I’m a huge fan of the X-Men movie franchise — well, at least the first two Bryan Singer-directed flicks — but not so much of The CW’s icky Gossip Girl (I know, blasphemy alert). And that’s why I’m more than a little perturbed by the news that Josh Schwartz (exec producer of GG, as well as The O.C. and Chuck) will be writing (and possibly directing) the fourth installment of the film franchise, X-Men: First Class, with plans to "inject a next-gen sensibility into the superhero series," according to Variety.
My colleague Jeff Jensen informs me that "X-Men: First Class is the name of a best-selling 2007 X-Men mini-series imagining the very early adventures of Professor Xavier’s first group of mutant students: Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Iceman, Angel, and The Beast." But I just worry Schwartz might be more interested in outfitting these heroes in Prada capes and imagining them (under-aged-ly) sipping martinis at oak-lined hotel bars than in exploring how they’ll navigate the treacherous territory of what it means to be a mutant teenager kicking ass in an unforgiving world. I mean, even those of you obsessed with the comings and goings of such mythical creatures as a Blair Waldorf or a Nate Archibald can’t tell me you’d want to see the fearsome Jean Grey (played by the fabulous Famke Janssen) pushed aside in favor of, say, Platform, a character who sports a variety of precariously crafted shoes ("Ohmigod, I’m gonna betchslap you, J.G.!"), or (Lord help us) Smoking Jacket, a dude who shoots fire from beneath his array of vintage velvet sports coats.
Then again, perhaps my passage from the advertiser-coveted 18-34 demographic renders completely irrelevant my take on the marriage of Schwartz and X-Men. I just hope Fox doesn’t forget the franchise has already raked in $1.2 billion worldwide, despite starring a couple of oldie olsens in Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart. What’s your take, PopWatchers?
More on ‘X-Men,’ ‘Gossip Girl,’ Josh Schwartz, and comic-book adaptations:
EW’s ‘X-Men’ Headquarters
‘Gossip Girl’: Four Rumors — and the Reality (an EW cover story!)
Gillian Flynn’s EW review of Josh Schwartz’s ‘Chuck’
‘Gossip Girl’: Season 1’s Best and Worst
Comic-Con: Wolverine’s Hugh Jackman steals the show at Fox’s movie panel
Which young actor should be cast as ‘Magneto’?
‘Watchmen’ Posters: Snap Judgments
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The fact that Schwartz is diverse enough to produce both Chuck and those anorexia shows gives me a glimmer of hope. But just a glimmer. Seeing that photo of Famke as Grey in X3 made me realize how much I LOVED her Emily Dickinson-esque outerwear. Maybe there is a place for designer mutants after all?
The fact that Schwartz is diverse enough to produce both Chuck and those anorexia shows gives me a glimmer of hope. But just a glimmer. Seeing that photo of Famke as Jean Grey in X3 reminded me of how much I loved her Emily Dickinson-esque outerwear. Maybe there is a place for Designer Mutants after all.
Slezak – What is wrong with you this week? The strangest things seem to be irritating you. As Amanda from UB would say “Chillax!” I’m sure Mr. Schwartz is capable of discerning the vast differences between X-men and GG. After all, Chuck is nothing like GG – so he’s clearly capable of producing genres other than teen dramas steeped in materialism. I’m sure it will be fine.
Melanie: We may disagree on this one, but your use of “Chillax” made me actually LOL.
I’m a little tired of the whole, “lets start over” craze, although I have to admit its really refreshed a lot of slagging franchises. OK maybe right now I can only think of Batman and Bond, but boy did those work. Famke rules, but I’d be so OK with seeing Blake Lively with superpowers.
If Patrick Stewart returns as Prof X, I’d trust Josh to do it right. On a side note, is it just me or would the fabulous six-feet-tall in her stocking feet Famke Janssen make a fantastic Wonder Woman?
I have utter faith in Josh Schwartz and his ability to tackle X-Men in a way that honors its past while giving it a fresh spin. He has proven with “Chuck” (and “The O.C.,” to a lesser degree) that he is capable of seamlessly combining action, drama, and humor. I think his perspective could bring a fresh direction to the mutant franchise, which in my opinion is open to more than one (Singer) interpretation. To bring up “Gossip Girl” as cause for concern is silly. I agree, Slezak – it’s a crap show with worthless, shallow characters and a sad example of what passes for “entertainment” today. But Schwartz is barely involved at this point, concentrating the majority of his energies on “Chuck” (!) and not on second-rate garbage. X4 could be great.
First of all, that’s Sir Ian McKellan to you. Secondly, Ian may be an “oldie” but he’s a bad@ss. The guy is a pimp, respeck! I enjoyed his portrayals of Gandolf, Magneto, and even the baddie in DaVinci Code. And on to the more important news: Schwartz can write for different genres. You just know the fanbase will be rife with critizism before he even starts writing this thing. I’m going to cut him slack until we see the trailer or even some gossip (pun intented) from Comic Con. I echo Melanie’s take from Amanda, “Chillax!”
I loved the first seasons of THE OC, GOSSIP GIRL and the pilot episode of CHUCK – So I’m excited about the cool teen characterization but I’m not sure if Schwartz can do action.
The X-MEN series definatly needs a reboot after XMEN: THE LAST STAND and even Bryan Singer’s bland X-MEN movies (okay the opening ‘Nightcrawler attack on The White House’ scene in X2 was terrific but it nose-dived from there.)
