X-Men (2000) | Canadian First Time Watching | Movie Reaction | Movie Review | Movie Commentary

[@Dafmeister1978]

The reason Anna Paquin looks convincing as a teenager is because she was a teenager. She was 17 when they filmed this.

[@Domura]

Wow imagine casting teenagers to play teenagers.

[@LuisMasson]

@@Domura why do that when you can cast a 25 year old to play a teen and completely delete the element of immersion? Easy choice.

[@michaelriddick7116]

I was 19 when this came out and fell in love with her 😁😂🤣💘💗🥰🥰🥰

[@nitrokid]

Best explanation.

[@rowaystarco]

Well.. wouldn't be surprising that Singer would cast teens..

[@badhidingplace9558]

Scott's power isn't under his control. That's why he wears the glasses/visor. His eyes are CONSTANTLY emitting that red beam. The only thing that stops it are the special materials in the glasses/visor and his own eyelids. I always thought that would be an annoying power.

[@TupocalypseShakur]

The worst thing about his powers are that he should be able to control them but cant because of the accident that made him an orphan

[@tonk3878]

Imagine if an enemy just threw a shuriken made of red quartz at him, must have happened at some point.

[@MrAdamloring1985]

Imagine how annoying it must be to only see shades of red all the time.

[@masamune2984]

@@MrAdamloring1985*Terminators enter the chat*

[@chadwood4412]

​​@@ItApproachesBecause "technically," he doesn't shoot lasers out of his eyes. His eyes are portals to another dimension that's literally nothing but the red beams. So when he closes them, the portal closes. There's tons of powers that are overly technical and not what they seem.

[@ZachLorton]

X2 was a revelation, taking the building blocks of this movie and placing a well-crafted story onto it, further developing the world and the characters. If you liked this, you will LOVE the next one.

[@justinamerican8200]

"What happens to a toad when it's struck by lightning?" It croaks.

[@k.delpino1124]

The commentary on X-Men 1.5 (2003). Somebody gave that answer and it makes sense. Too bad, not everybody gets it.

[@dapeach06]

Yeah, the line they used in the movie was Joss Whedon thinking he was clever

[@k.delpino1124]

@@dapeach06 didn't know that. I just knew the punchline.

[@cybergeek11235]

@@dapeach06 it would've worked better if it was an over-the-shoulder throwaway kinda line. With, like, an implied "duh?" on the end of it.

[@jp3813]

@@dapeach06 Whedon was very clever as the showrunner of Buffy & Angel.

[@PatheticApathetic]

That Storm line to Toad at the end was originally the pay off to a running bit through the movie where Toad would ask people “do you know what happens to a Toad when X? The same thing that happens to everything else.” It was a “why did the chicken cross the road” kind of thing. They cut out the bit, but left that line, and now it just sounds stupid lol

[@Cotsos88]

I believe also it was supposed to delivered as a "quip"/joke , not as serious. It's one of the parts that was kept in from an early Whedon script for the movie and you can clearly see this line delivered by Buffy or Willow (or anyone from the modern MCU like Guardians) and being funny.

[@mattschliemann9683]

From the moment I first heard the line I hated it. It's just soooo... not anything. Why's it even there I keep asking myself.

[@Dylan_Platt]

Oh man, interesting. That was the go-to example of shitty dialogue to me and my teen friends. It's still not good with the expanded context, but at least there's a reason for it.

[@noodle_fc]

I always read it as Storm telling Toad, "You're nothing special. You can't do shit against lightning and _I_ control it." If you understand it that way, it is some cold-blooded shit to say to a dude before you run a million joules through him. I will admit that when I later learned about the deleted running joke it made more sense.

[@estills4768]

@PatheticApathetic thank you for the explanation, that’s annoyed me for over 20 years 🤣

[@RedmoonIndustries]

Patrick Stewart had never heard of X-Men comic books when he was approached to play Charles Xavier, the producers showed him one of the comics with Xavier on the cover. Patrick's response was "What am I doing on the front of a comic book?" Edit: the little boy at 14:45 was just an extra, he wasn't told what movie it was for but when he saw Cyclops, his favorite X-Men character standing next to him. He then knew what they were filming and thought it was the coolest thing in the world!

[@wiccalady9948]

Cool trivia! And there was an X-men/Star Trek crossover comic where the X-men commented on how much Captain Picard looked like Charles.

[@billbill6094]

Don't people say this same thing about Sam L Jackson?

[@wiccalady9948]

@@billbill6094 That he looks like Capt. Picard? Or Charles?😂🤣😂

[@stonebaxter]

@@billbill6094 No, because the 21st century version of Nick Fury was created in the early 2000's and was specifically drawn based on Sam Jackson (with his permission). Casting him only made sense, that character was made to look like him.

[@billbill6094]

@@stonebaxter I just looked the story up on wikipedia and IMDB, and it directly says Jackson did not give permission to Marvel to use his likeness as Ultimate Nick Fury. _"I just happened to be in a comic book store and I picked up a copy," Jackson explained in the June 2023 issue of Empire. "I was looking through it and went, 'Wait a minute!' I called my agent to find out if I had agreed to let anybody use my image, and everything snowballed from there. [...] The next thing I knew, I was having a meeting with Kevin [Feige] and they were talking to me about a nine-picture deal. I was trying to figure out how long I'd have to stay alive to make nine movies!"_ _Mark Millar previously opened up about his own experience with Jackson and discussing the unlicensed use of his image. "The first thing I said was I hope you don't mind me completely exploiting your appearance in my book 13 years back," the writer told Business Insider in 2015. "And he said, 'F-k, no, man. Thanks for the nine-picture deal."_ So that's what I was saying, that the story of Sam Jackson as Nick Fury was that he happened to think "why am I on this comic book?" And he got the movie deal from the producers who were deadset on using the actor.

[@timhibbard4226]

George, Toad while gross and not very impressive was most likely chosen because he has historically always been portrayed as one of Magneto’s most loyal and sometimes even his first recruit. The original Brotherhood of Evil Mutants in the beginning of first X-Men comics series consisted of Magneto, his children Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver, Toad, and Mastermind. The latter you will get to see Singer’s version of in the next movie.

[@Roxolan]

He's pretty versatile too! Like, he's not going to blow up tanks like some of the rest of the cast, but in other situations he's got a good bag of tricks. (Sadly not including lightning immunity.)

