Summary
- While nothing is truly off the table entirely, certain versions of different X-Men characters are unlikely to be seen again.
- Some Fox movie characters made odd changes to character backstories that likely won’t be repeated.
- Other X-Men heroes and villains are simply so obscure that the odds of seeing them again are low.
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The mutant heroes and villains introduced in Fox’s X-Men franchise include a number of particularly weird characters that the MCU likely won’t opt to bring back. Beginning in 2000, Fox’s X-Men movie franchise introduced Marvel’s mutants into live-action on the big screen. In the years that followed, the franchise continued to grow, with multiple timelines allowing for a number of recast roles and many important characters existing within different narratives simultaneously.
With the X-Men set to join the MCU’s movie timeline in the future, the question of which characters will appear in Marvel’s flagship franchise is a burning one. Though many X-Men characters are seen as nothing short of a certainty, there are many stranger characters from Fox’s X-Men movies that likely will not return in the MCU. Whether due to their bizarre nature in the comics or an odd adaptation appearing in Fox’s franchise, here are the 10 weirdest X-Men movie characters who will likely not return to the MCU.
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10 Callisto Was A Strange Take On Her Comic Book Counterpart
Appearing in: X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
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X-Men: The Last Stand
PG-13
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Director Brett Ratner Release Date May 25, 2006 Runtime 104 Minutes
Introduced into Fox’s franchise in 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, Callisto is too strange to return in the MCU. However, this isn’t due to the character herself but rather the film’s handling of her. Played by Dania Ramirez, The Last Stand seemed to get just about every aspect of the character wrong. In the movie, Callisto wasn’t the leader of the Morlocks, she possessed extra abilities, and was missing one of her most crucial traits.
As the leader of the Morlock’s, Callisto isn’t supposed to be conventionally attractive. As such, casting Dania Ramirez in the role was a clear misstep, as was rebranding the Morlocks the Omegas in order to bring in a wider range of characters. Though Callisto herself is an interesting character, the version introduced in X-Men: The Last Stand was inaccurate to the point of absurdity and cannot return in the MCU.
9 Silver Samurai Didn’t Really Fit With The X-Men’s Story
Appearing in: The Wolverine (2013)
The Wolverine
PG-13
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Director James Mangold Release Date July 26, 2013 Runtime 2h 6m
Across Fox’s X-Men movie timeline, the franchise introduced many villains. For the most part, even the worst movies in the continuity stuck to the central themes of the X-Men stories in the comics: prejudice, genocide, and unethical experimentation, to name a few. However, The Wolverine saw Logan travel to Japan, where he encountered the Silver Samurai, who turned out to be another character that cannot return in the MCU.
The Silver Samurai, as presented in the movie, doesn’t fit any of the established narrative themes of the X-Men stories. There’s nothing wrong with the character as a villain, but he serves as something of an outlier, as well as being visually uninteresting. As the MCU is already filled with heroes and villains in large mechanized suits granting them great power, bringing The Wolverine’s weird take on the Silver Samurai into the continuity would make very little sense.
8 Will.i.am’s John Wraith Was Truly Terrible
Appearing in: X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
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X-Men Origins: Wolverine
pg-13
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Director Gavin Hood Release Date April 30, 2009 Runtime 107minutes
If there is one X-Men movie character that the movies of the MCU would do well to avoid, it’s John Wraith. Introduced in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, John Wraith is a mutant with the ability to teleport. Played by will.i.am, Wraith turned out to be one of the worst characters in one of the worst X-Men movies, not least because he was poorly written.
A thorough reimagining of John Wraith could make him suitable for the MCU, but the version featured in X-Men Origins: Wolverine simply isn’t fit for purpose. He’s an uninteresting and underwhelming who is clearly surplus to requirements, and seemingly was included to create a role to cater to will.i.am’s ill-advised acting debut. The John Wraith featured in Fox’s X-Men movies was one of the franchise’s weirdest additions, and shouldn’t be granted a place in the MCU.
7 Toad Had No Defining Qualities (Or Abilities)
Appearing in: X-Men (2000)
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X-Men
PG-13
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Director Bryan Singer Release Date July 14, 2000 Runtime 104 Minutes
As he was featured in the cast of 2000’s X-Men, Toad might seem to be an important character within Fox’s franchise. However, that version of the character only made a single appearance, with actor Ray Park not reprising the role in any of Fox’s sequels. X-Men’s Toad was a departure from the more traditional version of the character as he appeared in the comics, making him a bizarre addition to the franchise.
As Toad has commonly played a consistent part in the world of X-Men, it’s possible that he will appear in some form in the MCU. However, the version introduced in 2000’s X-Men lacked any defining qualities and even his abilities were not given any real attention. As such, the short-lived version of Toad from Fox’s franchise would be an especially odd choice for the MCU.
6 Darwin Deserved Better Than His Fox X-Men Appearance
Appearing in: X-Men: First Class (2011)
X-Men: First Class
PG-13
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Director Matthew Vaughn Release Date June 3, 2011 Runtime 131 minutes
Darwin might not be one of the most well-known of Marvel’s mutants, but he possesses one of the most powerful abilities out there. Darwin’s power of rapid evolution makes him virtually invulnerable to all conventional forms of attack, making him an especially formidable hero. He appeared in X-Men: First Class, but the version of Darwin in Fox’s franchise was too weird to join the MCU.
