The Steves discuss the 2000 blockbuster, X-Men, along with what's making them happy in pop culture today!
What's Making Us Happy?
X-Men Discussion
Ending- Any music or audio clips were borrowed from the original source material.
The Steves discuss the 2000 blockbuster, X-Men, along with what's making them happy in pop culture today!
What's Making Us Happy?
X-Men Discussion
Ending- Any music or audio clips were borrowed from the original source material.
Hello returning happies and new listeners. This is Steve Ben and Martin. And this is Steven
Stephen:Barton
Steve:Bennet. And welcome to a lifetime of happiness. The podcast, where we take you on our journey through some of the movies, TV shows, and other bits of pop culture that are helping to keep us happy while hopefully bring a smile to your face along the way.
Stephen:And today we're going to find out what happens when a toad gets hit by lightning. As we discussed the 2000 movie
Steve:it's man, it's the same thing that happens to everybody else.
Stephen:Oh, wait a spoil the
Steve:joke. Yes, but first my love of what's been making us happy.
Stephen:Well recently we've been following along online as Marvel is announcing it's time for a new X-Men.
Steve:Yes, it certainly has. And I've been team pennants. How about you?
Stephen:I am absolutely team penance, but if it's not penance, I'm also rooting for armor. Or search who are both excellent characters. And for those of you not in the know recently the X-Men last year did a thing at the hellfire gala where they actually let the reading public vote for the final member of the X-Men team. And it was a really interesting thing because people got behind their favorites and we saw how it was all gonna work out. And this year it's a new batch of people to see who is going to take the last slot on the team. So I'm interested to see how it plays
Steve:out. Yes, me as well. And then what else has been making you happy?
Stephen:Also what's been making me happy is the show Cobra, Kai on Netflix fun. Tell me more. Okay. So I grew up in the eighties really? Yes. With the karate kid movies and. So Netflix and I believe it actually started as a YouTube show and Netflix ended up buying it. But it's a 30 minute dramatic comedy where it's a continuation like 35 years after the fact of what happened in the first three movies. And you really get to see where these characters that a lot of people, you know, know the whole wax on wax off. Yes. Since a bonsai tree, all that kind of stuff from the original movies. Well, what happened to all these people and their lives growing up, and it's been really interesting to see it all play out. I'm
Steve:glad you're enjoying it. I very much. Yes.
Stephen:And what about you? Anything that's been making you happy
Steve:from last week's episode on screen for, we talked about our hopes for scream five, and I would say all our hopes and dreams came true.
Stephen:100%. It was absolutely fantastic. We will not talk about it at all. And because we don't want to spoil anything because this is one of those things where
Steve:it's a, who done it as well as a slasher. And so you don't want to spoil who dies, who lives, who the killers are. And anyone who's doing that online are horrible
Stephen:people troll. Yeah. The new cast is fantastic. The callbacks to the original movies are wonderful. And the use of the legacy characters was done properly.
Steve:Yes. In some ways I feel like as much as we love scream for like scream five is what scream four hoped it would be in terms of like calling back to the original. Correct. But yes, let's get into the X-Men, which has had a couple movies of its own. Hasn't it? One or two? Yes, but it all started back in 2000. It was a movie based off of the comic book series of the same name created by Stanley and Jack Kirby published by Marvel comics.
Stephen:Yes. And 20th century Fox obtained the rights to the characters in 1994, after numerous drafts and Bryan singer was hired to direct the first film and its sequel. Now it's time for us to do a disclaimer on Brian singer.
Steve:Yes. Much like we've learned to appreciate and love Buffy the vampire Slayer despite its problematic creator in Jost, Sweden, Brian singer is a SPAD sick man who most recently directed the queen biopic Bohemian Rhapsody in 2018. Although he was fired from the show film shortly before his completion due to his problematic personal life.
Stephen:Yes. Which includes inappropriate acts with underage boys. Potential sexual harassment and other not great things. So we're going to appreciate the movie for what it is and give as little credit as possible to Bryan singer or talk about him as little as possible.
Steve:Yes, the movie was co-written with him and Tom DeSanto known for his work and the transformers franchise, and the screenplay was written by David Hader, who also wrote Watchman and plays king shark on the CWS flash, which I thought was very funny,
Stephen:very much. So the movie was wildly successful, really releasing on July 14th, 2000 with a budget of 75 million and a box office of 296.3 million, which launched the franchise. And I remember when it came out that I was an intern at the West Virginia governor's honors account. And so I was responsible for a bunch of high schoolers for the entire month of July. And I had no way to go see this movie. And the day that mom and dad were coming, cause you get one evening off and mom and dad were coming to take me out for the evening. I ended up having a reaction to cashews. Oh no. Like thankfully the effects wore off shortly before we went to go see the movie. But I will always remember that day.
Steve:And you would also say that this is probably the birth of the modern superhero movie. 100%.
Stephen:It is the birth of the modern superhero
Steve:movie. Yeah. I know previously they had, you know, movies like the Superman series and things like that, which. Like considered almost like not mass appeal,
Stephen:not well. So that like the Superman movies in the Batman movies always appeal to everybody, but you weren't going to get you know, these days where we have a black widow movie that pulls in a lot of money, you weren't going to have that back. Then you had to have a name of a character that everyone knew, like Superman, Batman, or even Spider-Man. So whenever this came out with a property that was popular, thanks to the cartoon and the comics. But it also modernized the look of the characters and it, you know, made it much more in a realistic tone because the way they told this story, Almost seems like it happened in our world where some of the other ones, like it was definitely a fake world. Like God loved the Tim Burton, Batman movies. Yeah. That is not a real Gotham city where this and the Marvel movies always exist in real places. There are no fake locations.
Steve:And this was the first real team of superheroes. Bob. Normally it was just Batman on his own or Superman on their own with like maybe a supporting character too. But it wasn't a team movie. Correct. And we wouldn't have the Avengers if it wasn't for the eczema. Great.
Stephen:And there's a couple of famous people in this. Yeah.
Steve:I mean the movie stars a handful of household names. So I figured rather than saying where we know them from, since we know them from everywhere, they could play a little game where instead we say one of their lesser known rule roles that we still love them. Okay.
Stephen:So Patrick Stewart was the only choice to play professional Charles Xavier.
Steve:Yes. And if you didn't know, he is the narrator in the Ted movies.
Stephen:Hugh Jackman perfect. As Wolverine, AK Logan.