[@derGhebbet]

"consisted of Magneto, Toad, his children Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver," Listing them like this makes it look like Wanda and Pietro were Toad's kids.^^

[@flatebo1]

@@derGhebbet Given how often they have rewritten Wanda and Pietro's backstories, they probably will eventually be revealed as his kids.

[@AldenRogers]

Picture magneto on maury, being told he "is not the father" @@flatebo1

[@moviescatsmargs]

Using Ray Park as Toad was also an inspired bit of casting considering how popular he was at the time coming off playing Darth Maul.

[@zombiepicnic9683]

My favorite story about this movie is that Hue Jackman used dog like movements in his early performance as Logan since he had never seen a Wolverine and thought they were related to Wolves. He also knew nothing about comic book Wolverine because director Bryan Singer banned comics from the set. Jackman had comics snuck into him so he could read up on the character. The person who snuck in those comics was a young associate producer named Kevin Feige.

[@SSD_Penumbra]

That's half true. Supposedly, before filming, Jackman went to NY Comic Con as Wolverine and multiple con goers commented on him being "too tall". Wolverine is 5'2 in the comics.

[@SSD_Penumbra]

@@JackMarcuson It's not faked, he was the only one on set who knew about the comics.

[@Reblwitoutacause]

"Hue Jackmon"

[@n0body550]

@@ReblwitoutacauseI wonder what colour he was a hue of

[@gr1mreap3rz15]

@@zombiepicnic9683 i had no idea wolverines were even a thing and had literally only ever heard the word in reference to logan until some other xmen fans showed me pictures of actual wolverines when i was about 15. i Also assumed it was just a cool made-up comic book name based on wolves. this story is oddly vindicating lmao

[@thegunslinger1363]

2:26 "I've been at the mercy of men just following orders. Never again." X Men 2 is a brilliant sequel.

[@laughmatronc8706]

Isn’t that a line from first class? Or is it in both?

[@thegunslinger1363]

@@laughmatronc8706 It's from First Class.

[@JaceSeren]

For how much damage Wolverine can take in the comics, on more than one occasion he's regenerated from little more than a skeleton. I still remember the internal monologue bit from one such incident "The light hurts my newly formed eyes. Unfortunately I can't close them because I haven't grown eyelids yet.".

[@hellomark1]

Yeah his powers really depend on the writer. There was the "Days of Future Past" comic where in a future timeline, Wolverine was killed by a Sentinel burning all of his flesh with a flamethrower. But then you have the Civil War comics, he gets a very similar (if not more powerful) injury being exploded/burned by Nitro, he fully regenerates after just a few panels. So really: it depends on the story. I did find the Civil War one took me out of it a bit.

[@SSD_Penumbra]

Pretty sure he came back from a drop of blood at one point too.

[@mujaddidi8]

He gets reduced to almost nothing after hulk eats him in the Logan comics and he still regenerates inside his stomach and kills hulk from the inside out 😂 so yeah he can be damn near immortal depending on the story

[@wills.2648]

You should all check out the new Predator vs. Wolverine comic. The amount of damage he takes and comes back from is damned near OUTRAGEOUS. So very good, though. Worth reading for sure.

[@hellomark1]

@@SSD_Penumbra I remember that one :) they at least justified it because the drop of blood landed on some kind of wish/power crystal.

[@michelle6337]

Honestly loving Simone's completely logical questions surrounding the questionable superhero logic.

[@28starwarsfan]

Bryan Singer (the director) actually forbade the comics on the set. He wanted to make his movie and not have anyone tell him he was doing it wrong. Hugh Jackman wanted to research his character, however. So he talked to one of the younger producers (Kevin Fiege) who was a comic nut and had him feed important Wolverine comics under his door secretly so he could read up on it. While not canonically accurate, Hugh played the character with the real Wolverine in mind. He did pretty well... To say the least.

[@neon_pixels]

A detail that impressed me when watching the making-of feature for this movie is that Rebecca Romijn, who played Mystique, was simply wearing body paint and a few strategically placed prosthetics. She is essentially naked, including when filming the exterior shots on Liberty Island, and it was filmed during winter. In the making off you can see her wearing a thick coat, taking it off just for her shots, and then running back to get warm. In the most recent X-Men movies, Mystique is played by a well known actress (who I won't spoil right now), but her costume is a rather noticeable full body leotard, not to mention she wears a lot more clothing... And she wanted to stop playing the character because the makeup was hell, making it even more impressive what Rebecca Romijn had to endure while filming these. And yes, these early X-Men movies had a thing for exploiting Mystique's... appeal.

[@jerodast]

The thing about Mystique is yes they cast a mostly-model-at-the-time actress in Rebecca Romijn and she is a sometimes-comically sexy fighter, but a) she is clearly, absolutely a total badass even in this movie (even moreso in #2), when they asked "what powers would you have" I thought "Mystique's power to do insane kung fu shit", and b) Romijn did such a great job as mostly a goon here that she gets more significant lines/moments in #2 one of which is my favorite of the franchise. Could not be more pleased with how they handled her in these two movies. Like Magneto himself, her dedication to the cause is real despite being evil, whereas Toad and Sabretooth don't really have much serious personality.

[@ASK2286]

4:50 it was "Tipping is not a city in China"

[@tigqc]

Hilariously neither Patrick Stewart or Sir Ian McKellen knew how to play chess and a chess expert had to be brought on set to teach them. According to Bryan Singer's commentary, the whole point of the chess match was to show that Xavier was so smart psychically that he could checkmate Erik using just his pawns, summing up how things ultimately played out in the film.

[@DrD0000M]

Magneto wasn't wearing a brainwave-proof helmet...Xavier could just cheat.

[@tigqc]

@@DrD0000M totally out of character for him to do so.

[@JackRabbitSlim]

@@DrD0000M Bro code says you don't just read your homie's mind while playing chess. Xavier knows the code.

[@vilefly]

That is so hard to believe. They're too old not to know how. Being knighted.....more so.

[@Aeroldoth3]

@@vilefly Exactly! Moving oddly after being knighted should have taught them what they need to know.

[@dracoargentum9783]

28:22 in comic canon, Magneto was in a concentration camp as a boy, though he didn’t express his mutation until as a young man, after he had been freed [Hitler would have used him had he found out what Erik can do].

[@DeckWizard84]

Originally, there was going to be a running joke with Toad saying "Do you know what happens to a toad when" and then some fact about toads. But all those lines got cut except for Storm's response which makes it seem to come out of nowhere.

