Bryan Singer signed on to direct X-Men: First Class…What should happen(doesn’t mean it will)

When I first heard the news of Bryan Singer, director of the first two X-men movies, was returning to helm the next in the franchise, I was immediately feeling hopeful.  You gotta admit, we had a good franchise going until Brett Ratner came along and retooled possibly one of Marvel’s 5 greatest story arcs in their history, (The beloved Phoenix Saga) to look more like a Rush Hour sequel.  Seriously, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it is what my grand-pappy used to say.  In a perfect world, Fox should of let Singer do his rumored 2-part Phoenix saga as he planned.  Apparently, the money wasn’t right, So Singer went to Warner Bros. with his lavish budget ideas and Ratner made “Phoenix Force” latin for “reeally crazy.”  But that’s neither here or now.  Now, lets focus on what we should see.

I’ve always believed that these movies should stick as closely as possible to the source material, its just the recipe for success in an industry that has had a loyal fan base for over 60 years. With that said, I want to see a young Scott Summers involved in a plane crash of some sort and to be separated from his parents and forced to take care of himself and his younger brother Alex before finding help.  There should be a scene where high school genius Hank Mccoy experiences puberty in the form of abnormal hands and feet, enabling him to also excel on the athletic field but earning him the unwanted nickname “Beast” and isolation from other classmates despite his obvious charm and charisma.  Younf Pickpocket Ororo Monroe should be living off the streets and try to lift a visiting Charls Xavier’s wallet.  (I know shes not an original student but we have to play by this movie universes rules and in “X-Men” it is mentioned that Storm is one of his first students.  I highly doubt that due to this rule we will see Bobby Drake or Warren Worthington, but if this turns out to be a reboot, then why not.  Of Course also Jean Grey but they may just as well use stock footage from the beginning of X3. They should be joined by the students we see at the end of the Wolverine film, most noticeably, Emma Frost, Sean Cassidy, and Pietro and Wanda Maximoff.  Maybe even a younger Raven Darkholme.

The school should also have two headmasters, Xavier and Magneto.  I feel this is a perfect opportunity for the audience to see the falling out between these two old friends with almost a Harry Potter vibe.  Xavier has his teachings, Lenscherr has his.  Students believe who they will.  Xavier should start to become aware of some of the more radical ideas of his friend, and try to confront him on it. Distraught, Magneto would start to secretly begin plotting against Xavier, using students against students (more Mystique posing as other people, jealousy with Pietro and Wanda, a love triangle with Scott, Jean, and Emma) until a big ‘ol fight breaks out with mutants against mutants and Magneto (accidently) crippling Xavier.  Magneto departs, taking some of the students with him and forming a Brotherhood and Xavier and the rest are left to pick up the pieces.  What’s worse, the media caught wind of this incident at the school, and mutant paranoia begins.  Branded as outlaws, MAgneto’s Brotherhood may start off mostly in self defense, but growing tiresome of always being on the defensive could lead to more terrorist like behavior.  Here we can first witness students like Pietro and Wanda begin to question Magneto in his ongoing fight.  i picture a final fight scene, pitting Xaviers students and MAgneto’s, someplace iconic to New York, dukeing it out for the whole world to see.  Right when Magneto is about to put the final touches in his victory, the humanity comes out of Wanda and Pietro, causing them to help out the X-men, and defeat Magneto.  Wanda and Pietro go into hiding, Emma LEaves the School and is taken in by the Hellfire Club, and Mystique joins Magneto in retreat.  The X-men now have a cause other than just be a school for gifted youngsters, they now have to police their own, in hopes of smoothing over how the rest of the world perceives them.  The end shot can either be one of MAgneto’s beaten Brotherhood coming in contact with a feral killer going by the name of Sabretooth and Xavier using Cerebro for the first time, and finding a young mutant named Marie arriving in Canada where another mutant, Logan has been fighting cage matches for money.  Thus, the war continues….

Personally I think Singer can handle a story like this, as he is good with dealing with multiple story lines with many characters(X2, Usual Suspects), but only time will tell.  At least its not Ratner.

Quint Jenkins
Quint@comicimpact.com