Adaptations of the X-Men in other media | |
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Created by | Stan Lee Jack Kirby |
Original source | Comics published by Marvel Comics |
First appearance | X-Men vol. 1, #1 (September 1963) |
Print publications | |
Novel(s) | X-Men: Dark Mirror X-Men Mutant Empire Saga |
Reference book(s) | Science of the X-Men |
Films and television | |
Film(s) | X-Men (2000) X2 (2003) X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) |
Television show(s) |
X-Men (1992) X-Men: Evolution (2000) Wolverine and the X-Men (2008) |
Games | |
Video game(s) |
Further information: List of X-Men video games
|
The X-Men are a fictional superhero team created by Marvel Comics that appear in comic books and various forms of media.
Contents |
Animation
The Marvel Superheroes
The X-Men made their first ever animated appearance on the 1960s The Marvel Superheroes TV series with the original X-Men line-up (Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Iceman). Since Grantray-Lawrence Animation didn't have the rights to the Fantastic Four (their series was produced by Hanna-Barbera), they substituted them with the X-Men. The X-Men appeared in the Sub-Mariner episode "Dr. Doom's Day / The Doomed Allegiance / Tug of Death" (which was adapted from Fantastic Four Annual #3 (1965)). Interestingly enough, the X-Men were never referred to as the X-Men. They were, instead, referred to as Allies for Peace. The characters kept their original looks and individual names from the comics, though.
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
The X-Men guest-starred in several episodes of Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends, starting with a flashback in "The Origin of Iceman" (Iceman himself being one of the show's three main characters). Appearing in this particular episode are Professor X and the five original X-Men: Angel, Beast, Cyclops, Iceman, and Marvel Girl. (In the continuity of the show, Firestar was also a former member of the X-Men.). X-men member Sunfire would also pop up on his own in a later episode teaming up with the Amazing Friends.
The X-Men's next appearance was in the episode "A Firestar is Born", including appearances from Professor X, Cyclops, Angel, Wolverine, Storm, and even Juggernaut (plus Magneto and a Sentinel in cameo appearances).
The X-Men would return the following season in the episode entitled "The X-Men Adventure". Making appearances there were: Colossus, Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Professor X, Sprite, Storm, and Thunderbird. "The X-Men Adventure" was meant[citation needed] to be a pilot for an X-Men cartoon that was slated to feature the X-Men characters, plus Lady Lightning (an animated version of Carol Danvers/Ms. Marvel) and Videoman as members. The cartoon was never produced.
Pryde of the X-Men television pilot
In 1989, Marvel Productions produced a pilot X-Men episode called Pryde of the X-Men. The series was never picked up but the single episode aired infrequently in syndication during the Marvel Action Universe series and was later released on video.
In 1991, a six-player arcade game (and a four-player version) was based upon the pilot starring Colossus, Cyclops, Dazzler, Nightcrawler, Storm, and Wolverine. Kitty Pryde and Professor X also appear. the show has the same logo as x-men animated series.
Marvel animated universe
In 1992, the Fox network launched an X-Men animated series with the roster of Gambit, Rogue, Cyclops, Beast, Jean Grey, Jubilee, Professor X, Storm, and Wolverine with Bishop and Cable frequently guest starring. The two-part pilot episode, "Night of the Sentinels" set off what would become a five-season series. It was an extraordinary success, becoming one of the most watched animated series in television history[citation needed] and helping widen the X-Men's popularity. The five seasons ended in 1997. It was put back in Fox's line-up (albeit edited) for several months after the first movie was released. This line of X-Men would guest star on Spider-Man when Spider-Man seeks Professor X's help on his growing mutation disease. Storm would later guest star on the Secret Wars arc.
In 1994, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Gambit, Wolverine and Storm, along with Scarlet Spider, made very quick cameos in the Fantastic Four series, in the episode "Nightmare in Green", as Johnny flies overhead.
X-Men: Evolution
In 2000, The WB Network launched the television show X-Men: Evolution, which portrayed the X-Men as teenagers attending a regular public high school in addition to the Xavier Institute. The series ended in 2003 after its fourth season.