[@defunctus408]

The joke answer was supposed to be "they croak" but nobody got it. Singer had to explain it in the DVD commentary.

[@michaelriddick7116]

Saw this in the theatre :) Its hard to explain to folks, post MCU, just how much shit comic book fans had to eat just because of our hobby of choice. Getting a X-Men movie with a budget and basically fan favorite casting was HUGE :) I wouldnt get that feeling again until the Avengers movie in 2012 😢❤ LETS GOOOO!! 💪😎💪

[@michaelriddick7116]

Tyler Mane was PERFECT as Sabretooth! 💪🦁💪

[@michaelriddick7116]

And yeah, that "Samething ... " line is terrible 😅 it was bad in 2000, and its bad now 🤣😂

[@michaelriddick7116]

Awww your edit cut on of my favorite Magneto moments! Scott: "Storm, Fry him" Magnet: "Oh yes. A bolt of lightning into a giant copper conductor ... I thought you lived at a school." 🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂

[@odinthorson1830]

Wolverine's camper truck blew up like that because he had propane tanks in it for heating and cooking.

[@migiplayz91]

The actor who plays the Statue of Liberty is also the screen writer for the film David Hayter, he also wrote the screen play for Watchmen and does voices for Anime/Video game characters. He voices Captain America in the Spiderman animated series and voices Solid Snake in the Metal Gear franchise (except for MGSV)

[@misterprickly]

Fun fact: the trucker who takes Rouge to the logging town is played by George Buze. He played the voice of Beats, in the 90's X men cartoons.

[@ZachLorton]

And was alsona regular on The Red Green Show.

[@misterprickly]

@@ZachLorton as Dwight, the laziest marina operator!

[@rompofotters]

They filmed a bunch of this in my neighbourhood. My girlfriend at the time and I were going at it one night on the beach. The producers or someone showed up and kicked us out because they wanted to film in that exact spot. It was the same spot where Sabretooth killed that guy on the beach. Fond memories every time I see this movie, despite being so rudely interrupted.

[@MaGiKRat420]

I mean, would you want that on film in front of audiences forever? You know what? Don't answer that...

[@brandonizaguirre2963]

I'll take "🐴💩 that didn't happen" for $200, Alex.

[@jerodast]

@@brandonizaguirre2963 whether true or not definitely belongs on /r/ihavesex haha

[@carltuoni9325]

Magneto was my first favorite character in literature. So damaged by trauma that he became the thing he feared most.

[@PeverellTheThird]

Underrated comment

[@55itsme]

In the comics it's been suggested that Logan's amnesia is because of his healing factor. It was his mind's way of shielding him from the trauma of the experiments that were performed on him.

[@Falcun21]

It goes further back than that. Logan has been experiencing trauma since he was an early teen and after the more traumatic events, he tends to go feral or just blank out for a few weeks/months and then he comes back to himself with no memory of what he had been doing or what caused it. His healing factor seems to think that he's better off just not remembering those events. The big problem comes when he has done something significant during the time that he was forced to forget. Like when he killed his childhood love on accident, that event caused him to forget his entire history up to waking up in the woods. He then took his name from Mt. Logan which was nearby and ended up using that all the way through World War II. He had a vague recollection of being called Jim so that was his name while in the military. During WW II he worked with Captain America and Nick Fury and the Howling Commandos from time to time on the most dangerous missions. During the 50s and 60s he was a spy and worked with Victor Creed (Sabertooth,) David North (Maverick,), Mastodon, Silver Fox and John Wraith as a unit that did dirty work for the CIA and Canadian Intelligence. The Weapon X program erased all that and afterwards he was just Logan. His memories were tampered with so he would never know if what he remembered was real or not and thus could not be trusted. He knew too much about too many very powerful people and he couldn't be eliminated the conventional way so they screwed up his mind.

[@TimedRevolver]

Sabretooth is played by Tyler Mane. He was adult Michael Myers in the Rob Zombie Halloween films. Dude's still gigantic. EDIT: Toad is played by Ray Park. He was also Darth Maul in Star Wars: Episode I. They dubbed him over with someone else in that movie, though.

[@danzansandeev6033]

the man who is basically playing antopomorphus lion has last name of Mane? seriously?)

[@christopherkaylor2940]

The guy who played the other flatmate in Shaun of the Dead and the gun guy in John Wick 2 was the voice of Darth Maul

[@BarryHart-xo1oy]

Good to know

[@danzansandeev6033]

@@christopherkaylor2940 peter serafinowicz is his name)

[@mattschliemann9683]

Tyler was also a wrestler I believe. As I heard it at the time he at one point worked with Big Sexy Kevin Nash, but I never knew how true that was.

[@idiot_city5444]

The most damage Wolverine has taken in the movies is, I believe, in The Wolverine when he shields that guy from one of the atomic bombs and gets exxxtra crispy

[@sheens43]

Blade deserves some credit, but this movie is really what birthed the MCU of today (in that, it showed that superhero movies could be both good, and profitable), so it was designed to both introduce this story and characters to people who''d never seen them before, and to give us comic book fans a movie that we'd love. It's definitely not perfect, but 24 years later, as someone who grew up on comic books, I can still come back to this movie and enjoy it.

[@michaellimerick3294]

​@@LacoSinfoniathey've already watched the first two blade films 😊

[@Deencat_]

"Some" credit? Without Blade, these movies do not happen.

[@HobGungan]

While I like Blade and X-Men a lot, I feel they were the last gasp of the earlier time where superhero movies were trying to be "good movies in spite of the source material", and it was the 2002 Spider-Man embracing the Silver Age weirdness that wrote the game plan the MCU would later follow. Speaking of, they STILL need to watch Spider-Man 3.

[@colemanroberts1102]

​@@HobGungan "How much does it cost?" "Easy. Either sacrifice a goat and sell your soul to Satan, or watch the movie Spiderman 3." "Spiderman 3!? That movie was horrible."

[@HobGungan]

@@colemanroberts1102 Spider-Man 3 is a good movie full stop. Just because an 8/10 is technically lesser than two 10/10s doesn't make it "bad" by any stretch.

[@weirds0up]

The”what happens to a toad” line was supposed to be the pay off to a bunch of other lines that got cut, which kind of means that line hits flatter than a toad under a speeding truck.

