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'X-Men' Producer Wants to Try Spin-Offs Again, Maybe with Mystique

by Ethan Anderton
April 10, 2014
Source: EW

If there's one thing pretty much every X-Men fan can agree on it's that the origin spin-off X-Men Origins: Wolverine was absolutely terrible. It turned Logan (Hugh Jackman) into a walking punchline, had poorly completed special effects, and completely ruined the character of Deadpool. But that doesn't mean longtime franchise producer Lauren Schuler Donner wants to give up on the prospect of spinning off characters into their own films again, especially with how successful Marvel has been with their cinematic universe. And one of those characters might be Jennifer Lawrence as shapeshifting mutant Mystique. Read on!

Speaking with EW, Schuler Donner explains the lack of motivation and awareness for spin-offs last time:

“There was a regime [at the studio] that didn’t see the worth in [spin-offs], and the current people who run Fox understand, embrace it, and we’re going to do right by it. I’d like to do Gambit. I’d like to do Deadpool. We’ll see. There’s a lot of really great characters.”

Schuler Donner previously talked about Gambit, and went so far as to mention Channing Tatum as being a prime candidate to fill the role (and the actor has also expressed interest in the same character). His inclusion in the X-Men in the near-future seems likely since Gambit was also one of the mutants that director Bryan Singer recently said he wanted introduce into the mix in X-Men: Apocalypse coming in 2016. Meanwhile, it's writer and producer Simon Kinberg, hired to shepherd a hopeful shared universe between X-Men and Fantastic Four, who sees potential in Mystique. He says:

“I love what Jen Lawrence has done with her, and I feel like because she is in such a crowded ensemble, there’s so much more opportunity if you were to follow her solo."

And if the latest trailer and posters are any indicator, Mystique is quite prominent in this film. Plus, much like Hugh Jackman, Lawrence has become a breakout lead, and could easily draw an audience in for her own spin-off. At the same time, we're not sure if Mystique as a character is loved in the way that Wolverine is, so a spin-off featuring her character may not fare so well. Still, it sounds like Fox will have plenty of X-Men to play with after X-Men: Days of Future Past premieres this summer, so we'll see which other mutants from the team end up getting their own movie, if anyone. Thoughts?

Find more posts: Development, Marvel, Movie News

26 Comments

Anderton, could you stop writing bullsh*t about X-Men Origins: Wolverine almost every time when talking about X-Men movies? It's getting annoying and really old.

Tuomas Lassila on Apr 10, 2014

What bullshit?

Brian Sleider on Apr 10, 2014

he means the GENEARALIZATION that all XMEN fans hate XMO-W . the usual " repeat a thing enough and the weak-minded will think it's true " ... it wan't THAT bad . and if you read the actual source material , you'd know they hewed pretty close to it ....one of the criticisms was Sabretooth , but I think I'll take Liam's over the Sabretooth with the fake face of X1 . ( and orange hair not Blonde) the graphic novel series it was taken from had some pushback cause SOME OG Logan fans didn't like the re-imagining of his origin . So some backlash comes from that . it had to do with what people felt was the wussying of the character , in order to broaden his appeal ( i.e. appeal to females as well as violence-hungry teen males) . thus they gave him a more sympathetic origin , better than being created. in a lab by a Canadian mad scientist robot ..... now is THE W much better YES . just change a few words , and say " Some don't like the movie for some obvious reasons .. " instead of this " The Universally Hated .... " crap ...

Dominic on Apr 12, 2014

I could care less how close to the Comics it is, the movie was just plain shit.

Brian Sleider on Apr 12, 2014

OK that opinion holds no weight for me , as you haven't explained WHY it was shit . AND that is mostly Tuomas' point , as people don't really say why they hate it . Thus it SEEMS people are just parroting what they read somewhere . I explained why I like it , and the Original controversey over it . Your turn ? again Not Close to one of the many comics Logan was in , but taken directly from the 6-issue graphic novel series that re-imagined his Origin . at least Ethan pointed out the SFX or Ryan Reynolds ruining Deadpool . but who went to a Wolverine movie to watch a minor character ? or any other effect besides him Gutting somebody ? PS tho I may admit to liking THE W more because of Tao Okamoto being SO damn good as Mariko , for example , but I would consider her a major character .. )

Dominic on Apr 12, 2014

I disliked Origins simply because it was boring and very predictable, acting felt ham fisted. The Wolverine was not as bad, but still entirely predictable and pretty boring. The movies being boring has less to do with lack of action and more to do with their predictability.

Brian Sleider on Apr 13, 2014

;o)) Fine Tho , to quibble , most TV shows/movies are predictable .As there are no New Themes in New Stories : just different ways to retell the old ones . Hate to say it , but the character itself USED to be "predictable". Which was part of the point of maturing him , to give him depth . Most of Origins was a reset for before he was with XMen or even Mariko or Jubilee . And he used to just gut people , very predictably , or rip the throat .... :o) we didn't care ... He learned how to fight in Japan , in the comics . as the scripters alway had a superior fighter beat him , ; then someone or the healing factor would save him

Dominic on Apr 13, 2014

I believe hat we are actualy wanting to see the same Wolverine , the original cigar-chompin' poker-playing alcohol-swilling bar fly always ready for a scrap .( which here and there they have paid homage to ) But the Logan we want to see would be an X-rated movie for the violence level ..( Think MANY scenes like the THe W funeral .... I'm overall pleased with what we got NOW - as Jackman plays the character much better than he did in X1 , say ...