Steve:Yes. And where do you know or love him from that? He doesn't get a lot of credit for,
Stephen:well that he doesn't get credit for would be van Helsing. There are several places I love him from. But van Helsing is the one, no one remembers
Steve:him from yes. And similarly, Ian McKellen as Magneto is known for lots of great dramatic roles, but whereas one of the first times you might've seen him way
Stephen:back in the day on the PBS. Many series, he played Archibald, Anson giddy entails of the city.
Steve:Yes. And when Halle Berry isn't winning Oscars and movie award left and right for her amazing roles, she played storm here, but we also loved her as Rowena in perfect stranger where she was the nine 11 operator. And it was just so intense that we were like on the edge of our seat, the entire movie. And I don't think that she gets a lot of credit for that movie, but it's definitely one of her finest. Yes.
Stephen:Fanta Jansen, who I really enjoy. Especially from her role in house on haunted hill was amazing as Jean Gray. People may not realize that she was also a Olivia on Netflix is hemlock Grove. Yes.
Steve:And she was great there as a titular character. I feel like that was a show that was kind of written off for being you're just another vampire werewolf show, but it was, it had a good run. It was one of Netflix, like first handful of original series before that became what Netflix was known for. And she did a great job on it. Yes.
Stephen:James Marsden as Cyclops.
Steve:Yes. And he was prince Edward in enchanted, which
Stephen:I really enjoyed him in that role because it was very much out of the realm of normal things where he gets, he got to be over the top
Steve:over the top and silly. Yeah. While you kind of see him here being a little more stern and serious.
Stephen:Bruce Davidson as the evil Senator Cal. Yes.
Steve:And you know him from somewhere else. So one of your happy shows,
Stephen:one of my favorite happy shows dropped at diva. He played judge.
Steve:Yes. And Ray park was one of the few that was not a household name necessarily. So I'll give him credit for his top billing. He was towed here, but he was also Edgar on heroes
Stephen:and yeah, he's very talented. I believe he also played Darth Maul in one of the star wars movies, the F first prequel, I believe. Yes.
Steve:And Anna Paquin was rogue, did a fantastic job. And where do you love her? Every year?
Stephen:Every year we have to watch trick or treat. Halloween anthology movie and she played Laurie in the werewolf story.
Steve:Yes. And Rebecca romaine was mystique. Did an equally fabulous job. I never knew until this goes through, when you pointed out, she only had one spoken line as herself
Stephen:in the whole movie. And people might not have recognized her originally as Alexis on ugly Betty.
Steve:Yes. And so all these actors came together to create what ended up being a fabulous movie, but it didn't happen overnight. In fact, tales of an X-Men movie originated earlier than I originated. They started as early as 1984 when Orion pictures held an option to the rights, to the film with Marvel writer and chief editors, Jerry Conway, and Roy Thomas writing the script, whoever or Ryan began facing financial difficulties and ultimately lost the record. Yes.
Stephen:And between 1989 and 1990 Stanley and Chris Claremont, we're in discussions with Kara LACO pictures for a film adaptation with James Cameron as a producer, featuring Angela Bassett. Perfect casting
Steve:there, by the way. Yes. And James Cameron then pivoted towards an unreleased Spider-Man movie, which has its own wild history. I browse through that led to Carolco going bankrupt and the rights for both franchises. Going back to Marvel,
Stephen:the century Fox was so impressed with the success of the Fox X-Men cartoon in the nineties that they purchased the rights to the film in 1994 to be produced by Lauren Shuler Donner, who was involved in the Superman movie.
Steve:Yes. And she brought Andrew Kevin Walker to write the script in 1994, which originally featured Xavier recruiting Wolverine into the X-Men, which consisted of Cyclops, Jean Gray, Eisman, beast, and angel sound familiar it's original five. Yes. Along with the focus on the rivalry between Wolverine and Cyclops the villains were going to be the brotherhood of mutants, but they would have consisted of Magneto, Sabretooth, toad, juggernaut, and the block. And they would have written in one part of the script, Magneto was responsible for the Chernobyl incident
Stephen:and it would have also featured Henry Peter Guy, Rick and Boulevard, Trask creating eight foot tall sentinels. And the danger room would have been involved in the heroes training.
Steve:No, I certainly understand that danger room, but if you're going to make sentinels, why make them only eight feet tall? Yeah, I mean,
Stephen:oh my goodness. It's a Christmas tree after me.
Steve:Yes. Now in 1995 later, Keller greatness was brought in for two subsequent rewrites, which featured Magneto turning Manhattan into a mutant. While the other hinged on a romance between Wolverine and storm, which
Stephen:is very interesting because that never became Canon until the two thousands.
Steve:Yes. In 1996, Michael, Chavonne pitched a six page film treatment to Fox that centered around Wolverine and Jubilee. And it included professor X, Cyclops, Jean Gray, Nightcrawler, beast, Iceman, and storm. His plan in that movie did not include any villains until the sequel because the first one was going to be all about setting them up as you know, everyday heroes and focusing more on the drama. Interesting. I can see why they didn't like that. Everyone loves the villain in their superhero movies. Yeah.
Stephen:Sean's idea was scrapped in an August of 1996. Ed Solomon began working on a new script with Brian singer in the director's chair. And Tom DeSanto was the producer and that was December of 1996. Solomon struggled in, they included additional writers for review. For ultimately consulting Chris Claremont in 1998, who provided a four-page long memo where he explained why and how the X-Men are different than your typical superhero movie. Yes.
Steve:I love what Chris Claremont's done for the accident. He's had a, such a huge contribution, but the ego on him, I can only imagine what the tone of those four pages must've been like. It was probably like his manifesto. Oh, like,
Stephen:you know, he's done a lot for the series, but like your ego ego, I mean, he killed off all the grays in the two thousands because he's still pissed that they brought Jean back to life in the late eighties.
Steve:Yes. And in this memo, he also compared professor X and Magneto to Martin Luther king Jr. And Malcolm X,
Stephen:You know, that has been going on for awhile where people try to go back and forth with it that way. And. It's not a very popular opinion with black
Steve:Twitter. No, I can only imagine. I was like, are they allowed to do that now after reviewing the memo singer and a Santa refocus, the script to follow rogue, recognizing her inability to touch anyone, being the most symbolic of alienation, which I can agree with while adding qualities of kitty pride and Jubilee into the films depiction of her. So she's kind of a three in one. Exactly. And I could see that for sure. In the final product that she's kind of a mix of all three. Oh yeah. And
Stephen:because of the way they did this here, whenever they did the cartoon X-Men evolution. Yeah. You know, in the nineties, cartoon, rogue has a strength in all kinds of. In X-Men evolution, it's just this power.