[@andrewblanchard2398]

🐸 🚛

[@grife3000]

I think the award for "Wolverine's greatest regeneration" was in X-Men Annual #11, where a being rips out his heart, and a single drop of blood hit a magical crystal and regenerated him completely from that drop. Histories generally stay the same for that one version of the character. Sometimes you can go decades without an origin story, as not everyone needs to know this just to be (say) a baddie that occasionally recurs. If it's a long-lived character, writers will tend to add more and more wrinkles to the original story. And occasionally they'll pull an "everything you know is wrong" complete revamp of the origin. And then there's Hawkman, who's had like 10 different men being Hawkman with 20 different origins among them (only a slight exaggeration). Magneto, for instance, was just a mean dude for 18 years and 150 issues before Chris Claremont added the Auschwitz references to his past.

[@TupocalypseShakur]

With Hawkman one thing will be consistant and it's the fact they're the same guy

[@ApesAmongUs]

Chris Claremont is the reason any of us know who the X-Men are. Sure they existed before him and they were even big before him, but the stuff he added represented a major change to them and their popularity.

[@mattschliemann9683]

I have that issue, his name was Horde, and his blue armor (what little there was of it) just floated on his body.

[@RobPryme]

I think in the movies, the heat he takes at the beginning of The Wolverine could be the greatest thing to recover from. His molecules must have been furiously rebuilding themselves while being disintegrated.

[@hanskneesun123]

Whilst it's nowhere near the single drop of blood 'greatest regen' there's an issue where Wolverine has been robbed of his adamantium by Magneto, Wolverine gets hit by a speeding drunk driver and then almost instantly heals up, I'm not sure if it was the first time they confirmed that the adamantium had been hindering his regeneration abilities but it was cool when the movie Logan acknowledged it.

[@Cotsos88]

One of the big problems with the X-men coming back in the MCU is Magneto. His whole identity is tied to the Holocaust but he'd have to be in his 90's if you make the X-men in 2025. Unless they say his powers make him age slower or something similar, but you'd have to do that with Xavier too because their whole dynamic is being friends.

[@SoloDoloSpaceman]

I’ve always thought that if the MCU X-Men movies aren’t period pieces, Magneto(or all the X-Men) should be time-displaced to present day. Magneto would see how f’d up the world still is and decides to do something about it.

[@gemelwalters2942]

He really doesn't. Magneto existed long before they gave him that backstory. Not sure why people pretend that's how he started out. It became the popular origin story but that was never his first introduction in the comics. They can give him any backstory, it doesn't matter. He got that backstory because it was relevant to the time, just as the mutant parallel to the civil rights movement happened because the writers felt it was relevant to the time. His character can just as well be adapted to reflect the current time

[@SSD_Penumbra]

Pretty sure the comics kept him as someone well into his 90s anyway, but because mutants age much slower, he still resembles a man in his 50s/60s. For reference, Wolverine is over 150, Sabretooth is around the same age and Scott Summers is pushing 50, but looks 30.

[@lucasdolding6924]

They could do something like meshing two timelines together after Secret Wars so you have the 'mutants have always been here' angle and keep Magneto's backstory and not have him too old.

[@ninjabluefyre3815]

One of First Class's writers thought up a version tied to the 90's Rwandan genocides, intended to be played by Giancarlo Espocito. I think it could work.

[@lobachevscki]

I dont remember the issue but there is panel in a comic where both Wolverine and Cyclops are in a forest and Cyclops takes out the glasses and completely obliterates the forest in front of them for miles and miles, so in the next panel Wolverinse says 'sometimes i need to be reminded why you are the leader'. I think the first 2 movies of the saga portray Cyclops and Wolverine relationship very well with the depth it was developed in the comics througout the years, to me that has always been one of the most interesting aspects of the first two movies. You definitely need to watch the follow up, it is to this day still ones of the best of the series and of the super hero movie genre in general.

[@jerodast]

Cyclops got totally shafted in the films, but he is still my favorite and the bits they do include are great. I became a lifelong James Marsden fan from this. (Helps that I loved Cyclops the most as a kid, and he's also great in _30 Rock_ and in general.) I'm actually mad this video shows so much love for "you're a dick" but not for his PERFECT REACTION, ".....okay!" He has several great "quiet reactions" to Wolverine in the series, I love em all. X-Men will always be my favorite despite some terrible misfires and even the best movies are not the top tier of execution. But the themes and characters are forever.

[@jakecleveland1051]

Fun fact, the truck driver that drove Rogue is the voice of Beast from the animated series

[@robling1937]

So two things from a comic book nerd that I think will help add context to future films without spoiling anything is that X-Men was first conceived as an analogy for civil rights. So right from the beginning, they have always represented repressed and marginalized people. But like George said, the content and context of the stories change over the years to represent whomever is being cast in a "this group is the enemy" light. Also, Magneto's original origin absolutely included him as a holocaust survivor.

[@Thom1212]

And this is why Deadpool riffs on this fact in Deadpool 2 (“Everybody calm down. The X-Men are here. A dated metaphor for racism in the ‘60s. Respect.”) btw Zazie Beetz is hot!

[@gemelwalters2942]

Magneto first appeared in the 60's. The Holocaust backstory wasn't added until the 80's. A lot of these were added due to social relevance at the time. So while it is now considered his defacto origin, that was never how he was initially introduced.

[@votedbestjustin]

​@@gemelwalters2942true but in 60 years that's been his origin much longer than it wasn't. Honestly none of the X-men characters are fleshed out much at all until Claremont brought in the all new team in the late 70's/ early 80's and started writing the more mature, yet melodramatic, X-Men we love now.

[@MegaWESTCOASTKING]

Holocaust backstory wasn't added until the 80's Magneto first appeared in the 60s

[@gregghelmberger]

I remember being disappointed that they went with black leather for everyone in the movie, and there was a certain amount of disappointment about that among comics fans. However, given how godawful most comic book movies had been up to that point (Reb Brown's Captain America, anyone?) fans were pretty forgiving of a good movie that was disappointing in its costumes. It took Thor -- 11 years later! -- to show that fans could embrace fantastical costumes as well as the action side of comics.

[@55itsme]

I had more of a problem with a 6 foot Wolverine than I did with the costumes.

[@gregghelmberger]

@@55itsme That bugged me too, but then I thought A) High Jackman was pitch-perfect in his performance, and B) they couldn't have afforded a more height-appropriate actor like Tom Cruise.

[@iamvigilant2727]

Ray Parker who plays toad also played Darth Maul from star wars the phantom menace

[@ericb5342]

It was inspired by the civil rights movement. And Professor X was a representation of Dr. Martin Luther King jr, and Magneto was a representation of Malcolm X.