I hope it’s the original FIRST CLASS (Cyclops,Marvel Girl, Ice Man, Angel and The Beast) learning to control thier powers and making mistakes without any older X-Men around to help because they were the only X-Men!
Oh no…Leave X-Men alone!
I’m all for a reboot (as long as Hugh Jackman turns up without a shirt at *some* point), but this is starting to sound like X-Men: The Muppet Babies or X-Men: 90210 to me. Maybe if they get Ellen Page back I’ll chill out enough to consider it.
Did you even watch X3, Slezak? It’s been pretty clear from the way that one unfolded that the next step is all about the new kids. Shadowcat (although will Ellen Page be back?), Iceman, Colossus, Angel. Wolverine has his own movie, Magneto is getting his own, And the rumour mill has it that the only other cast members signed on for a 4th installment are Rebecca Romijn and Vinnie Jones. And all of that is just speculation! But he’s got “Chuck”, so he can do action, and the background on these other series shows us he can do “teenagers”. And the X-Men is partly soap opera. Rogue.Iceman/Shadowcat in the film. Shadowcat/Colossus in the series. Wolverine/Jean Grey/Cyclops. Etc. Everyone has some drama associated with their characters, and the biggest gripes about the X-Men films has been the lack of development. We shall see. Let’s not get our panties in a bunch before a real story has even been pitched!
I agree that after watching the O.C. and Chuck, that Josh Schwartz is a sci-fi/comic geek, and will do this justice.
I know that people about reboot and why they are re-interpreting the x-men or they should go to the next generation, BUT this will be an adaption of a mini-series (actually several mini-series) of the very first class. When they were teenagers. In fact you can think XM:FC as a re-interpration of the Stan Lee/ Jack Kirby originals.
Give the guy a chance I say.
Chuck proves he can do action/adventure/comedy with a plot.
ok Schwartz the ball’s in your court, show us whatchya got.
It’s the “oldies” that give the X-series it’s true gravitas.
The kids that come and go are just a flash in the pan.
It’s great to hear that there will be another X-movie, hopefully it will be better than the final installment. Although, I have to wonder that if they’re modeling it after X-men: First Class, are they going to stick with the same characters, as they were not introduced in the X-trilogy as the ‘first class.’
Just wondering if you were aware that Schwartz has more on his resume than GOSSIP GIRL.
The OC wasn’t about materialism or “anorexia”, people; it was just marketed that way. There’s actually a gajillion X-Men references in The OC, a show which would go on to create it’s own meta-comic based on the characters that face all of the same problems at heart of the X titles.
No one does Outsiders, misfits, misunderstoods and outright freaks (Taylor Townsend) quite like the Schwartz-ter. Lighten up, people. When he produces an X3 or a Rush Hour or Red Dragon, then you can be mean. Until then, chill out.
OK, I’m going to say upfront that I don’t care about this story — my comment is about the headline.
OMFG and WTF? Really, EW? Really? That’s what your journalistic integrity boils down to? Using ridiculous and inappropriate abbreviations? Yes, I know that Gossip Girl did it first with the OMFG. But that doesn’t make it right. Please, EW, clean it up a little. I’m not asking you to return to the formal journalism classiness of Walter Cronkite. But OMFG and WTF are really beneath you.
End of rant.
Since this is an X-Men franchise, the no brainer choice is to make everything mutant related into a film franchise, but something like this would actually work better as a weekly television series. The X-Universe has so many characters that you could still have a theatrical feature franchise with the A-list (Wolverine, Storm, and resurrected Jean and Cyclops chracters) while running parallel projects and not even scratch the surface. It would provide the television audience with a potentially better alternative to “Heroes”
I can’t wait to see what he does with the characters! popculturecurmudgeon.blogspot.com
nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000!!!!!
I’m going to read this as a marriage of X-Men and Chuck. And to that I say, YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!
Humor, action, drama… all rolled into one.
And if Ellen Page stays on as Kitty Pride (younger gen right?) then this will be win. (Though I can see just a complete recasting too.)
I have to believe that Schwartz is a good enough writer that he will do his research before just blindly writing some X-Men soap opera.
http://diggingfordays.blogspot.com
Famke Janssen rocked in X3 but she obviously won’t be back for this one so not all that excited i honestly doubt any of the main cast will be back….
LisaMoma
Go read Ladies Home Journal
This is great news. Joss Whedon is the only person I could think of who I’d want doing this more. You forget the adorable stuff that he did with the OC superheroes (there was 1 cartoon on Itunes that was hilarious). We also now know that it will likely have a fantastic soundtrack and witty writing. I’m excited already.
I love Josh Schwartz and all of his shows (especially The O.C.). However, I feel like The O.C., Gossip Girl, and, to a lesser extent, Chuck are very different from X-Men. But, Schwartz did “Atomic County” on The O.C. and Chuck does have a sort of superhero feel to it sometimes, so I have hopes that it will be good.
I agree with Kip. Obviously I don’t think that he’s going to Gossip Girl-ify X-Men. Give the man some credit! He’s 3 for 3 with Chuck, GG and the OC, in a very fickle and treacherous TV envorinment. I can’t wait to see his fresh take on X-Men. What are you afraid of Slezak, a little extra witty banter thrown into your sci-fi mix?