Steve:Yeah. It's more like this version of her now Fox set the budget for seventy-five million dollars and therefore rejected and outline that include beast, Nightcrawler, pyro, and the danger room. Since they estimated that those elements would cost at least$5 million more to create. So instead they transferred some characteristics of beast, like his medical know-how to Dr. Jean Gray.
Stephen:Oh, Hey, anything that'll bump up her character. Josh Weeden was brought in to punch up the final act, but took it upon himself to perform a major overhaul that included the danger room and concluded with Jean Gray dressed as Phoenix, according to entertainment weekly, the screenplay was rejected by. Of its quick-witted pop culture referencing tone, which is definitely not the theme, the tone they were going with with
Steve:this. Instead, the film finished containing only two dialogue exchanges that we didn't have contributed at. And I love that allegedly, he was invited to the table reading and only found out there that his script had been thrown out
Stephen:good times, accurate and producer David hater, who was singer's assistant at the time. Had extensive knowledge of the comics and was brought in for rewrites. He ultimately received solo screenplay credits despite singer into Sandra. His involvement with hater claiming 55% of the movie was his script. While other insiders claim, the majority was by McClair and Solomon who gave up credits to the arduous writing
Steve:process. Yes. Giant mess of a history all worked out pretty well, considering it laid a great groundwork for what's to come any thrown out ideas that you wish they hadn't thrown out in all of that.
Stephen:None of Wieden's things. I do kind of you know, it only having four adult characters was really interesting. And you know, we get to see most of the others in later movies. So it does work and it does play to the fact that in the comics it's a rotating
Steve:cast. Yes, it certainly is. And so I understand that because of. But, I mean, the one thing that I wish that they had had was the danger room worked in somewhere. Like, cause I mean, it's kind of almost felt empty at one point later on the movie when Xavier saying and underneath the school, it's a different story altogether. Like even if they just cut to like a room that we knew was the danger room and they didn't need to do sort of like the crazy sequences that we see in the comics. But like I wish they, at least didn't like a nod that like the bigger secret is not that they're just holding a jet under the school.
Stephen:It's not a jet, the medical facilities in Cerebro. Yeah.
Steve:Yes, exactly. But let's get into the movie discussion because there's a lot to discuss here and we're only just getting started.
Stephen:Yeah. So I love how it begins with Charles Xavier saying mutation. It is the key to our evolution. It is what allowed us to evolve from a single celled organism to the dominant species on the planet. This process is slow, normally taking thousands and thousands of years, but every few hundred million. Evolution leaps forward.
Steve:Yes. And with that, I have to ask you, do you think that this kind of evolution is possible with humans? Like, do you think that one day, maybe in our lifetime, there will be mutations that appear all on mutants. Okay.
Stephen:So we have definitely seen how humans has have evolved depending on where they lived you know, skin color for heat and or, you know, body types for cold and things like that. I do have to wonder if, you know, over time, if let's say the whole planet flooded, what if we did start developing a way to breathe under water? I mean, I don't see how that is out of the realm of possibilities. I mean, if you look at normal bio. Allegedly our appendix used to do something important and now it doesn't do anything at all, except potentially explode. Yes. Which is
Steve:not
Stephen:fun. But I would say that you're, you're only going to notice changes every hundred years or so. Yeah.
Steve:Like, it'd be cool though. If someone just woke up tomorrow with the ability to shoot fire, ice, or read minds or fly, like,
Stephen:you know, how as things have made it easier, not everybody has to hunt, gather farm all the time. And medicines have evolved. People are living longer. That's a form of evolution. People are toddler than they used to be. That's another form. So I think it's happening, but it happens so slowly. Maybe we have to wait a few hundred millennia
Steve:though. Yes. Well, I'm not going to stick around and find out that's just too long. Now then we flush back to Poland, 1944, a K the Holocaust and a young Eric Magnus. Luncher AKA Magneto's powers manifest. When he separated from his parents at a concentration camp, he bends the gates with sheer force of as well, and then gets knocked out and we can assume the repercussions weren't so great. Yeah.
Stephen:And Magneto has been around since X-Men number one back in September of 1963 and for a good long while he was portrayed as mostly a scenery chewing, straight villain. And until Chris Claremont gave him a sympathetic backstory in X-Men one-fifty and even leading up to that, it had kind of been building towards things that we didn't know. Yeah. And that was in October of 1981 when he almost accidentally killed kitty Pryde do you, like, what do you think of him as a straight villain versus a sympathetic villain or. In antihero.
Steve:I mean, I love him as either a sympathetic villain or an antihero, for sure. I mean, that was one thing that I struggled with going through this movie is that he's played straight Velon here. And it's, it's hard cause I feel like some of his ideas aren't wrong, it's the way that he's going about them. And you can kind of understand that a little bit more when you see more shades of gray in the comics. And so I'm sure as we go through, like I'll be jumping in and being like my Magneto, it didn't do that. My Magneto would do it this way because you know, I've fallen in love with Magneto and the characters, especially like now in the Cracow and age today, where he is more of just like an antihero or not even really anti he's, just a hero with different ideals than Charles Xavier, but there's still like a team.
Stephen:He goes about it in different ways and I absolutely 100% agree and there's a lot of times over the years, Where I look at the way it Xavier did things in the way Meg Nieto did things and I'm like Magneto was
Steve:right. Yes. And flash forward to Meridian, Mississippi in the not too distant future, which looks a lot like the past this
Stephen:point. Well, it was in 2000. So it was supposed to take place in, they were trying to say like in 2015, something like that, because they wanted to be able to say, okay, it's not right now because they've got technology. We don't want. So it looks close.
Steve:Yes. And we meet Ann Marie, AK rogue, and her boyfriend, as she shares her plans to adventure, to Alaska, after graduating from high school just before they share their first kiss. And by then the flowers bloom all around her and she lives happily ever after. No, that's not what happens. No. She drains the life from him. And he ends up in a coma for three weeks, which is still better off than in the comics where
Stephen:I believe Cody ended up in a coma for 20 years. Yes.
