MAXIMUM EFFORT

After the failure of X-Men Origins: Wolverine and five years of development hell, test footage for Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool film leaked online in 2014. Unable to ignore the overwhelmingly positive reception, the film was finally given the greenlight, with all the bells and whistles it asked for - a bloody R-rated comedy more faithful to the comics. Upon release, it was a monumental success and changed the game for what could be done in CBMs, as more studios recognized the R-rating as something that can still be profitable. But that was then, and this is now, so how do the film's specific comedic stylings hold up nowadays? Come join Alec and Brian to find out as they continue the X-MENATHON with the beginning of a new trilogy -- DEADPOOL!

NEVER ASK A WOMAN HER AGE, A MAN HIS SALARY, OR JOSH BOONE WHAT HE THINKS OF MINORITIES.

As they started winding down on mainline X-Men films, as well as noticing the success of spin-offs such as Deadpool and Logan, Fox decided the next era to pivot towards would feature none other than the ragtag team of superpowered youths, the New Mutants. What seemed like an easy slam dunk turned far more interesting as the initial trailer promised something very different in the modern CBM landscape: a full-on superhero horror film. Unfortunately, it was the reception to it that spurred the studio to delay the film by two and a half years over time with the promise of reshooting to further emphasize the horror tone.... despite those reshoots never happening. The movie, after finally being sent out to die as a pandemic theater release, has been lambasted by critics and fans alike, and now it's our turn to beat the dead horse. So, come join Brian and Alec as they continue the X-MENATHON with Josh Boone's dull, half-baked, and bizarrely racist adaptation of THE NEW MUTANTS!

HE HAD A CHANGE OF HEART!

Despite Apocalypse positioning itself as the end of the mainline X-Men films, closing the loop and establishing the team in full, certain people were keen on scratching a certain itch to perform one last magic trick -- rectifying The Last Stand and making an accurate adaptation of The Phoenix Saga. Amidst year-and-a-half long road to Disney buying out Fox, futures being up in the air, producers stepping in to make the movie themselves, what resulted is not only the (as-of-now) last X-Men movie... but possibly the absolute worst overall. As we wind down in the final month of the X-MENATHON, come join Brian and Alec as they suffer through one of the blandest films they've ever sat through for the show -- X-MEN: DARK PHOENIX!

"DON'T BE WHAT THEY MADE YOU."

In 2015, Hugh Jackman announced that the third Wolverine movie would be his last ride as the mutant (obviously this particular comment hasn't aged well). Many didn't know what to expect, but excitement grew as it came out that not only would it be loosely based on the Old Man Logan comic -- but that it would finally go all-out brutal with an R-rating. While the movie itself ended up starkly different from the comic, it has become widely-regarded as the best thing the Fox-Verse has ever put out. So, does that still ring true? Come join Brian and Alec to find out as they continue the X-MENATHON by revisiting the finale of the Wolverine trilogy and what was supposed to be Hugh Jackman's last bearing of the claws -- James Mangold's LOGAN!

"CHECK OUT THOSE SUITS-- AAAND THEY'RE GONE."

Months before Days of Future Past released, the third film in the trilogy was set for May 2016 -- and confirmed to center around Apocalypse, the oldest and most powerful mutant. After DOFP's massive success, reports that this would be the biggest and most destructive X-Men movie yet, a whole new slate of spin-off films on the horizon, and beloved characters finally getting time to shine, how could this go wrong? The answer is, of course, a lot of ways -- but is it truly as bad as people have insisted it is? Join Brian and Alec to find out as they continue the X-MENATHON by revisiting the pot-and-kettle of the prequel trilogy -- X-MEN: APOCALYPSE!

"WE NEED YOU TO HOPE AGAIN."

After the success of First Class, Matthew Vaughn and Fox reached an impasse in regards to adapting one of the most iconic X-Men stories of all time: Days of Future Past. While he wanted to wait and do it in the third movie, Fox wanted to fast-track it for the second, resulting in him walking. Sure enough, as they wanted, the movie got made -- to mass acclaim and success. This movie was arguably Endgame before Endgame, a culmination of two eras that many -- to this day -- argue should've been the end of Fox's run of X-Men films. Well, ten whole years later (god, I hate saying that), how does it hold up? Come join Brian and Alec to find out as they continue the X-MENATHON by revisiting what many consider to be the Children of the Atom's best film -- X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST!

AKA "X-MEN ORIGINS: WEABOO."

Despite the historical failure of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, 20th Century Fox had a plan in their back pocket -- taking what was supposed to be the original film and producing it as a sequel. This film had its own developmental hell, for a while it was going to be helmed by auteur Darren Aronofsky, while still being yet another prequel. However, once the ball got rolling with director James Mangold, the movie finally got made -- as a continuation of The Last Stand. And while this movie had so much more going for it, the third act unfortunately fell victim to the bad case of "Exec throws a bowling ball onto the chess table during the endgame" its predecessor did. Despite all of this, how does the movie hold up eleven years later? Come join Brian and Alec to find out as they revisit the less-talked about and highly-underrated middle child of Logan's trilogy -- THE WOLVERINE!

"PEACE WAS NEVER AN OPTION."

After the colossal failure of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Fox was stumped as to what to do with their next project in the XMO pipeline that centered around Magneto. Since the original script heavily featured Xavier, as well as the fallout between the two former friends, the studio decided to scrap the subseries entirely and begin a new trilogy of prequels -- starting with much of the same stuff from the original Magneto script. This film has been hailed as the best top-to-bottom X-Men movie to this day, but how does it hold up after thirteen years? Come watch with Brian and Alec to find out as they continue the X-MENATHON with the beginning of a new (or old) era -- X-MEN: FIRST CLASS!