[@JB-nc7yk]

Toad was one of the original Brotherhood of Evil Mutants back in the day along with Scarlet Witch, Quicksilver and Mastermind who later became a part of the Hellfire Club. The actor that played Toad also played Darth Maul.

[@dematar]

Rogue's ability has the potential to make her the strongest mutant ever. If she holds on to a mutant for too long, she permanently gains their power, leaving the mutant in a coma. The only downside is that she also absorbs a portion of their personality, which can lead to schizophrenia.

[@michaelriddick7116]

Exactly! Thats why in the comics she super strong and can fly where as Carol Danvers ... cant 😉

[@ronb8500]

So she is the marvel version of Highlander.

[@SSD_Penumbra]

@@ronb8500 Not really. She has the power to literally steal someone elses power, and it doesn't have to be a mutant one, either. In the comics, she steals Capt. Marvel's powers and adopts her personality (and has kept it since, southern accent and all). Another time while fighting the Avengers, she stole Bruce's Hulk and proceeded to beat every member of the Avengers on her own. Rogue is bananas strong, and her and Gambit are the ultimate power couple.

[@maximillianosaben]

If nothing else, and even though they'd known each other previously, this movie started the absolutley adorable and endearing close friendship of Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellan.

[@agp11001]

Probably THE best bromance in movie industry history. Two very talented and absolutely adorable human beings.

[@CoryBlissitte]

One of the things that I enjoyed on a rewatch (I saw it in the theater and had to wait for it) was that the lesson that Storm was teaching earlier in the movie foreshadowed Magnetos plan. Her lesson was on Christianity in the Roman Empire and the fact that it became the state religion (Theodosius I, a Christian) after he ascended to the throne.

[@ericstarkey551]

The message of social justice and equality that is portrayed in the books and movies is done amazingly. The funny thing is several of X-Men have gone to other teams in the books. Beast and wolverine have been in the avengers, storm married the black panther and were part of the fantastic four, and they were always accepted by the public, but not when they were x-men.

[@erichabich7009]

Wolverine: the Canadian so ill-tempered that he had to be fictional (though even then he’s endured so much trauma such that it’s understandable).

[@CEngelbrecht]

"Quigley, Down Under". Random suggestion for your channel. No idea why in the hell I'm reminded of that one watching this one.

[@boiiinng]

Do you mean…Quigley?

[@CEngelbrecht]

@@boiiinng Yeah, I keep misspelling that one.

[@Uzkodas]

Fun facts for you: the officer that finds Mystique not only is the film’s screenwriter but the illustrious and iconic David “Solid Snake” Hayter. Also Toad is played by Ray Park, freaking Darth Maul

[@MovieDan1011]

Awesome as always guys these movies arent perfect but the one thing they did give us was the absolutley perfect casting of Xavier,Magneto and Wolverine which i do think will be almost impossible to top in future.Also some epic quotes too the speech btween Xavier and Magneto at the end "i pity anyone who comes to my school looking for trouble" and Wolverine "does it hurt?" "Everytime" please watch them all guys!😊

[@Tamalan]

Scott, Jean, Storm and Mystique are also exceptional casting. I love Jennifer Lawrence as an actress but Rebecca Romijn’s performance as Mystique is just pitch perfect to her character from the comic books.

[@Heroo01]

@@Tamalan Absolutely same. Jennifer Lawrence is great, but I don't think she makes for an amazing Mystique, and it's especially obvious since she had to follow such a superb one

[@pelijer]

*hears Xmen questions, takes deep breath* Xmen was first published in 1963. It was written as a nod to the civil rights movements in the US for both black people and women. Prof. X is MLK, and Magneto is Malcolm X. Jean Grey was the main character as the newest student, discovering the limits of her powers and how to push past them. Xmen has not ALWAYS taken part in similar social movements but is, imo, culturally important. This origin story for Magneto is the original, and is considered the default. Other origins have been assigned to alternate Magneto's (clones, alternate timelines, etc).

[@lukasismael430]

The concept of Marvel's X-men was always ground-breaking even in the 60's with the idea of superheroes as mutant outcasts, as they could be made a social commentary and metaphor for any kind of discrimination in real life. The analogy was even made between Xavier and Magneto that you could compare them to Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X, two men fighting for the same goals in opposite ways.

[@maisiesummers42]

Toad is portrayed by Ray Park, who also played Darth Maul is the Star Wars prequels.

[@TropicalHat420]

Nightcrawler was my entire childhood of X-men at the time. Had an arcade that had a great X-men beat em up where you could go as like 4-5 characters and I'd live on the Nightcrawler spot.

[@DisneyBatchman]

Nightcrawler was the best against almost anything except the two flying critters!

[@SSD_Penumbra]

@@DisneyBatchman Hard disagree. Colossus hard-carried. Also went on to inspire a meme at Magfest.

[@DisneyBatchman]

@@SSD_Penumbra Well, you play Colossus and I'll play Nightcrawler, and together we'll take them all down!

[@defunctus408]

In the comic books, Magneto ripped the adamantium from Wolverine's body which messed him up for a very long time.

[@barlow2346]

Love the fact that the VA for Solid Snake, David Hayter wrote the first two movies

[@paws27]

You just blew my mind, had no idea.

[@cryhwks]

My 2 favorite scenes of this movie are the beginning and the ending. The 1st scene makes you understand exactly where Magneto is coming from at all times. And that last scene, just the 2 of the greatest actors ever just talking, is really good.

[@chrismanuel6659]

The actor that played toad also played Darth maul in episode 1

[@seantlewis376]

Magneto is not a villain in the same sense that a Bond villain is a villain. His motivations are very understandable, and are fleshed out even more in the following films. Keep watching all of these! Not all of the X-Men movies are great, but when you get to Logan, sitting through the not-so-good ones will all be worth it.

[@lordmortarius538]

This is the basic version of Rogue, and they kind of kept her this way in these films. In the comics, she ends up using her power to absorb Ms. Marvel's (Carol Danvers, the future Captain Marvel) powers permanently by touching her for too long and killing her, so after that she could fly, had super strength, invulnerability, etc. THAT version of Rogue is in the X-Men '97 cartoon.

[@stonebaxter]

No, she didn't kill Carol Danvers. She depowered her and put her in a temporary coma, until she became Binary (which is what she should have stayed, since in modern times she's the single worst character in comic books as Cap Marvel).

