Avengers: Doomsdayis set to bring many of the X-Men to theMarvel Cinematic Universe, and the upcoming film has the best opportunity yet to rectify one of the Fox franchise’s biggest mistakes. Bringing in members of the Thunderbolts, the Fantastic Four, and even theX-Men toAvengers: Doomsdayhas generated considerable excitement and curiosity about the new project. With so many characters to fit into such an explosive story, many have begun to wonder how each of these diverse characters might fit together in the same place at the same time.
TheX-Men moviesbegan in 2000 and reflected a different era in superhero cinema. This was before the success of Sam Raimi’sSpider-Man, and followed only a few years after the failure of films likeBatman & Robin.Audiences had not yet grown accustomed to what superhero movies could be, and so the Bryan Singer film was made more to appeal to fans ofThe Matrixrather than comic book devotees. This wound up resulting in a great film with excellent appeal across multiple quadrants, but it did do one thing that has remained a strange decision to this day.
The Fox X-Men Movies Never Showed Us The One Thing We Always Wanted
Comic-Accurate Outfits Were Rare In The X-Men Universe
The stories andtimeline of the FoxX-Menmovieswere great, but they never showed the characters in their popular costumes from the comics.Kevin Feige has spoken about their leather costumes,which were selected to give the characters a more uniform, less colorful look, that aligned with the style of popular films at the time likeThe Matrix.The first film even pokes fun at the idea of comic-accurate costumes, with aquote from Cyclopsasking Wolverine if he would have preferred to wear yellow spandex.
TheX-Menfilms had great stories and great characters, with performers chosen for most of the roles that seemed pulled directly from the comic book pages. However,the lack of comic-accurate suits was disappointing.The most egregious example of this in the franchise was withDeadpool’s first appearanceinX-Men Origins: Wolverine, where the character’s suit was replaced with a unique and strange villain design. However, it seems in recent years that things have been moving toward more rather than less comic accuracy.
Marvel Studios Now Has The Perfect Chance To Fix Fox’s Biggest Mistake
The MCU Has The Opportunity To Give More Characters Familiar Suits
Fortunately, it seems that withDeadpool & Wolverineprominently featuring acomic-accurate Wolverine costume,the franchise is on the right track to restoring classic uniforms to their heroes.This has already been a trend in Marvel in recent years.Professor X’s appearance inDoctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madnesssaw him in a floating yellow chair that was pulled right from the comics and the animated series. Even the Scarlet Witch, a mutant in the comics, was given her comic-accurate outfit at the end ofWandaVision.
WithDoomsdayahead,now is the perfect opportunity to give every character their most comic-accurate look yet. Giving characters the opportunity to have looks never seen properly in live-action - like Mystique in her white dress, or James Marsden’s Cyclops in blue, with a yellow belt across his chest - could prove deeply exciting for the MCU. These actors have played grounded versions of these heroes, but as the stories have gotten bigger and bigger, now is the perfect time to feature some of the most familiar and celebrated designs for them.
I Don’t Know How Costumes Fit With Fox’s Timeline, But I Don’t Care
Across The Marvel Multiverse, There Does Not Need To Be A Detailed Explanation
In a sense, it doesn’t matter how Marvel manages to fit comic-accurate costumes into its newest stories.Wolverine’sDeadpool & Wolverinecostumedidn’t have that much of an explanation, yetseeing Logan don the suit near the end of the film was one of its best moments.The same could be true for virtually any of these characters. The X-Men could simply have changed their uniforms between films, and could appear wearing comic-accurate uniforms inDoomsdaywith no explanation. While it would be fan service, it wouldn’t be the kind of pandering that general audiences would find an issue with.
Not everything needs to have an in-depth canon answer, and changing the outfits and uniforms of the cast is one of these details.The franchise could certainly find a suitable answer for the importance of switching to comic-accurate looks, but that would only take away from an already jam-packed moviegivenDoomsday’s enormous cast. Instead, moments that see the team wearing costumes pulled from the pages of the comics would be sufficient on their own, without any extraneous explanation.
Fox’s X-Men Universe Totally Wasted 1 Great Mutant Team, And I Hope Marvel Can Redeem Them In Avengers: Doomsday
Marvel Studios has confirmed several notable X-Men characters set to return in Avengers: Doomsday, but there’s even more we want to see.
The inclusion of the X-Men is one of the most exciting details aboutAvengers: Doomsday, andthe only thing that could make it better would be if each of them were given their classic uniform from the comics.The shape of superhero blockbusters has changed significantly since these characters debuted, and these outfits would be right at home in the MCU. At this point, it would almost be more out of place ifAvengers: Doomsdaydecided not to feature these iconic and familiar costumes.