Steve:She appropriately freaks out when her parents rushed to her aid
Stephen:and, and it might not have been what she had planned comics rogue does eventually get to a cold area though. It's not Alaska ends up in Antarctica and the Savage land where she has a romantic tryst with Magneto in the crossroads arc of uncanny. X-Men around March of 91 before the big reboot. So you can see movies. And comics evolve very differently. Like I could never see moose rogue with
Steve:no, not at all. And we see firsthand that her like reaction to her boyfriends, like kiss was very much like don't touch me. It's my skin, because he touched me like watching it this time critically though. I mean, I would've thought if this happened to me and I had my first kiss and the life was drained, I would have thought it had something to do with my kiss. Like when my parents went to like, touch me, I wouldn't have been like, don't touch my skin because it's my skin that does it. I mean, ultimately it is her skin that does it. But do you think that like, just when her power is activated, she somehow instinctively knew that that power was learning across all of her flesh? Or do you think this was like a jump?
Stephen:I think this was the screenwriters saying we need to make sure that people understand it's a touch. Yes. Which if I were them and I was Bryan singer, I would have also had possibly their hands. Class so that you could see that they was skin to skin on the lips, as well as hands,
Steve:or like let the mom go and touch her arm. And then like, have the mom pass out or something, which
Stephen:would have been even more reason for a robe to run away.
Steve:Exactly. Yes. But we get what we get. And then we go over to Jean Gray in Congress. Speaking about the mutant registration act Senator Kelly asks are mutants dangerous. You can tell Jean grey is smart because she's wearing glasses
Stephen:100%. And of course, Kelly wins over the crowd by playing on their fears. While a concerned Xavier looks on and sees this shadowy figure, leave the assembly. Senator Kelly is 100% automatically a bigot and we see all the hate that he's spewing. These days coming
Steve:from a previous president
Stephen:or you've got Marjorie Taylor green and. A lot of of congressmen and senators these days who are staying in power by playing on fear, bigotry and hatred. Yes.
Steve:And then this was
Stephen:actually slightly ahead of its time.
Steve:Yes. Now the mutant registration act is not original to the movies. Chris Claremont first used the idea of the MRA and uncanny. Excellent. Number 180 1 in February, 1984. And it became a common plot or a subplot across the MCU or not MCU, but MEU throughout the eighties it was pushed forward by Senator Kelly in the comics universe as well. And
Stephen:also interesting not just the mutant registration act, but you know, how Marvel had the captain America civil war in the comics, the civil war storyline was based around a superhero registration act, kind of like. Well, they do show it there after what happened in age of Ultron and the MCU. So it, they take the MRA and it becomes a superhero registration act as well. I
Steve:meanwhile, outside the assembly hall, Xavier and Eric discuss their differences in ideals. So
Stephen:Charles always sees that it's possible for mutants and humans to coexist peacefully. Magneto says that humans will never allow humans to exist. So mutans must be the dominant species on the planet, whether that kills off humans or whether they just realized that mutants are their betters. And both of them want good things for mutants. They just go about it different ways where, you know, co-exist. Dominant species.
Steve:Yes. Correct. And which side you you land on in that debate?
Stephen:I mean, ideally we would want the coexisting, but we also see even these days with people of different backgrounds and backgrounds, whether it be sexual orientation, race religious ideology, people don't like to coexist peacefully. So I don't think that in our real world that mutans and humans could co-exist. I think that Magneto would need to go about it differently, but I unfortunately don't see as way
Steve:working, I hear, and this, he doesn't really give a propelling argument other than because it's wrong. Yeah.
Stephen:Now I do love some of Magneto's talk to him and. Eric, what are you doing here? Why do you ask questions to which you already know the answer? Yes.
Steve:Which ends up being a two beat. I wish it was a three beat three beat, but yes, now we then go up to Northern Alberta, CA Canada and rogue gets off a truck where Logan is kicking ass at cage fighting. He then gets into a bar fight with a sore loser and leaves with rogue, chasing him after him and hiding in his pickup on the road. He hears her and kicks her out, but then doesn't have the heart to actually leave her alone and they get into a car accident where we see Wolverine's healing factor kick in Sabretooth attacks before Wolverine can save rogue from the car as a catches fire, but then storm and psych clocks, psych cops come in and save the day right before the truck explodes. So
Stephen:the like it's interesting because that's a good 15, 20 minute chunk of the movie, but it's easy to condense because a lot of it is visual access. Without anything really going on, but there's some things that we need to discuss, like when Wolverine and rogue are in the truck and they're talking and they're talking about her powers and his, and I love when she goes, when they come out, does it hurt
Steve:every time? And I just love that. Yes. And I also love how he, like, when she's talking about her powers and, you know, he, cause he goes to almost touch your hands and she's like, you know, when people are around me, they have like a habit of getting hurt and he's just like, fair enough. Like he doesn't push it. Doesn't drag it out of her more. But I mean, it's also helps that Wolverine does have a long history of mentoring, young girls in a non-creepy way, starting with kitty pride, then Jubilee and eventually best Wolverine Laura. So this matches up to his comic counterpart.
Stephen:So I love this aspect of Wolverine in the movies, as well as in the comics. It's nice that, you know, as much of a womanizer or a drinker or a fighter that he can be, he has a natural instinct to care for the younger generation of mutants, male or female. But he always works, especially with the females, because as you mentioned, kitty Jubilee, Laura, there was armor,
Steve:Turn kitty into a fucking ninja, basically. Yeah.
Stephen:And Jubilee was already an expert in gymnastics. So like he takes these girls and in a world where they could have easily been pushed to the side, helps them to realize their own potential. And I love that aspect of Wolverine's character that gets overlooked.
Steve:I agree. And while rogue has a similar backstory in the context of how our mutant power manifested in the comics, we meet her as an already full grown woman. Who's the villain turned good eventually through that first arc or two of the comics. And she appears as more of a peer to Wolverine than a protege thoughts on which like these two versions of rogue and which one you prefer. Yeah. I
Stephen:prefer the comics version of rogue over this version of rogue because this version of rogue seems weaker than comics rogue, but without the good reason, like comics rogue went through this and a lot of other things, and she's dealing with still hearing people's thoughts and personalities in her head and, you know, having been used just for her ability. I just, I, I feel like they put too many other character's personalities onto this rogue. Yes.
Steve:And we won't get fully into her backstory in the comics. But I do just have to say if there's ever a captain Marvel movie and Rogan peers hold to your knickers. Yeah.
Stephen:100% now, I'm sorry. I, I was going to jump in because I enjoy this next part where sabertooth heads back to the brotherhood we're towed Thompson with when she's supposed to bring someone back with you before Eric laments over not getting the girl, but assures himself that Altera Charles knows is we made the move and actually Eric laments over not getting the mutants. Yes. And and because Wolverine is the most popular X-Men of all time. We as a viewing audience actually believe that saber tooth was there for Logan. Yes.