[@jerodast]

"A Rogue's Tale" is one of my favorite X-Men animated eps for sure. It's crazy how they reveal this tragic backstory from back when Rogue was evil, and then the only solution they have is to IMPRISON DANVER'S MIND EVEN DEEPER to keep her from "breaking out" in fury and vengeance. Super dark.

[@tylerrock7219]

I love this movie but the second one is way better, you should definitely check it out

[@martymcflown3707]

When I was a kid, I always wanted healing because I have an autoimmune condition and figured that would "cure" me (plus the protective capabilities I could use to help my friends). As an adult, I want probability manipulation. Ensure that I can create a certain outcome (like winning the lottery multiple times).

[@jerodast]

What kind of superpower is probability manipulation anyway, it certainly isn't very cinematic!

[@paulwassom4231]

Domino

[@DonMachado]

Originally Toad had a larger role in the movie. His sort of catch-phrase was, "What happens when a toad ________?" commenting on his own powers. That all got edited out except for Storm's comment "What happens when a toad is struck by lightning." It sounds like a non sequitur without the rest of them to give it context.

[@JamesWiseMagic]

I'm surprised she hasn't seen this one yet. The original xmen trilogy was my childhood! And gotta love that "Do you know what happens to a toad" line hahaha

[@bigenglishmonkey]

The best interview I ever saw was Patrick Stewart and ian mckellen. Interviewer-what was it like on the set of X-men? Patrick Stewart-well every morning we would walk into the makeup trailer and say good morning to everyone, then we would kiss the girls on the cheek, Anna paquin, Halle berry, famke Janssen.....looks at ian, and hugh Jackman. Ian mckellen-pretends to be shocked.

[@chappie_nottherobot]

While the invincibility would be nice to have in Wolverine’s case, the adamantium skeleton that he has plus his unknown age will eventually become a problem down the line for him. I won’t go into details, but you’ll find out more in later films why it becomes more of a hindrance. Excited that you’re finally reacting to these!

[@maximillianosaben]

Plus I bet the metal gets chilly in the winter.

[@Heroo01]

@@maximillianosaben how would it get cold lmao it's inside him. metals have high specific heat and his metal is already heated up to his body temp so it'd actually be a lot harder to cool him down or heat him up with all that thermal mass

[@maximillianosaben]

@@Heroo01 - ...It was a joke.

[@lc2858]

@@Heroo01 Idk man, I've got some metal plates in my arm, and I feel it shrink and pull on my bones every winter.

[@phiefer3]

@@Heroo01 Uh, no. Metals tend to have rather low specific heat values, that's why they conduct temperature so well and why heating coils tend to be made of metal. For comparison, in J/kg C, the specific heat of air is about 1000, the specific heat of water is around 4000, the specific heat of iron, steel and many other common metals: 500 or less. So most metals tend to be pretty easy to both heat up and cool down. Now some metals do have high specific heat, lithium is over 3500, and magnesium is around 1000, but judging from the lists I've found, these seem to be the exceptions. But then again, adamantium isn't a real metal so it's possible that its has an unusually high specific heat as well. That being said, bone also has a specific heat of around 440, any temperature changes to a steel-like implant shouldn't be too different than the temperature changes of your bones (though the fact that your bones are alive and have bloodflow could also keep them warmer than a piece of solid metal, idk).

[@Talius10]

14:25 Much like how they used people with an identical twin in Terminator 2 for those scenes, they used Shawn and Aaron Ashmore for the scene with Mystique and Bobby.

[@VforVictory00]

23:59 from what I remember of what I read in the comics, in the Civil War arc, he was right at the center of a huge explosion and all his body was vaporized except for his skeleton and he was able to regenerate from what remained. Apparently from that event, it's explained that he can heal, but the more complex the part is (like nervous system) the longer it takes to regenerate.

[@mikeyquinn2254]

21:13 - 21:20 If you pay attention to the beginning when Toad asks Sabertooth, "are you supposed to be bringing someone back with you?" He was creating that machine that Magento and Rogue was on. He's the engineer of the group. In a way he's supposed to be useful. He's actually smarter than he looks

[@rexmundi2986]

This movie is truly the beginning of a comicbook movie golden age, and I think a lot of that is owed to the characterization of the the antagonist, Magneto. He's not an outlandish moustache twirling villain, in fact, his motivation is very understandable and not so different from Prof X; they both want for mutants to not be an oppressed minority, its just they have very different ideas about how to get there. Like Thanos, there's an understandable rationale to his actions.

[@jerodast]

Thanos is nonsense haha. I loved the "What If?" episode where T'Challa became Star Lord and Thanos is basically "yeah, he convinced me maybe killing half of all life wouldn't actually solve all the problems in the universe." Like...yeah dude. We know.

[@allyliddiard7320]

I remember sitting in the cinema and watching those claws come out of Wolverine's hand, and I thought, "Yup, this is going to be good."

[@brentjones9323]

I think the worst Wolverine has ever recovered from was when Magneto ripped the adamantium off Wolverine's bones. I really want to see that portrayed in live action, but that would probably look horrific.

[@mattschliemann9683]

There was also the time in Wolvie #100 when Genesis (Cable's son) and the Dark Riders, attempted to put admantium back into Logan, which he rejected, killing like everyone there. He shot the admantium out of his pores in spikes and killed a couple, and savaged the rest of them escaping. He was literally feral for a good while before he recovered.

[@michaelriddick7116]

That lead to one of tbe GREATEST universe spanning arc's in Marvel history imo; Onslaught :D

[@zammmerjammer]

@@michaelriddick7116 *led

[@billbillinger2117]

George to answer your question, in comics Wolverine has been stripped down to nothing but skeleton and bits of flesh and recovered, in one instance he survived from a single drop of blood, granted the droplet landed on a supremely powerful object which gave his healing a super cosmic boost but still came back from it.

[@andrewward5891]

I think he’s survived being nuked too

[@tjsupes9768]

the "same thing that happens to everything else" line from Storm was from when they had Whedon write one of the screenplays the director wanted it removed because it didn't fit the tone he was going for but the studio refused as this came out at a time Whedon was worshipped

[@davewhitmore1958]

It didn't kill Senator Kelly though. It gave him the power to convert his body to water, he was just unable to control it. Hopefully he'll show up in the MCU sometime

[@the_watcher2122]

one thing I love about magneto is that he is just a scared guy with powers because the mutants are inspired by the civil rights movement and magneto has experienced unjust hate in the past. so to me what keeps him fighting against humans and not for mutants is the fact that he is scared that humans will put him in another holocaust. which not only is why he fights but tries to overpower and get rid of humans (what he fails to realize is that trying to destroy something that you fear is exactly what the humans are doing to mutants).