Dominic on Apr 13, 2014

I want 2 Wolvie movies, 1 a dark gritty Noir style "one off" adventure no grand point or story just a day in the life of Logan. Maybe he works to tear down some poaching ring or something. Something that shows us who he is with out shitty plot lines that scream "THIS IS WHAT LOGAN IS ABOUT". The other would be an old ass Logan (1500-2000 years old). Tired of life Looking for ways to kill himself.

Brian Sleider on Apr 14, 2014

lol See we DO think alike ..... the old ass Logan SHOULD have been in the DOFP storyline . But no Prof X (no Pat Stewert i mean ) killed the funding prob . so the story got re-written and included Jackman going TO the 1st Class crew to get it really funded ...... the 1st movie would be my X-rated one . Maybe he goes back to visit Mariko and it's a day watching Tao's lovely back , and getting into scraps Any way you do it , you're saying you want the Logan WE knew before he joined XMEN , really . as there was years ? before that happened . and part of his story was that the Prof was going to have to " mature " him ...

Dominic on Apr 14, 2014

Of course , bald Ororo was giving him reason to live , in the DOFP future ... hmm i think this means people DON'T care about Mystique . Or JLaw's place in mutant cinema , maybe . As we two made this a Logan conversation ....

Dominic on Apr 14, 2014

No thanks.

Brian Sleider on Apr 10, 2014

Pass, Mystique was never favored in the X-men female roster, she was just always there, besides blue woman are not hot, now green"She Hulk", thats a different story.

shane willett on Apr 10, 2014

Catwoman.. Ultra Violet, Aeon Flux i can keep going, female super heroes in a solo hero film always tanks, just like Tank Girl did. hahaha im full of puns

shane willett on Apr 10, 2014

A Mystique film could actually be very interesting with her powers. Think of it as a female James Bond spy thriller and it could potentially work.

Cocaino Weaver on Apr 10, 2014

Please make gambit. itd be awesome as a low key superhero flick. maybe a heist-noir kinda movie.

JohnB on Apr 10, 2014

I dont care for spin-offs. Isnt there enough Marvel related stuff out there?! Like do we really need a SHIELD tv series as well? We have seen SHIELD in almost every Marvel movie that has followed the first Iron Man so what is it that's bringing on all these unnecessary ideas to keep bringing more and more causing a Marvel overload???? Lets just stop before everyone becomes so sick of Marvel so much so that they begin not caring about upcoming movies. After awhile powers and abilities will begin to feel too repetitive.

Rock n Rollllll on Apr 10, 2014

Marvel isn't making this movie, Fox is. Marvel doesn't own the rights to Xmen, Fox does. Marvel has nothing to do with it and there's nothing Marvel can do about it.

si1ver on Apr 10, 2014

I'm not referring directly towards who has the rights to who. I'm talking about everything under the Marvel comic umbrella.

Rock n Rollllll on Apr 11, 2014

good then don't think of it as spinoffs . Think of it as expanding the MarvelMovieUniverse to be as big as the CB universe . Unfortunately cause it's Hollywood , movies are only gonna be made with big stars that get the movie financed . so that's why Mystique ( JLaw ) not Gambit ( Taylor-somebody ?) , say . Of course they can toss in whatever hero they want . or I got a novel idea ; create a NEW one ! just like CB scripters and inkers do ...really Hollywod should be kicking itself for not loving this genre sooner ......

Dominic on Apr 12, 2014

Mystique solo endeavor? Yeesh. Pass. Whatever happened to the Deadpool thing? Wasn't it in some kind of development hell? Course, guess they wrote that all to hell with the Wolverine origins movie cannon. Idiots.

avconsumer2 on Apr 10, 2014

I think they need to FIRST work the mutant world into the rest of the MARVEL world somehow anyway. Get THAT done. Show me Wolverine in the next Avenger movie and I will crap an adamantium brick! from excitement...and too much canadian food.

l.21 on Apr 10, 2014

100% not gonna happen especially not for XM:A or any solo movie they make next; maybe in 10-20 years< but probably not.

si1ver on Apr 10, 2014

Mystique. Sure she is played by Jennifer Lawrence, but the character is a little boring. I could see if they made it into an espionage thriller type, a la CAPTAIN AMERICA WINTER SOLDIER, but they would some serious plot twists a la MISSION IMPOSSIBLE.

DAVIDPD on Apr 10, 2014

Mystique the movie universe character is underutilized . Tho if u take her scenes from all the X-movies , there is an obvius storyline thay can use . How did she get trained in martial arts ? when does she meet up with Rogue ( gal pal movie coming .. ) ? what happened after 1st Class ?.. the story is in the transition and maturity between 1st Class and any of Rebecca Romjin's scenes "As your Commander Spoick is fond of saying , there are always , possibilities ..... "

Dominic on Apr 12, 2014

Only because the industry has trouble with non-shallow female characters and the Bechdel test. I'd like to say it depends on the writer/director combo, but I feel like it probably goes right up to the studios. I don't want to see a Mystique movie anyway though.

OfficialJab on Apr 10, 2014

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