Spider-Man: The New Animated Series
In 2003, while not physically making an appearance, the X-Men and mutant-kind are mentioned in an episode of the short-lived CGI series Spider-Man: The New Animated Series called "The Party". Peter Parker is quoted as saying, "I bet the X-Men get to go to parties." Soon after, he is ambushed by a group of cops, one of them calling him a "mutant freak".
X-Men: Darktide
In 2006, Minimates released a short animated brickfilm called X-Men: Darktide on DVD with a box set of figures. The story involved the X-Men battling the Brotherhood at an oil rig. The X-Men team consists of Cyclopes, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Beast, Xavier and Storm. The Brotherhood team is Mystique, Magneto and Juggernaut.
Wolverine and the X-Men
In 2008, Marvel Studios put out a new X-Men animated show that features Wolverine, though as of the middle of Season 1, he is just the main protagonist, driving the plot. This time the series uses a mesh of 2D/3D animation for characters and backgrounds. Avi Arad, CEO of Marvel Studios, stated "X-Men is one of Marvel's crown jewels and it makes sense to focus on the popular Wolverine character for our second animation project." The new series is titled Wolverine and the X-Men and is currently airing in Latin America and Canada and debuted in the United States on January 23, 2009. It started airing in the U.K. in February.
Films
The X-Men film series currently consists of three superhero films based on the fictional Marvel Comics team of the same name. The films star an ensemble cast, focusing on Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, as he is drawn into the conflict between Professor Xavier and Magneto, who have opposing views on humanity's relationship with mutants: Xavier believes humanity and mutants can coexist, but Magneto believes a war is coming, and intends to fight. The films also developed sub-plots based on the comics' Weapon X and Dark Phoenix storylines.
20th Century Fox earned the film rights to the characters in 1994, and after numerous drafts, Bryan Singer was hired to direct X-Men for a 2000 release. Singer returned for the 2003 sequel X2, but left a potential third and fourth film to direct Superman Returns.
Brett Ratner directed X-Men: The Last Stand for a 2006 release. Critics praised Singer's films for their dark, realistic tone, and focus on prejudice as a subtext, but Ratner's film was met with mixed reviews.
Nonetheless, each film out-grossed the last, and Fox is developing spin-offs set before the three films. The most current spin-off is X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which hit theatres on May 1 (2009). Wolverine, had an opening weekend of 87 million. X-Men Origins: Magneto, X-Men: First Class and a sequel to Wolverine have been confirmed. Spin-offs of Wolverine include Deadpool which will bring back Ryan Reynolds reprising his role as the title character and also Taylor Kitsch in the Gambit movie which is still under internal discussion,[1]
Video games
Marvel's X-Men
The first X-Men video game was released by Josh Toevs and LJN for the NES and was called Marvel's X-Men. That same year (1989) a computer game was also released based on the X-Men and Trevor Macy.
Konami's X-Men arcade game
Konami also created an X-Men (arcade game) in 1992, which featured six playable X-Men characters: Colossus, Cyclops, Dazzler, Nightcrawler, Storm, and Wolverine.
Sega Genesis and Super Nintendo's X-Men games
In the 1990s, Sega released two popular X-Men video games for its Sega Genesis; X-Men and X-Men 2: Clone Wars.
Wolverine starred in a solo game in 1994 for both the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis called, Wolverine: Adamantium Rage.
In 1995, the X-Men got their own game for the Super Nintendo called X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse.
Fighting games
The X-Men also starred in many 2D fighting games such as 1994's X-Men: Children of the Atom (Capcom), 1996's X-Men vs. Street Fighter and 2000's X-Men: Mutant Academy.
There was also a 3-D fighting-game called X-Men: Next Dimension. The most recent in the series are the role-playing games X-Men Legends (2004) and its 2005 sequel X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse. The characters also appeared in the Marvel vs. Capcom series.
X-Men games co-starring Spider-Man
In 1992, the X-Men teamed up with Spider-Man for Spider-Man and the X-Men: Arcade's Revenge for every major system of the time.