[@panelbypanelshow]

George, to answer your question, in "Return Of Wolverine" #5, Wolverine's healing factor actually helped him survive in space without any equipment as well as re-entry to Earth.

[@theeLonelyRedPanda]

In the uncaged game he had to jump out of a helicopter w/o a parachute and he was messed up but he healed.

[@jp3813]

George, I think you might recognize the name of the fight choreographer of this film: Corey Yuen. He directed plenty of Jet Li flicks during the 90s and was a classmate of Jackie Chan's. Xavier & Magneto are heavily inspired by Martin Luther King & Malcolm X respectively. While powers emerging during puberty has been likened to that of developing a non-heterosexual orientation. On the subject of immortality, you should try to recall The Green Mile where living a life longer than most humans can be a curse. That's not even covering scenarios such as getting buried alive, being alone after all life on Earth have gone extinct, repeatedly tortured for years by a sadistic person, etc...

[@Gumblethebear]

There was a lot of this movie that was not comics accurate, but the characters FELT so like the comics that it was wonderful. X2 me and my friends cheered at the end.

[@Awhmanitsdanttv]

“When I was alive, I was allergic to cats” Simone is such an inspiration to me

[@jerodast]

I assumed this was a Catwoman or Batman Returns quote but I have no idea really

[@TreyM1609]

Don’t ever forget. The actor that played Toad also played “Snake Eyes” in the GI Joe movies and also “ Darth Maul “ in Star Wars. He’s a baddass for sure

[@donsnover2585]

I read xmen comics growing up and the powers I would want has changed numerous times, currently I think I'd go with the ability to geal,but not only myself but others too.one thing the comics writers did well was find a mutant ability that seemed useless/silly then find a way to use it that made it overpowered

[@ianrosenbalm6555]

For the longest time, people made fun of Jubilee because "make fireworks" (explosions that move and can burst in patterns) was largely considered a lame power. Then they revealed that her actual power is "make things explode at a subatomic level," meaning she could detonate with the power of a nuclear bomb or make surgically precise explosions inside a human body. Suddenly, the fireworks were no joke.

[@28starwarsfan]

Joss Whedon (not talking about him personally) wrote a run in the early 2000s called Astonishing XMen and it was pretty good.

[@KevinBrown-lv2fk]

fun fact David Hayter the voice of solid snake was one of the writers for this movie

[@SSD_Penumbra]

Even more fun fact; some of the soldiers at the end of the movie are styled after the Genome soldiers from MGS 1 as a little easter egg.

[@ShatteredDreams90]

He's also the security guard in the Statue of Liberty who found Mystique

[@phohead]

Stan Lee based the X-Men on the Civil Rights Movement(Struggle) of the 1960's. Professor Charles Xavier is based on Dr. Martian Luther King Eric Magnus Lensherr / Magneto is based on Malcolm X Both have the same goals for their people but they have different ideas on how to achieve them.

[@seanodonnell8001]

Magneto's origin has been fairly consistent throughout the comics as a Holocaust survivor. When the X-Men premiered in the 60's it was much closer to WW2 at the time, and as the years have marched on, Magneto has gotten older and older and older. Now it is getting to the point where it is hard to believe Magneto is still an active fighter when he is pushing into his 90s by 2024. It's going to be interesting to see how they change his origin or give him new life extending powers. Tying the whole mutant registration act and such to the history of the Holocaust really hits home his point of "If you give them an inch, they will take a mile. Never again." There are other genocides they could connect him to in recent years but knowledge of them is less widely taught throughout the world.

[@IamnotJohnFord]

Yeah. It was a double whammy: A Jewish mutant during WWII. Talk about bad luck.

[@gemelwalters2942]

that backstory did not happen in the 60's when he appeared. It wasn't added until the 80's over 20 years later. That's not to discount the importance of it but it's also important to not decide the character can not be anything else when that very backstory was something added much later because it was relevant and topical at the time.

[@jlilley73]

@@gemelwalters2942 When is it not relevant and topical? Yes it was given to him in the 80s, but it's been his backstory ever since and as far as I know it doesn't contradict anything written about him before. It's a central part of his appeal as a character and the MCU would get massive pushback if they tried to rewrite it.

[@MrTickleTrunk]

The "That same thing that happens to everything else" line was a callback to a deleted scene of an earlier interaction but they never did pickups to fix it.

[@wincute100]

I hope you watch all the series. It wasnt perfect, but the lore was very interesting to follow

[@brucebieberly4166]

I will be very interested to watch Simone's reaction to X-2. She is such a good soul (see her reactions to Oppenheimer) she will have some powerful insights.

[@Negeta]

As a fan of the comics as a kid who was also a teenager when this movie came out, yes I was a little bothered by the black leather suits over the blue and yellow. In the end, the movie was good enough that it didn’t ruin anything for me. I was also convinced by naysayers that said yellow and blue costumes would have looked awful on screen, and that the black leather was just cooler. I stopped believing that when they did good adaptions of the blue and yellow suits in X-Men: First Class.

[@johncampbell756]

"Tipping is not a city in China." Anna Paquin was believable as a teen as she was 18. Someone rmse explained why Toad the character was chosen, but it may have also been because the actor is the same guy who was one of the only highlights of Jar Jar: The Phantom Moron as Darth Maul (Ray Park). Wolverine can get drunk if he drinks faster than he recovers from the alcohol. He probably also has to choose near Everclear levels of alcohol content.

[@mattschliemann9683]

I feel like there was a point where he was a legit drunk alcoholic in the comics. So there must be a point he can get drunk

[@johncampbell756]

@@mattschliemann9683 I guess he drinks faster and harder than his metabolism.

[@noneya3635]

Hey just remembered that the woman who plays Jean Grey was also in an epsidoed of TNG called The Perfect Mate where she and Picard became linked. So look like prof. X beat both Wolverine and Cyclops to the punch.