Steve:And then Magneto ends up going off to prepare for the UN summit where they'll be discussing them and registration act with all the world leaders. Yep.
Stephen:And any time there is a TV on in this movie, there is a clip of preparation for the UN summit going on. So everyone and their brother in the whole world, and especially all of these characters know about the UN summit.
Steve:Yes. And Wolverine awakens to Dr. Jean Gray, preparing some tests on him, attack certain escapes and unknowingly follow his Xavier's telepathy. Where are you going over a year through the school and into his office. So you can provide exposition and introduces Jean Scott and Aurora Charles convinces Logan to stay with him with the premise of helping him recover some of his memories as he's had him Nisia for everything prior than 15 years.
Stephen:And when a savior dismisses a students after Logan Bersin, we briefly briefly see him dress kitty who phases through the door on our way out. And this is clearly kitty pride. But she doesn't become a bigger character in the X-Men movies until last stand whenever she is played by a different
Steve:actor. Yeah. That, that ends up being Elliot page. Right? Correct. Now, as we mentioned, they combine the characters of Jean Gray and Dr. Henkel McCoy. What are your thinking on your thoughts of this, of making Jean Gray, who is not a doctor in the comics, a doctor, and making her a super smart lady pants. So
Stephen:I go with being super smart lady pants because even without being a doctor, Jean, and some of the other people work in the med lab, in the comics and stuff and help people out that I don't think they needed to add the doc. In there. I thought that, that, I think that was just lazy on their part, that everything she's doing could have been done without having to call her doctor. Yes.
Steve:Now, one thing that Logan is just trying to wrap his mind around is this whole superhero business. I mean, he says what's the Magneto,
Stephen:a very powerful mutant who believes that a war between mutants and humans is brewing.
Steve:And then I also had the chocolate cause he was amused at saber tooth name. Clearly not familiar with him, but that's funny because in the comics saber tooth's, Wolverine's worst nemesis, I would argue. And they have a very complex history together that involves saber tooth, trying to murder Wolverine every year on his birthday. Correct.
Stephen:And in this movie they use both Logan and rogue as point of entry characters with neither of them having experience with other mutants before now, so that, you know, it takes away a lot of Logan. History, but I guess that they can say, well, we're not engaged. That has the amnesia prior to the 15 years ago. Yes. And I love you know, Wolverine is not getting the whole code name thing and he's like saber tooth storm, what did they call you? Wheels?
Steve:And then Xavier says that doesn't age. Well, Wolverine that's able as humor. I don't think he said no. We then get to see more of the school in action. And it's alive with students, which is something that did not really happen in the comics beyond teams like the new mutans until grant Morrison's run in the new X-Men in 2001. And what were your thoughts on this version of the school where it's alive and bustling with energy and students? I actually
Stephen:like this very, very much. And it's interesting, you know, this comes out before grant Morrison's version of it. So I always wonder, did this influence him. And to creating ex-Navy school, a real school with students and a curriculum and teachers and
Steve:stuff like that. Yeah. I certainly enjoyed it. I mean, I was able to even able to catch Jubilee real quickly.
Stephen:I know, and I love Jubilee and she doesn't become more of a real character until X-Men apocalypse where she's played by the girl who does the PSI love you movies.
Steve:Okay. Yeah. And pyro and ice man in class are both showing off for rogue.
Stephen:Welcome to mute. And hi. Yes. And funny enough, the pyro that is in this movie is recast for X two. Though the ice man in this movie does get to stick around.
Steve:Yeah. And the ice man in his movie looks like a little baby here compared to the adults that we see them. Now. Now, Senator Kelly is spouting hates. Again, this time to who he thinks is Henry Guy, Rick, only for it to be mystique who says her one line of the movie, people like you
Stephen:were the reason I was afraid to go to school as a child, and then
Steve:beats them up with their feet before kidnapping him with toad flying the plane.
Stephen:Yep. And Rebecca's makeup consisted of 110 custom designed prosthesis, which covered 60% of her body and took nine hours to apply. That is a lot. Yeah. Which is also the reason why by the time the third one came around, they found the reason for her not to be blue.
Steve:Yes. Now Logan flirts with Jean while she runs tests on him, then when you find out that his claws and bones are an adamantium, which as all conics fans know is an indestructable metal. We learn also that he has a healing factor, which is how they were able to do the experiments on him to apply the adamantium and that as age as impossible to determine, I mean, he could be older than Charles. Spoiler alert. He is
Stephen:professor, what do you think Magneto wants with him? I'm not entirely sure at Tim Magneto once spoiler alert, it's
Steve:not, yes. Now Magneto uses his powers mixed with the scifi tech machine to turn Senator Kelly into and something that's never been introduced in the comics with his new powers Senator Kelly can reduce, reduces bone density to become liquidy squishy and stretchy, which is really gross. And he escapes from the prison cell. However, it also presents prevents saber tooth from pulling him back up to safety. When he's realizing he's hanging off the side of a cliff and he falls into the water later,
Stephen:Kelly appears on a crowded beach with our first Stan Lee cameo of the Marvel movies and where he's buying a hot dog from a hot dog vendor on the beach. And Kelly was surviving due to his powers, but he's totally naked. And he's AltEd as a. Magneto brilliantly villains Plains during all this, I'm talking to Kelly about what he's doing and stuff like that.
Steve:What do you think was more embarrassing showing up on the beach as a mutant or showing up naked
Stephen:naked? Ian McKellen is a little bit older than I would have cast Magneto, but his performance is so spectacular.
Steve:Yes. Now I did want to get your thoughts on what this whole plot device of turning humans into. Mutans says, because as I mentioned during their creative development, like that's not my Magneto, like my Magneto, like the one from the comics, I feel views the mutant gift as such an important gift to be bestowed upon and like to be cherished of, if you have the gift, do you think he just gave it out Willy nilly to humans? Well,
Stephen:I, with his logical reasoning, which we get into later of why he does. It's a very Magneto thing of you know, if all the prime ministers, presidents and Kings of the world are now like us, then they're going to have my best interest at heart and things that I want are going to happen instead of laws against me and my kind, the brotherhood of mutants. Does it cheapen the mutant. Potentially, but we also see that it's unnatural, which we'll get into later as well.
Steve:Yes. Now, Jean piers into Logan's mind while he flirts with her as Scott walks in and after Jean leaves, I love their exchange where a Wolverine says, you're going to tell me to stay away from your girl. If I had
Stephen:to do that, she wouldn't be my girl.