The X-Men made a few appearances in Spider-Man 2: Enter Electro. Professor X (Daran Norris) and Rogue (Jennifer Hale) run a Danger Room simulation for the player to train in. Beast (Dee Bradley Baker) appears in the first level to demonstrate the controller functions to the player.
Film based games
To coincide with the release of the third film, Activision has released X-Men: The Official Game which filled in gaps between X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand, such as explaining Nightcrawler's absence from the third film.
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects
Magneto, Storm and Wolverine also appear in Electronic Arts' 3-D fighting game Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects.
Marvel: Ultimate Alliance
- Deadpool, Iceman, Storm, and Wolverine are playable in the major Marvel video game, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance. Colossus is playable on the Xbox 360, Wii & PS3 versions of the game, and Jean Grey is playable on the GBA version. Cyclops, Nightcrawler, Professor X, and Psylocke appear as NPC's on all versions while Beast, Forge, Karma and Dr. Moira MacTaggert were mentioned by different characters. In addition, during a cut-scene, Beast, Colossus, Cyclops, Emma Frost, Gambit, Magneto, Professor Xavier, Psylocke, and Shadowcat were seen defeated by Doctor Doom alongside The Hulk. Starting April 10, 2007, Xbox 360 owners will be able to download eight new playable characters for the game, including X-Men heroes and villains: Cyclops, Magneto, Nightcrawler, and Sabretooth.[2]
- In Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2, Wolverine, Deadpool, Iceman, Storm, Gambit, and Jean Grey are featured as playable characters while Cyclops and Psylocke are exclusive to PS2, PSP and Wii and Colossus appears as an NPC. In the briefing that follows the Wakanda incident, Captain America and Iron Man mention that the other X-Men members have been absorbed into The Fold. On November 5, 2009 Psylocke, Cable, Magneto and Juggernaut were added as downloadable characters for Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2.
Books
- In the novel Planet X, Storm, Shadowcat, Archangel, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Banshee, and Wolverine are transported into the Star Trek universe by Q, interacting with the crew of the Enterprise-E in between the events of the films Star Trek: First Contact and Star Trek: Insurrection. It was a follow-up to two earlier one-shot comics depicting interaction between the X-Men and the Star Trek universe.
- The X-Men appear in the novel X-Men: Dark Mirror.
- The X-Men Mutant Empire Saga, consisting of three parts.
- Wolverine appears in the novel Wolverine: Weapon X
- There is a book called Science of the X-Men, which explains how different powers would work and how they would affect the people that have them. The mutants featured include Quicksilver, Wolverine, Shadowcat, and Nightcrawler.
There are also several other X-Men novels that were published in the mid-late 1990s.
Team line-ups/compositions
Wolverine and the X-Men
X-Men Evolution
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X-Men (1992 TV series)
Pryde of the X-Men
Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends
Super Hero Squad
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Of all the X-Men, only Wolverine, Storm and Cyclops have appeared as main members of the team in every animated incarnation.
Parodies
- Several X-Men characters (notably Wolverine and Storm) appeared in the 2008 spoof film Superhero Movie.
- The X-Men were parodied in the British comic-book The Beano, in which Minnie the Minx adopts various superhero personas based on the X-Men, including: Weather Girl (Storm); Invisigirl (Invisible Woman, actually a member of the Fantastic Four); The Spectacle (Cyclops); Thought Lass (Danielle Moonstar) and Wolf Girl (Wolverine).[5]
- Irresistable Angel: Suck It All Up (2003) was a Japanese pink film which parodied X-Men in a softcore pornographic style.[6]
References
- ^ http://www.scifiscoop.com/news/fox-discussing-gambit-spinoff/
- ^ "Activision to Release New Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Heroes and Villains on Xbox Live Marketplace". http://uk.gamespot.com/xbox360/rpg/marvelultimatealliance/news.html?sid=6167963&om_act=convert&om_clk=gsupdates&tag=updates;title;1. Retrieved 2007-03-27.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Hindsight (Part 1)"
- ^ a b "Hindsight (Part 3)"
- ^ Fun-Size Beano #287 (2009)
- ^ Sharp, Jasper (2008). Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema. Guildford: FAB Press. p. 334. ISBN 978-1-903254-54-7.