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Young X-Men Prequel Being Written by Josh Schwartz Already?!

by Alex Billington
May 3, 2008
Source: BlackBook

Although all eyes are on the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine, apparently that's not the only X-Men move in the works. After X-Men 3 hit theaters a few summers ago, reports about the future of the franchise included three distinct films: Wolverine, Magneto, and a young X-Men. As of this year, I believed the only active one was Wolverine, but alas I was wrong, as far as I can tell. An interview over at BlackBook with Gossip Girl writer Josh Schwartz recently revealed that he is indeed writing the screenplay for the young X-Men prequel. And if that news isn't enough, Schwartz takes it upon himself to actually diss the upcoming Incredible Hulk and misunderstand Transformers fans all in one.

While I'd like to hold out hope and say that this new X-Men movie could maybe turn out better than X-Men 3, it really doens't sound like this guy knows what he's doing. Right off the bat it sounds like we're getting a Gossip Girl version of the X-Men. The sequel will center on teenage mutants at the Xavier Institute for Higher Learning and give Schwartz the opportunity to feature lesser known X-Men characters. What's not certain is whether this will be specifically a sequel or a prequel, because it could be either one in actuality (and just not feature any of the characters we've seen previously). At least Schwartz is interested in the comic, saying, "I'm very well aware that I'll be bludgeoned by purists, but I love its mythology, and it comes with a pretty hefty paycheck."

So he's doing this more for the money, okay, but he's not going to butcher it is he? "It's not like I'm adding new characters like Toaster Head, or anything like that." Phew! But wait, he forgot to tell you, he isn't done explaining how bad the upcoming Hulk movie looks and how much the fans never complained about Transformers. Please tell me he's joking?!

"The Hulk looks like it's going to be terrible. And why does he look like he's fighting against the monster from Cloverfield? I mean, with Transformers, it's not like fans were going to come back saying, 'You used the wrong car.'"

That's just about all we get before the interviewer hurriedly returns to chatting Gossip Girl. Well, he does throw in this final jab: "Brett Ratner didn't have a lot of credibility going in to the first two X-Men movies." At least he got one thing right! I'm not entirely sure what happened, but if it is true that Schwartz is working on another X-Men film, I'm very worried. This is starting to sound like that Justice League movie, and not in a good way. Young X-Men isn't inherently bad idea, but in the hands of a screenwriter like this, it will be bad. Before anyone jumps the gun, let's just take this in strides - as far as I know the film isn't really in production yet or even close to it!

First things first, would anyone actually want to see a young X-Men movie? Or an even better question, does anyone want to see this come together soon? Or would we all rather see the Avengers? Right now I'd rather have Marvel keep everything constrained within the new universe they've created - Iron Man, The Incredible Hulk, and the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine. There is really no need to venture back into the X-Men universe for the next few years, especially with the Gossip Girl creator writing the screenplay. How did they let it get this bad?

Explore tags: Comics, Movie News, Rumors

Jojo

Sorry but he is a douchbag. Hopefully he can pull of a solid script.
spider-ed

with comments like that, i very much doubt he can jojo!! complete, and utter, first class 'A' hole!!!!
Rachel

I think he's done a great job with all his stuff and he's in his position for a reason. I doubt he actually said all of those things, media has a way of twisting words like nobody's business. He's got such a good rep, which adds to the fact that they are probably making some stuff up. I'm excited about X-Men and really excited to see what Josh does with it.
darrin

i agree with no.1 he is a douchbag, hell this guy is an ultimate asshole. Besides all that why the hell is he writing the X-men prequel, he should be doing some beverly hills 90210 movie
Alfredo

wtf is up with this dude? You don't just go around mentioning that doing something X-men related racks in the cash. Hopefully they get a credible director who is actually into X-men. A young X-men movie would be cool as a way to expand the universe a bit. Maybe they can use the new characters and throw in Emma and... never mind Cyclops is dead. Damn.
jason_md2020

"And why does he look like he's fighting against the monster from Cloverfield?" Did this idiot even SEE Cloverfield? They look nothing alike!
The Delightful Deviant

great so we get a shitty movie with shitty characters no one really gives a shit about, so more "kid Omega" more "Quill" etc. etc. etc.
Michael

You know you fail to mention once that he's also the guy behind the show Chuck, which is (in my opinion, and also, objectively speaking) great. If you want to think about what he's going to do with X-Men, I'd look to Chuck more than Gossip Girl.
Drew

It's interesting, Chuck is a great show, but I've never really watched Gossip Girl and was not a fan of the O.C., however maybe the movie won't be so bad.... Howver what a comment about The Hulk sucking....
John

I don't understand everyone rallying behind Chuck. The writing is terrible.
Curtis

do this even need to be made into a movie, dont we have enough X-Men spin offs and the screenplay writer seems like a total shit head. Well see how this turns out but im not holding my breath.
tori

what NNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO,josh is nothing but an arogant jerk,no one wants him including me I saw how he ruined his show the OC,the show became so bad that it had to get cancelled,he is a bad writer
Rachel

No, I don't think you really understand the way that tv shows work. Yeah, the OC was his, but by the time the show took its dip, Josh had given much of the control over to a team of writers and was developing other things, like Chuck and Gossip Girl. Yes, it's his name, but there are a lot more people involved than just him. I think we need to wait and see how this turns out and quit judging a writer/creator that we don't even know. Judgments should wait until after a movie comes out, come on guys!
Ajax

Hopefully, Josh doesn't turn this film into a crappy teen drama (they already tried that with Generation X and failed mirerably) (BTW, Generation X was a failed TV pilot for a show based on X-men which is what this movie sounds like). However, with his mention of money, we know we are not getting a hard-core superhero writer. Maybe some one else will come along and fix it entirely. And the Hulk movie sucking??????? No way, Jose! His analogy with the Transformers was terrible (because I didn't get it) and the Abomination does NOT, I repeat, NOT look like that Cloverfield monster. Well, maybe if you squint your eyes and turn your head a lot...
http://www.myspace.com/kail2007 Kail

This is gonna be a hilarious movie! Batman and Robin all over again (yes I purposely referenced Batman and Robin)
Minic

Sounds like Sky High with a Marvel superhero label.
Richard

Ugh, not only did we have to endure a complete violation of the Marvel Universe by some clueless writer who took it upon himself to decide that Wolverine is the most important X-man by killing cyclops, jean grey and prof X, now we get this...
Gene

"Judgments should wait until after a movie comes out, come on guys!" - Rachel So Rachel, you actually said that when this douche put down The Incredible Hulk before it has come out? You're argument lost all credibility to me there. Anyway, I agree with everyone here that this dude should NOT write this up and I think Marvel is pushing the cash cow a little too hard if they want to do a young X-Men movie. I would wait until the dvd release and even then, I would get someone else to rent it so I wouldn't waste my money on that crap.
Rachel

Gene, I get where you're coming from and if I were a little more close minded I might agree. He shouldn't have said that about The Hulk, however doesn't that mean it would be unfair of us to judge his movie before it comes out? I happen to disagree- I'm excited for The Hulk, but I'm also excited for any new X-Men as well. I like Josh's work and I'm just waiting to base my opinions on what I see (as, like you pointed out, he should have done with The Hulk).
NightcrawlerFan

X-Men 3 was highly entertaining. The first film was the weakest of the three, in my opinion, and 2 was the best, but X-Men 3 does not deserve the hatred it gets.
CD

Does anyone know where the image at the top of the article came from?
Rob

The image is from the cover of one of the New X-men: Academy X comics (issue one I think).