What makes First Class’ Darwin such a bizarre character was the way the franchise handled his powers. After establishing him as effectively unkillable, First Class villain Sebastian Shaw then killed him in the most unceremonious manner imaginable. Wasting Darwin’s potential in such a pointless and shocking way was an especially weird way to use the character, and naturally, that version of the hero cannot be used in the MCU, not least because his powers have already dramatically failed him.
5 Quill Gets Weirder The Longer You Think About It
Appearing in: X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Though he was far from one of the most notable characters to make their debut in X-Men: The Last Stand, Quill was featured as a member of the Omegas, the group protesting the mutant cure. Played by Ken Leung, Quill has the ability to sprout long, sharp porcupine-like quills from his body, as well as fire them as high-speed projectiles. The nature of Quill’s abilities makes him a visually distinct character but also an especially weird one.
The closer Quill’s abilities are examined, the more bizarre they seem. The unique nature of his powers begs countless questions that seemingly have no good answer, which may prevent him from becoming a part of the MCU. What’s more, Quill is typically a relatively minor X-Men character anyway, making his potential induction into the MCU seem much less likely.
4 Deadpool 2’s Juggernaut Was Reduced To An Unfunny Joke
Appearing in: Deadpool 2 (2018), X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
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Deadpool 2
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Director David Leitch Release Date May 10, 2018 Runtime 120 Minutes
A number of mutant characters appeared in the cast of Deadpool 2, but one of the more unexpected additions was Juggernaut. The movie’s spin on the character imagined him as an incredibly unintelligent behemoth, departing from comic accuracy to use him as comic relief. This misrepresentation of Juggernaut made him a singularly weird character, and not one that deserves to find his way into the MCU.
Juggernaut also made an earlier appearance in X-Men: The Last Stand, although that version did not fare much better. Both versions of the Juggernaut to appear in Fox’s X-Men franchise were distinctly underwhelming and failed to capture the dangerous nature of the character, instead playing him mostly for laughs. This made both incarnations of the Juggernaut completely unsuitable for the MCU, as reducing him to comic relief again would only further undermine the powerful mutant character.
3 Blob Has Long Been One Of The Stranger X-Men Villains
Appearing in: X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
As one of the earliest X-Men villains introduced in the comics, the Blob is an important part of the history of Marvel’s mutants. He first appeared in Fox’s franchise in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine, played by Kevin Durand. The movie’s version of Blob wasn’t a huge departure from his comic book counterpart, other than his excessive size stemming from overeating rather than being a byproduct of his abilities.
The Blob has long been one of Marvel’s weirdest and most troubling X-Men characters. The character’s abilities being linked to his immense weight, as well as his somewhat problematic moniker, treads dangerous territory, particularly where comedy comes into proceedings. Using a character like the Blob easily gives way to body shaming, which isn’t the sort of inclusive humor the MCU should be seeking to bring into the franchise.
2 Viper Was A Grave Conceptual Sin
Appearing in: The Wolverine (2013)
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The Wolverine introduced Viper into Fox’s X-Men franchise, but its take on the character was an especially weird one. Due to rights issues, the character was unable to use her other moniker, Madame Hydra, cutting the movie’s depiction of her off from a key part of her comic book identity. Perhaps as a result, the movie leaned even further into her Viper title, making her decidedly more snake-like than she is in the comics.
Instead of simply possessing her poison-related abilities from the comics, The Wolverine’s Viper inexplicably sheds her skin and spits toxins. By bringing Viper’s character closer to that of a literal snake, The Wolverine made its take on the villain especially odd. As such, seeing The Wolverine’s Viper make her way into the MCU would be jarring and unnecessary, as she’s a bizarre take on the mutant character.
1 Glob Herman Possesses Especially Bizarre Abilities
Appearing in: X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)
Glob Herman is one of the more obscure X-Men characters to feature in Fox’s movie franchise, making only a brief appearance in X-Men: The Last Stand. Herman can be seen during a mutant meeting early in the movie and is later shown being shot with the mutant cure during the Battle of Alcatraz. A mutant whose skin is made of a wax-like substance, Glob Herman is one of the more unique characters in Marvel’s pantheon of mutants.
Introducing Glob Herman into the MCU would be a weird choice. He’s a strange character with an odd set of abilities, and his relatively obscure nature makes him an unlikely contender for Marvel’s shared cinematic universe. Although these same reasons applied when he appeared in The Last Stand, it would be astounding if Glob Herman joined the X-Men in the MCU.
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Upcoming MCU Movies |
Release Date |
|---|---|
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Deadpool & Wolverine |
July 26, 2024 |
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Captain America: Brave New World |
February 14, 2025 |
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Thunderbolts* |
May 5, 2025 |
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The Fantastic Four |
July 25, 2025 |
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Blade |
November 7, 2025 |
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Avengers 5 |
May 1, 2026 |
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Avengers: Secret Wars |
May 7, 2027 |