Steve:And then they banter back and forth. But then Scott ruins it when he's does end up saying before he leaves stay away from my girl. And I'm like, no, he was like, so he was confident and comfortable in that relationship. And he was on the
Stephen:moral high ground. He should have just closed the door and not said that, because then at that point I was like idiot. And yeah, that was one of those writing things. I was like, yeah, they don't get Scott.
Steve:Yeah. Now thoughts on this love triangle.
Stephen:Obviously they were going to bring it in because you're going home in an X-Men movie. You're going to want. Cyclops is the leader. Everybody knows. Jean is one of the most recognizable of the female X men, because as we all know the best X-Men are women. So when you're going to have those three, you're going to try to put the love triangle in there whether it's needed or not. It, and what I really like what they do with it in this movie, especially more between Farka and Hugh, where he's kind of teasing her. And it was like you know, he says, maybe you'd like what you would see. And she goes, I doubt that very much, but she has a laughy kind of smirk on her face where I'm like that perfectly captures gene and Logan. Flirtation. And I think they did a really good job capturing that. Whereas I don't think they spend enough time capturing Scott and Jean.
Steve:Got it all, you know, just kind of landed flat here for me now in the comics. What are your thoughts about how their little trio is evolved into the Well,
Stephen:it's kind of a square right now, or it's two triangles. However you want to look at it.
Steve:For those of you unfamiliar one of the things that, especially when they were getting the Cracow and age started off in the comics, as they were showing like the habitats that the different mutants live in and the setup of the bedrooms. And if you look very closely,
Stephen:Jean lives in between Scott and Logan and back in the two thousands, Scott had an affair with the white queen and their relationship rammed for awhile. So now. Scott kind of has a relationship with Jean and the white queen. And Jean has a relationship with Scott and Logan and
Steve:having entrances into our bedroom from her yeah. From their bedroom. So
Stephen:it kind of, one of the nice things that it does is it takes the plot device of rivalry and backstabbing and cheating out. Yeah. Like, and it makes the writers write better. Like you're not going to just have Scott and Logan. Over Jean or Jean and Emma going out it because of Scott that's out the window now
Steve:it's in the past. Yeah. Yes. Now back to the movie later that night rogue goes into Logan's room. When she hears him having nightmares of the weapon X program, and he wakes up in a startle stabbing or right through the chest, she uses her powers to borrow his and heals herself, freaking the rest of the school out, including Bobby AKA ice man who the next day appears to be the one urging her to run away. Wait, what Bobby was that cruel, but then the eyes flicker yellow. It was mystique. Oh,
Stephen:that girl she's so sweet.
Steve:Yes. Now my first theory going through it was not even about using the machine, but I like, I want them, I'm one of the few things. Cause even back then, I didn't read the comics now I do, but I, I knew that mystique was Rogue's mama. I'm like, are they trying to do a mother daughter reunion?
Stephen:I know they didn't even go into. All of that. And she's not her biological mother that she raised her. She raised her after rogue ran away. She at mystique and Irene raised rogue as their own. And I would've liked that. Like, you know, I prefer a little bit more common kindness story-wise
Steve:to things. Yes. Now with rogue missing, that's the perfect excuse for Charles to whip out his Cerebro. And that is not a penis metaphor. It actually is a machine that allows him to track mutants using a psychic powers.
Stephen:And now they do Cerebro differently in each of the movies in this one, Cerebro shows all the humans kind of ghostly but rogue sticks out in color. So I thought that was really exciting. How they showed
Steve:it. Yep. Now at the train station, rogue is running away. So Logan steal Scott's motorcycle to go after her finding the super fast turbo button, which really excites him. Yes. While Scott and Aurora are falling behind in a car, Logan successfully convinces broke to come back just as the train pulls away. Meanwhile, mystique breaks into Cerebro and puts a poison of sorts into the machine. And back at the train station, Cyclops and storm faced off against toad and sabertooth as Magneto stops the train and prize it open.
Stephen:My dear boy, whoever said I wanted you knocking
Steve:out and kidnaps road. Yes. The police surround the brotherhood and Magneto turns their guns on them. Charles manages to stop Magneta from shooting them all, but is unsuccessful at saving rogue because he won't kill Magneto and rogue is their getaway copter, flier, mystique flies. The copter. Yes, that's what I meant.
Stephen:And I love the first time saber tooth and storm go up against. And he has her by the throat and goes, she scream for me. And then, because psych clubs gave the train station, a convertible roof we get to see storms, lightning, zap, saber tooth, and towed bounces are a virtue. It says quit riding around. It's all really done. Well, I also love Cyclops is there in his little baseball hat and glasses, and there's a kid smiling up at Cyclops and he smiles down and the mom's like
Steve:stay away from, I know, hateful, Karen now, thoughts on the whole exchange between Xavier and Magneto. I mean, I understand that and most of these movies, guns are considered bad, but do you think that Magneto would've killed every single cop there? If Charles had an intervened, it needed to
Stephen:yeah. You homeless sapiens and your guns. Yes. No. I don't know if he would have killed them as much as, I mean, he may have,
Steve:or I think he would have just stalled for time
Stephen:and he very well could have done that and they don't show it here. But with his magnetic power, he does have the power to like an EMP burst, pushed them all away. He could have knocked them all down and gotten on the helicopter and escaped. But I think if he needed to, he would've killed them all because they're human and they're
Steve:expendable. Yes. Now Wolverine attempts to run off and find rogue on his own, then runs into storm where they have an exchange where she tries to get them to realize that he's better off as part of a team. And
Stephen:new is right. There is a war coming. Are you sure you're on the right
Steve:side? At least I've chosen a side
Stephen:in her really bad storm accent. Like her heart Halle, Berry, God love you. And.
Steve:And he's heard this enough times though. They can't bring up X-Men without making fun of her accent, you know, that that's not something she pulled out of her pussy. She just was probably told from, seem to seem to change it well, and the
Stephen:worst. And the thing that I find the worst is that by moving number two, she had an Oscar and now she's like, oh yeah, not doing the accent anymore. Just so you know. Yeah. Well that was for the best, eh, I, I, I feel it was worse that she just dropped it all together.
Steve:Now as he's about to leave, Wolverine runs into Senator Kelly who arrives looking for Dr. Jean Gray, Xavier, and the
Stephen:team deduce that Eric is going to transfer his power to rogue and have her power, the machine, because it almost incapacitated Eric when doing it. But because the processes on natural of the machine, it will likely seriously harm any humans because their body will reject the mutation. And people may become like Senator Kelly whose cells are breaking down and then he melts away into a gross pool of water.