[@bedfordstrangler]

Yes, there was a big stink in Marvel comic fandom over the costumes at the time. And Jackman as Wolverine, despite how iconic the role has become for him. He was considered too tall, not stocky enough, and not Canadian enough. As for Wolverine, he's survived so much bullshit that it's hard to think of any singular incident. What comes to mind is the time Magneto stripped all the adamantium from his skeleton and ripped it out of him, which almost killed him. I believe he was also reduced to pretty much a skeleton in the Civil War crossover. Interestingly, in the comics, Deadpool's healing factor is derived from Wolverine's DNA, but Deadpool's is said to be stronger.

[@nolaw70]

" Interestingly, in the comics, Deadpool's healing factor is derived from Wolverine's DNA, but Deadpool's is said to be stronger." Yeah, I came here to say this, since they have seen Deadpool. Deadpool's healing ability is said to be the strongest in Marvel Comics, IIRC. Though one thing that Wolvervine has to deal with is his healing factor has to deal with is that his body is in a perpetual state of rejecting the adamantium, so his healing factor is always preoccupied to an extent. Deadpool is just a bundle of super-cancer in humanoid form.

[@iampotsataja]

​@@nolaw70 Not a comic reader, but curious, doesn't the cancer preoccupy Deadpool the same way?

[@pete_lind]

Comic version Wolverine is 1ft shorter , can fight Hulk and come back to life after being destroyed to skeleton .

[@jessecortez9449]

The black suits for the movie were a disappointment for fans. It then was taken farther with the comics copying the black suits to try and draw in any new fans from the movies. For a comic that centered on uniqueness of a minority and an individual it was disappointing for them to take on such a bland uniformity.

[@wiccalady9948]

@@iampotsataja I'm not sure, but I think the cancer cells rapid growth gets co-opted by his healing factor to replace lost cells rapidly. So it actually aids him in a bizarre way.

[@stephenhumphreys9149]

Ending on the words of wisdom "Sometimes you just wanna get f***ed up". A philosophy to live by :-)

[@FrancisXLord]

Hisashi Ouchi was kept alive thanks to the what I can only describe as selfishness on the part of his family, since they refused to let the doctors stop treating him. If you truly love somebody you would not allow them to endure 83 days of torture, that kind of flies in the face of your feelings. I know it's tough but can you imagine the torture he suffered in his last days? Ouchi's story disturbed me so much that I recognise the name of him whenever someone brings him up. RIP mate, sorry anyone had to go out that way.

[@ashtonlewis9624]

This story has stuck with me in exactly the same way. I always remember the name Ouchi, because he must have been in unimaginable pain (I'm not trying to be funny by saying that, it's just the truth). RIP

[@christoperwallace6197]

I might sing a different tune in that pain, but since I don't know what happens after I die, I'd rather my family try to keep me alive

[@Raven5150]

The truck driver that took rogue to the bar is the voice of beast on the 90s animated xmen series

[@NestorCaster]

28:53: also to George’s earlier mention of depending on the time and artist/writer, which would lead to them being inspired by the social events of the time-- Magneto and Xavier, and their relationship(in part) were inspired Malcom X and Martin Luther King Jr., respectively.

[@anthonydean1743]

Fun Fact the actor for Toad was the physical actor for Darth Maul in Star Wars Episode 1 The Phantom Menace but didn't voice him.

[@Edd25164605]

Beat me to it😂

[@CineRam]

Mystique's superpower gets even more ridiculous as the movies go on, she's even able to change size to disguise herself as a small child. But one thing that I like about this version of the character is that she rarely disguises herself as a non-mutant woman (which lets Rebecca Romijn appear without the blue scaly makeup). When Jennifer Lawrence played Mystique in some of the later films, they wanted her to look like Jennifer Lawrence as often as possible, even when it made no sense for the scene. BTW, Joss Whedon is responsible for some of this movie's best lines...and some of it's worst as well.

[@cklambo]

Also in the comics she is not naked.

[@billbill6094]

I don't think he's ever been fully disintegrated so I'm pretty sure the most Wolverine ever recovered from was being vaporized to the bone. Much like Hulk their bodies pull body mass from another dimension so unless they've been 100% killed they can always come back. Deadpool on the other hand has been reduced to just a head before, while there was a "clone" made up of all of his missing limbs combined and growing a new head. Also pretty sure he has recovered from just being cells before. And as for the statement in the wrap up, no, "origins" are normally solid and there aren't nearly as many origin stories as movies would have you believe. With everything in hollywood rebooting and remaking and franchising, it feels like half of all comic book media is just the origins of a character, but that is not the landscape of comics. There are some characters with no origin like the Joker, some with ill-defined and sometimes contradictory origins like Daredevil, some characters where you don't need an "origin" because the beginning of the story is how the character got into their situation. But for the most part it's all dead uncles and shot parents for decades. And comic readers know even new characters are rarely ever introduced in an "origin story." Ask about the origins of Punisher and you'll probably just hear about Kingpin tricking Frank Castle into assassinating Spider-Man by framing him as a villain, which is how the character was first ever introduced to the world. "Origin stories" usually come after years if not decades of knowing the character and getting to know their backstory through other stories. And not all comic books are superhero stories either, even action/mystery/powered ones.

[@michaellimerick3294]

Also fun fact the guy that plays toad is the same guy that played Darth maul in the star wars prequels

[@ronin83-de]

Ray park. What a legend 😎

[@k.delpino1124]

He almost did a Iron Fist movie. That would've been something.

[@_FH.]

George successfully subverts my expectations again. Totally expected Simone to be Wolverine in the thumbnail for this.

[@neilshackleton89]

The manor in this film is Parkwood Estate, in Oshawa, Ontario. It's a location in a ton of movies and tv shows, including Umbrella Academy, The Boys, Billy Madison, and Doom Patrol. They used a different location in the later X-Men films.

[@locutus9956]

Side note: Mystique in the original films is Rebecca Romjin, who seeing as I know at least one of you is somewhat fond of Star Trek: She now plays Una/Number One in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds

[@asterix7842]

When I was Alive I Was Allergic to Cats is my favorite KZbin channel. Actually, I'd watch any video with Simone smiling and laughing.

[@anonymes2884]

"Sometimes you just wanna get fucked up" - George. Amen brother, amen :). Kind of where the modern superhero era started because it melded _full on_ comic book ideas with a fairly grounded, mainstream approach. 'Blade' was a few years earlier but though comicbooky at its core, it's not really a "spandex and powers" type of world. 'X-Men' showed you could _really_ adapt comics to the big screen (then 'Spider-man' came along a couple of years later and cemented it).