The MCU X-Men Can Break Superhero Movie Trends With These Iconic Villains

The X-Men are some of the main faces in the Marvel Universe, but they’ve yet to officially debut in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. This was mostly due to cinematic rights, but now that Marvel Studios and Disney own the merry mutants, fans have been eagerly awaiting their introduction en masse. The shared universe seems to be slowly building toward their presence, and inverting the usual superhero movie norms can actually further build up hype for the X-Men.

Instead of starting with an X-Men movie, the MCU can instead release a Brotherhood of Mutants movie. This will invert expectations by making the bad guys the focus at first and building up to the introduction of Professor Xavier and the X-Men. Likewise, this concept can be used to reshuffle the Marvel Cinematic Universe board while also pulling off something that rival studio Sony hasn’t quite managed to achieve.

The X-Men are Still MIA In the MCU

During the 1990s, Marvel Comics sold off the cinematic rights to its most popular and iconic characters to various movie studios in order to get out of bankruptcy. This saw Sony Pictures web up the rights to Spider-Man, while 20th Century Fox got a hold of Daredevil, Fantastic Four and the X-Men. The latter in particular was especially hot, with the mutants having already proven to be big successes on both the printed page and in animated form as shown by X-Men: The Animated Series. They quickly went on to find similar popularity on the big screen, with Fox’s X-Men movies being major successes long before the Marvel Cinematic Universe was a thing.

It wasn’t until around the release of Avengers: Endgame that Disney and Marvel Studios bought out Fox wholesale. This gave the studio the rights to the X-Men, but so far, the team isn’t fully formed. Iconic members haven’t been so much as referenced yet, and the only mutants to show up so far are Ms. Marvel (aka Kamala Khan), Namor (who was heavily altered from the comics) and an alternate version of Patrick Stewart’s Professor X. Many fans are wondering what’s taking so long, as the assumption was that the X-Men might be prioritized once the studio acquired the rights. Pivoting to the X-Men being in the spotlight might renew interest in the MCU, but there might be an actual logical way to draw things out.

A Brotherhood of Mutants Movie Is the Perfect Precursor to the MCU’s X-Men

Instead of simply leading with an X-Men movie, the Marvel Cinematic Universe can instead launch the mutants with a movie based on the Brotherhood of Mutants. This group was originally led by the villainous Magneto, and it’s his equivalent to Charles Xavier’s X-Men team. Though their ranks have changed heavily in the comics, they’ve remained major parts of X-Men lore. The team has also included such iconic foes (in different continuities) as Mystique, Sabretooth, Blob, Avalanche and several others.

A Brotherhood of Mutants movie can be more of a science fiction action thriller than a pure superhero movie, much like the Fox movies were. This can be used to establish the growing presence of mutants in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, with society seeing them as a threat to humanity’s existence. After all, said presence is of a biological and genetic nature, making them different from the armored billionaires, super-soldiers and the cosmic Norse gods of the Avengers.

Seeing this, Magneto and Mystique might gather up mutants to protect them from society, with their nascent Brotherhood instead becoming violently reactionary. This can hype up the eventual formation of the X-Men, with The Brotherhood of Mutants being a sort of dark prequel. Fans will want to see another group temper the Brotherhood’s violent tendencies and bring peace between humans and mutants.

A Brotherhood Movie Can Succeed Where Sony’s Spider-Man Villain Movies Haven’t

Sony still has the cinematic rights to Spider-Man and his related characters, with Marvel Studios only being given permission to use the character in movies such as Spider-Man: No Way Home. Since 2018, Sony has also had a separate continuity in the form of the Sony Spider-Man Universe. These began with the first Tom Hardy-led Venom movie, with Venom: Let There Be Carnage and Morbius being the other entries since then. The latter, however, was rather poorly received, and the dubious nature of upcoming movies like Madame Web and Kraven the Hunter has many moviegoers questioning the need for this shared universe.

The biggest issue is that, despite involving Spider-Man, the Web-Slinger isn’t in any of these movies. There currently isn’t a Sony Spider-Man Universe version of Spider-Man, especially since it’s clearly a different world from the Amazing Spider-Man movies starring Andrew Garfield. Likewise, the brief trickles to suggest Spidey’s existence has done little to hype up a potential future appearance by the hero. Thus, the result is that there isn’t much anticipation for future entries in the shared universe. A Brotherhood of Mutants movie will do the opposite, however, namely due to the nature of mutants as a whole.

By nature of being mutants, all member of Homo Superior are thus tied to the X-Men. Likewise, a well done Brotherhood movie actually will lay the groundwork for the X-Men to appear later. It’ll be completely different from what Sony is doing with Spider-Man’s villains, and the fact that the Brotherhood might be shown in an arguably “antiheroic” light actually makes sense with characters such as Magneto. Likewise, a key member of the X-Men can get her start in this movie, though it might come at a cost for one Avenger.

The Brotherhood of Mutants Can Recreate an X-Men Heroine’s Origin Story

Rogue is one of the more iconic members of the X-Men, both due to the movies and the various cartoons involving the team. The incarnation of Rogue in the Fox X-Men movies was less vivacious than in the comics or the 1990s cartoon, and this was mostly due to a change in power set. This Rogue lacked her old school flight and strength-based powers, and this was due to her not having taken them from Ms. Marvel, aka Carol Danvers. The MCU can finally recreate that classic origin story, even if it means getting rid of Carol as Captain Marvel.

Rogue can be a member of the Brotherhood who’s coerced by her mother Mystique (who adopted her in the comics) to commit criminal acts. This can climax in her being used in a scheme that attracts the attention of Carol Danvers. In a desperate act that might mirror the heroic finisher in a more typical superhero movie, Rogue can defeat Danvers by draining her powers and putting the Avengers into a coma. This will empower the young mutant while also psychologically scarring her, causing her to abandon Mystique and the Brotherhood of Mutants.

From there, Rogue can be found (perhaps in an after-credits scene) by Charles Xavier, who invites her to a different kind of family. This course of events will not only lead into an MCU X-Men movie, but also finally bring Rogue’s classic origin story to life on the big screen. Likewise, due to her supposed disillusionment with the role and the box office performance of The Marvels, it would provide an “out” for Brie Larson’s Captain Marvel. By taking down an Avenger, it will also be symbolic of the mutants reigning supreme in the next chapter of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, though it will be their most villainous members who pave the way.