X-Force

Keeping the series of films featuring or tangentially related to the X-Men straight has become a task on par with reading Bleak House. The original three films from the 2000s were their own thing, at first independent of the rebooted X-Men: First Class set in the past. But they were then woven into the “present” with Days of Future Past and Apocalypse, which happen to be set in both timelines and physical dimensions. All this operates separately from Logan and Wolverine’s other solo films, and while Deadpool technically is set in the main universe, it can’t really bring in any of the major pre-existing characters due to intellectual property complications, so it might as well be an isolated entity as well. It’s a lot to keep track of, to put it mildly.

As the X-Universe continues to expand outward, characters deeper in the roster have gotten a chance to shine. Sure, Wolverine, Cyclops, Jean Grey and Professor X were pretty much a given from the start, but who’d have thought we’d see a cinematic appearance from Negasonic Teenage Warhead in our lifetime? A Gambit solo movie has been milling around development hell for months, the New Mutant film has been gradually amassing cast members, and today brings a major update to the progress on yet another tangential X-project, the rough-and-tumble X-Force. Today, the project gained a writer, and of course it’s a fanboy-familiar name.

Superhero movies are big business these days, and with so many major heroes already either on screen or making their way within the next few years, the number of top tier characters for feature films is dwindling. But that doesn't mean there aren't some great characters out there waiting for their moment in the spotlight. In fact, some amazing heroes have been forgotten or overlooked. In this list we look at ten obscure, unlikely, or downright quirky Marvel and DC heroes that we believe truly could make a successful transition to the big screen, if given the right approach.

It may be difficult to believe in light of the 2016 election results, but there is other news still happening out there — even in the world of film, which offers a welcome distraction for many right now. And 20th Century Fox is serving up some pretty major news today, with a report that sheds light on the studio’s plans for the future of their expanding X-Men franchise, including Deadpool 3, X-Force and Gambit.

Who are the greatest X-Men of all time? To mark the release of X-Men: Apocalypse, we came up with the ultimate list of the top 100 characters ever to wear the X as part of the extended family of Professor Charles Xavier's Westchester school. These are the very best heroes (and sometimes villains) in more than fifty years of stories about Marvel mutants fighting for a world that hates and fears them! The final list was determined by a combination of our expert panel's rankings and our readers' votes, and as you might expect, the results offer an amazing selection of icons, powerhouses, and gorgeous freaks --- not to mention a few unexpectedly popular weirdoes. But it wouldn't be the X-Men without embracing the appeal of the weird.

Back in 2013, Fox tapped Kick-Ass 2 director Jeff Wadlow to script an X-Force movie, but Deadpool’s development put X-Force on the back burner, and the Merc With a Mouth’s record-breaking box office seems to have made the studio rethink their plans. Bryan Singer basically confirms as much, revealing that not only is Simon Kinberg currently working on a new X-Force screenplay, but that Singer himself pitched a female version of Wolverine — lending credence to recent rumors that X23 will appear in The Wolverine sequel.

Who are the greatest ever X-Men? Over the coming weeks, we’re going to try to answer that question, selecting five X-Men at a time from across the franchise’s long history, and pairing up your votes with the opinions of our own panel of highly opinionated X-Men fans. Your scores will be added to ours to determine the top 100 X-Men. This week, we celebrate two of the wickedest ladies ever to face the X-Men, one of whom went from enemy to ally, and the other from ally to enemy. We also take a look at two of the strangest and most naive X-Men of all time, and one of the most cynical!

Gambit has had a few…problems. There were the rumors that Channing Tatum was going to walk over budget disputes, then Rupert Wyatt left the film without a director, eventually replaced a couple months later by Edge of Tomorrow’s Doug Liman (reportedly Tatum’s top choice). With an October release date approaching, it seemed a bit crazy that Gambit could be ready in time, but now it appears that the latest X-Men solo spinoff has been given a reprieve as Fox has yanked it from their schedule and set release dates for two additional, unnamed Marvel projects.

Before it even had a chance to break records at the box office and become the highest-grossing X-Men film, Deadpool was already given the go-ahead for a sequel and fans began considering the possibilities for this new corner of the X-Men universe — will Deadpool appear in X-Force? Will he cross over with his mutant brethren in other films? Not so fast, according to the writers behind the Merc With a Mouth’s solo debut. They’ve got some big plans, but they’re not getting ahead of themselves.

In the Deadpool post-credits scene, Wade Wilson came out, Ferris Bueller-style, and told the audience that they’re going to have X-Force leader Cable in the sequel. That was enough to lead many to think that Deadpool 2 would start setting up the eventual X-Force movie, and this latest news would seem to be further confirmation. According to reports, in addition to Cable, Deadpool 2 will also feature another X-Force member: frequent Deadpool buddy, Domino.