Steve:Yes. And just before he dies, a storm has this beautiful exchange with Senator Kelly where he asks her, do you hate normal people?
Stephen:Sometimes I suppose I'm afraid of them, which is really, as you said, beautiful, because humans are afraid of mutants. Does anybody ever stop to ask the people that are having all the hatred put upon them? Are you afraid of the people that are getting or giving you the hatred?
Steve:And I do want to know how does Eric not realize this machine wasn't work, gonna work? I mean, this is why the scientific process is so important because you have to test and retest and make sure the product is reproducible. I
Stephen:mean, he should have either bought a machine from Nathaniel Essex, sinister. Yeah. Gotten somebody like sugar man or sinister or apocalypse to take the machine, run their own tests and come back and say, dude, you're right. This is good to go. Or, Hey, I think you missed something in that equation. Yes.
Steve:Now, even if the machine did work perfectly do you feel like comics Magneto would sacrifice rogue or any mutant for the sake of this process?
Stephen:No, not not to the point of death.
Steve:I, yeah, me either. That was another huge problem I had is I was like Magneto wouldn't sacrifice one mutant to even make more. Right. Especially out of humans. Okay. Yeah. And
Stephen:especially a mutant like rogue who has been pretty much neutral to him. Like she's not going out of her way to
Steve:stop him. Yes. Now Xavier tries to use Cerebro to find them, but it backfires due to mistakes, poison knocking them out for the rest of the movie. Yeah, which was interesting. Yes. Gene fixes the machine and use a Cerebro for the first time herself and a successful at finding them. But due to a physical class that lasts has seen her two. And
Stephen:so she comes out and she goes, I know where they're going. I know where they're going. As we've mentioned, every time there's a TV shown. We all should know where they're going by
Steve:now. Like, I'm like, well, isn't this obvious or do the, mutans just not watch the news, which we know that they do watch the news because they're watching it at the end. Right. So I worked or maybe
Stephen:they're watching it at the end because they realized that they should have been watching all along. Yes. Now between this movie and X two genes powers greatly increase. Do you think that it was what happened to her with Cerebro? That. Allowed her powers to just amp up.
Steve:Yes and no. I feel like it wasn't like Cerebro unlocked some potential that she had within her, as much as her realizing that she had the power to use Cerebro, may it have opened herself up to saying, I am that powerful, because even earlier when we first see Cerebro Wolverine, like ask Jean, like, do you can use it. And even Scott was like, it's too dangerous. Like all these people around her were saying, you can't do it. You can't do it. And now she realizes that she can. So it's not like the machine had the impact on her, but I feel like the experience of having gone through it and saying, yes, I can that have the impact
Stephen:getting her own agency and that an X too, because she's now getting all these things. But, and because people held her back as a child and as a teammate. Then now that she's an adult, no, one's taking the time to show her how to control these powers.
Steve:Yes. Now the brotherhood show up to Liberty island for their plan. He villains explains his plans to use Rogue's power, to power, the machine, to turn all the world's leaders into mutants. Meaning that there'll be on the side of mutans and humans will no longer be persecuting them. His goal has always been the advancement of his people by whatever means necessary. The X-Men
Stephen:suit up and Wolverine makes a sarcastic comment on their dark leather body armor like appearance to which Scott replies.
Steve:Would you prefer yellow spandex calling out the
Stephen:X-Men outfits, especially from 19.
Steve:Yes. And I say yes. Yes I would. What about you?
Stephen:Yeah, I, I don't care for, oh, like, oh, it's all modern and wonderful. I would like some color,
Steve:please. Yes. I mean, I understand this was like the first superhero movie of its generation, where it's a team and they're all in like costumes that they were trying to make more muted and more realistic. I can't fault them for taking the baby steps, but I mean, ultimately where we are today. Yeah. I would much rather have them in all of their beautiful costumes from the comics
Stephen:and you know what I really liked the most. So at the end of the fourth or goodness, sixth X-Men movie, X-Men apocalypse, they're in the danger room and they all have new uniforms that are black leather with accents and colors based on their nineties outfits.
Steve:Yeah. Now as the group enters the statue of Liberty mystique as disguises, the statue of Liberty, Like the replica and the lobby Logan splits off from the rest because he can smell her. She then appears in, they fight and we see Logan able to shear off mystiques clothes, claws as she could only mimic their appearance since they're not actually adamantium. So
Stephen:it was probably like pain-wise somebody chopping off fingers. Offense.
Steve:Yes. But I also thought it was interesting when she turns into the statue of Liberty because in the comics, she typically doesn't turn into inanimate objects. Does she?
Stephen:Well, it all depends on whether, was she an inanimate object or was she a human, like with body paint and things like that? Like, was that like a wig type of thing? Ways to look around it because she could still open her eyes. Okay. That's
Steve:a little Scooby-Doo to me, but yes, their fight is fantastic. I mean, as much as it was fun, seeing the two Wolverines fight against each other, when she finally comes out as a mystique, it's just Rebecca romaine is the best miss mystique. Yeah. Yeah.
Stephen:And I love when she does the back flip and gets into the post, like come and get an ass.
Steve:Yes. And the fact that she does it all without saying a word it's just beautiful with her body language and expression. Yep. Now, so then separates the other three using his gross sticky spew to cover Jean's face after knocking Scott out a while. Scott saves gene with a mini blast. Todd focuses on toad, focuses on storm. Yup.
Stephen:And that's is so Toad's coming after Jean and he leaps at her and she grabs him with her telekinesis. And he's like, well, crap. And then he
Steve:pukes. Yes. And that would be like the worst way to die ever. Just like it's so disgusting and gross
Stephen:suffocating with glue likes
Steve:not. Yes, no, thank you. Yeah. We then get rogue cheesy. You know what happens when a toad gets struck by lightning?
Stephen:Yep. And a lot of people hate that line, but. I find it so iconic now that I enjoy when storm says that. Yes, yes. I
Steve:mean, she's looking glorious leading up to that line. I mean, it works for the movie, but how amazing would it have been instead if we had a nineties like cartoon storm overdramatic line, right beforehand? Well, could you make up your own? Yes. In my version of this movie, when storms floating up from the elevator shaft, she would say storm mistress of the elements, commander of the eternal forces of nature as the storms, brew and electricity fills the sky. I summoned the full power of the weather to smite this evil being in protect this city. I
Stephen:really liked that. I did not write my own. I just watched a YouTube video and took my favorite parts. So I cobbled together one that these are all things that were said in the comics thing in the storm. Storm mistress of the elements I summoned the cold of the Arctic wins, swell, mighty winds, and carry us to Jean nature. I command you bring forth thunder and lightning Hale, fill the skies with rocks of ice. And I shall meet you at the monorail.
