X-Men TV Series Coming to FOX: Good, Bad, or Ugly?
I’ve been quite a long time coming around to superhero films, partially because I think most are cash grabs and done over and over and over and… you get the point. My all-time favorite “superhero” franchise is X-Men. The news has just released that FOX has ordered a drama TV pilot for X-Men. As of now, the title is unknown and not much else is known. What we do know is that the story will focus on two parents who have a mutant child and must use the underground world of mutants to escape the invasive government. Why oh why does this sound so timely? What do I think about this? Well, here are my thoughts and things to consider.
FOX and superheroes make me nervous.
FOX and 20th Century Fox have such mixed reception with superhero adaptations. The Fantastic Four films were some of the worst adaptations I’ve ever seen. The Avengers: United They Stand TV show lasted less than a year from October 30th,1999 to February 26th, 2000 and played on the Fox Kids network. X-Men was a huge success airing from October 31st, 1992 until September 20th, 1997. You may say that animated is a different ball game, so who knows. I feel like betting on FOX to make a great superhero film, or TV show is a 50/50 bet. I feel like for every Deadpool, you have a Fantastic Four. You never know what’s going to come, but you brace for impact and hope for the best.
There will always be the classic animated series.
The animated series from the 90s will always hold a special place in the heart of many adults of the 80s generation. The classic animated series was exciting, fun, and different. As a girl with two brothers, it was one of the first shows I remember watching with them because it featured girls and boys as the heroes. I think that for TV, the animated series will be tough to beat. While yes, this new one seems more targeted for adults, that age demographic is still the ones who grew up watching the animated series. FOX has its work cut out for them.
Special effects on a TV versus film.
While we all would like to hope that the TV series will be as awesome and kick ass as the most of the films have been, those are impossibly high expectations. One thing that makes the films even more exciting is the use of incredible special effects. Truth be told, most TV series will never have enough of a budget to meet those expectations.
Casting will be difficult.
If the show plans on using any of the more famous X-Men characters, they will have an tough time casting the characters. The world has fallen in love with Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, and it will be an up-hill battle to find someone. If they choose to go the other route and not use the well-known characters, they may lose their audience base. While there are many people who can name the major characters; Storm, Cyclops, Wolverine, Professor X, etc., there are not a lot of people who can get much deeper than that. They need to pull on wider fan bases by including recognizable characters
It is considered a drama?
This is where you can start to worry a little. Mostly I wouldn’t think any X-Men movies or television to be considered a drama. For FOX to label it or consider it a drama is odd and maybe worrisome. It is sci-fi and should always be sci-fi. Action? Yes. Adventure? Yes. Fantasy? Maybe, yes. Drama? I don’t know, man. It feels like it takes away the essence of the characters.
Color me intrigued but regardless of how much of a disaster this MAY be, I will be watching and waiting to see what becomes of the FOX X-Men TV Series.
