cyclops, a fight with Jean, his visor floating after he died, and a good first movie. Other than the number one spot, this is the biggest disappointment for me.
3. Everything in Elektra
Everyone talks about how bad Daredevil is and that Ben Affleck was a bad choice. However, that doesn’t compare to how awful Jennifer Garner was as Elektra. Jennifer Garner is one of Hollywood’s most beloved performers. Nonetheless, everyone has a bad outing. For Ms. Garner, this was her’s. There was nothing good about her time as Elektra.
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She wasn’t a believable bad-@$$. No one was going to look at her and think, “Yep, I could see her being a trained ninja assassin.” When she fought, we were proven correct. It looked appalling and unnatural. Elektra’s fighting is supposed to be smooth and fluid. People may have actually been happy when they thought Bullseye Elektra killed her.
This brings us to the actual Elektra movie. Rarely have I watched a movie and felt this embarrassed. The initial time I thought that maybe I wasn’t giving it a chance. But after a rewatch, it was worse the second time around. There are zero redeeming qualities in this movie. And this writer wishes he could erase the image of her playing with that little girl.
In all honesty, Jennifer Garner shouldn’t be blamed for her role as Elektra. She was believable in Alias. So it’s not shocking that she’d be picked to play Elektra. The creative team just didn’t do a good job of playing to her strengths. Maybe more stealthy kills and less family time would have been the way to go.
2. Doctor Doomed
Victor von Doom is one of the greatest villains of all time. He has the intelligence and skill to defeat anyone. A good example is his near defeat of Black Panther. Doom came closer to taking over Wakanda than anyone has in the country’s history. He’s a master of the mystic arts, an intellect only matched by a few, and sports cool mask. All of that wouldn’t mean a thing if he didn’t have the personality to match. Doom is a narcissistic monarch. But the good part is that he backs up everything he says. We’ve seen characters that talk a big game and can’t back it up. There have been three attempts at Victor von Doom, and each of them have been atrocious.
Julian McMahon was riding high from his character, Dr. Christian Troy, in FX’s Nip/Tuck. He had the arrogance and self-assuredness of Dr. Doom, but they wrote him all wrong. We should have known this from Ben Grimm’s comments in the beginning. “This guy’s fast-food, strip-mall science.” Given the proper script, McMahon would have killed this role. He’s good enough to play Doom. Now, we have Toby Kebbell. He was just bad, and there’s nothing truly positive that can be said about him as Dr. Doom. Everything about him and that movie was a disappointing mess.
1. The Dead Pool
No one should be shocked by this. X-Men Origins: Wolverine was the big-screen debut of Ryan Reynolds as Wade Wilson. What we saw from him in the beginning was magical. The scene in the elevator was hilarious. And when he had to spring into action, he showed the world that he wasn’t all talk. Everything looked good. Then they removed the thing that people love about him most — his mouth. Why? All for a callback and a joke. William Stryker said, “If you didn’t have that mouth on you Wade you’d be the perfect soldier” and Logan said, “Guess Stryker finally figured out how to shut you up, huh?” That was it. A character was ruined for those two moments.
Let’s not forget the optic blasts. Who was in a writing session and said, “You know what Deadpool needs on top of not cracking jokes in this fight? Cyclops’ optic blast!” Someone heard or read that and thought it was a great idea. Ten years later, that decision is still befuddling. Especially since we’ve seen what Ryan Reynolds as Deadpool is capable of. Imagine if we could have gotten this Ryan Reynolds earlier. We could have gotten the R-rated crossover between him and Wolverine a while ago. We should all be happy that Deadpool killed that abomination at the end of Deadpool 2. He won’t be missed.
What do you think? Are some of these wrong? Are there any blunders that weren’t mentioned? Let us know in the comments below.