Steve:I think the last part, babe, as much as it was fabulous when it really work in this scene specifically,
Stephen:I know, but that she stormed, voiced her saying, I showed meet you at the monorail. It is one of my favorite things in the car cartoon
Steve:ever. Yeah. Yes. Now back in the action, Wolverine stab his mystique as he sees through her disguise as storm. And she plays possum who reunites with everyone else and they say, Hey,
Stephen:it's me prove it. You're a
Steve:D. Fair enough. Yep. And then that is apparently one of the two remaining remnants of weed in the script. Well, good.
Stephen:Cause I liked that part.
Steve:Yes. Now Magneto captures the X-Men well says
Stephen:Cyclops that storm frame. Oh yes. A bolt of lightning into a big copper conductor. I thought you lived
Steve:at the school. Yes. Magneto doesn't believe Jean. When they share that the machine doesn't work, leaving them to start the process of giving his powers to rogue, then Logan frees himself and squares off against saber tooth on the top of the crown
Stephen:when they're throwing each other around on top of the crown and the one where saber-tooth throws him and it looks like Wolverine is going to fly right off the top of the statue of Liberty. And he extends his claws and uses them as a kind of break around the top of the crown. And it slows him down enough and he's able to turn to land back on top, but the tip of the Tiara breaks off because. Was so
Steve:cool. And that was very cool. He finds himself back in side the head with the group and throw Scott, his glasses, ankle to blow saber tooth out of the fight that team of attack has followed by more synergy as storm flies, Wolverine up to the machine rogue is trapped in while gene steadies him, hang on to something. Yes. Now they're really focusing on compost in the Cohen new mutants issues as well. What's been your example of a favorite mutant combo or powerless in the comics. So there's
Stephen:and one of the characters that is made out of water, they call him rain boy, and I love that whenever he extends himself. So the water particles are in everybody else. And they're also around one of Wolverine's family members who also has a healing factor that the healing factor can extend. Through the water particles into the other people. Yes. That,
Steve:that was neat. That is very neat. And they do lots of really cool ones in the new meat in this run, which for loving. Yeah. I would also say, you know, you, you can't talk about Eaton combo powers, if you don't talk about the festival special,
Stephen:which there was one of the comics where somebody throws one of w women and he grabs her and goes fastball special. And she goes, do I look like I'm Canadian?
Steve:Yeah. Yes. Now Magneto tries to prevent Wolverine from breaking the machine as the pulse widens closer and closer to the government representatives and rogue gets her white streak in her hair as the comics, like in the comics, as she gets a weaker and weaker, Scott disarms, Magneto and Wolverine stops at just in the Nick of time from hitting one Senator who looks like he was. Poo, rather than watching the wave come at him,
Stephen:like everyone else is freaked out and running and he has this look on his face. Like he just stepped in something and can smell it. I was like,
Steve:that's not the right facial risk. Somebody was
Stephen:watching. That would have been a cut. Okay, we're going to try this again. And this is the face you're going to give us. Yes,
Steve:Logan Paul's rogue into his arms and she appears to be dead. But when he touched his hands to her skin, nothing happens. He holds her tight and begins to mourn her. But then his face next to hers starts draining his power and she comes alive, but she's draining him so much that his wounds reopen
Stephen:the wound in his back that he'd given himself to get on attached from the crown and he just starts bleeding and you're like, and so you, because at first you really do think, oh, rogue status is dead. And just like, you know, we thought, oh, mystiques dead as well. And now Wolverine's bleeding. You're like crap. His mutant healing factors gone.
Steve:Yes. Now we see them carry mystique away as a security guard. And back at the mansion, Charles is awake. Then Logan is two Logan confesses, his love to Jean and she tries to change the subject. And so he lets her off the hook. Yeah.
Stephen:Instead of making a big deal out of it, he changes the topic to rogue where Jean says, she's fine. You know, she developed a few of your more charming personality traits, but we all live through it. See
Steve:that right now, Charles gives Wolverine more information about an abandoned military compound, where you might find some answers to his past in the future. Amazing. Perfectly written Wolverine origins. No
Stephen:oh, okay. That's how it opens with at alkali lake. Okay. But, and then we see mystique as Senator Kelly squashing, the MRA, and it's not until they pause the TV as Kelly's walking away. And then they see the flash of yellow eyes and they're like mystique. And the whole audience is like, yay. She's fine.
Steve:Yes. And on Logan's way out, he gives rogue his dog tag saying he'll be back and steal Scott's motorcycle. As a parting gift,
Stephen:locked up in a plastic cell. Eric plays chess with Xavier and Eric promises that a war is coming and I plan to fight in it by any means necessary. And Xavier assures them that I will always be their old
Steve:friend. Yes. It cuts to the credits and surprise. There's no mid or end credit scene because this movie came up before that was. Huh. Interesting, because you're so used to just having that be part of any superhero movie. Now you're like, there's gotta be something washed it to the end. And I was like, Nope, nothing, no nothing. So what were your final thoughts on this movie? I
Stephen:loved it. I saw it three times in the theaters when it came out. I have seen it a lot since then probably. I mean, I think whenever we rewatched it, you were able to tell, I had seen it
a
Steve:lot. You were very cute saying like every line, not
Stephen:every line, cause that would have been awful. Well if I know all the quotable lines. Exactly. And you know, I, the thing that I critique Brian singer's X-Men movies for is until days of future past he doesn't do a great job. Of large fights. Yes, he does a lot of one-on-one. But it's not a lot of mutants using their powers, battling each other. And it's D like in days of future, past, like that is done extraordinarily well, but in this one and even X two, there's not a lot of Newton battling. And I think that that is lacking.
Steve:Yeah, no, I agree. I mean, I feel like this is a great start. A wonderful
Stephen:start. Yes. And I think that adding in the Holocaust stuff at the beginning adds a certain seriousness to it that I think the X-Men stories
Steve:deserve. Yeah. So fun. I can't wait to see what's next. Maybe we'll cover a SQL down the road. I bet you, we probably will. Yes. In the meantime, we'd love to hear what your thoughts on the X-Men movies are like. So you can email us@happylifepodatgmail.com.
Stephen:You can get in touch with us on all the socials, whether it is Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or tick-tock at happy life
Steve:pod. Yes. And until next time everybody stay happy.