While James Gunn’s Superman is soaring into theaters and reinventing the Man of Steel for a whole new DC era, another superhero milestone just flew by — one that helped launch the modern comic book movie boom in the first place. X-Men – the 2000 film that made black leather cool, convinced studios to take superheroes seriously again, and introduced us to a then-unknown Aussie named Hugh Jackman – just turned 25 years old this week.
Hard to believe now, but when X-Men arrived on July 14, 2000, the superhero genre was in a tailspin. Batman & Robin had practically nuked the genre in 1997. Studios were skittish, and the idea of making an ensemble film about a bunch of spandex-wearing mutants with psychic powers and adamantium claws was considered niche at best, laughable at worst. But X-Men changed everything.
Made for a modest $75 million, X-Men grossed $157.3 million domestically and $296.3 million worldwide, numbers that might not look like much now, but were eye-popping at the time — especially for a movie that, at points, really does feel like the most expensive pilot episode ever made. Still, it was enough to spawn a sprawling, often messy, but undeniably influential franchise that stretched across X2, Logan, Deadpool, Days of Future Past, Dark Phoenix, and even The New Mutants. It also helped build the Marvel empire in an unexpected way.
How Important to ‘X-Men’ Was Kevin Feige?
The success of X-Men opened the door for a young assistant named Kevin Feige, who was working for producer Lauren Shuler Donner. After helping out on You’ve Got Mail (yes, really), Feige was brought in as an associate producer on X-Men. He gained a reputation on set for smuggling actual X-Men comics to the actors — despite director Bryan Singer banning them.
Singer, who insisted he was making “three-dimensional characters,” famously said the comics would get in the way of his filmmaking. He ditched the colorful costumes, opted for black leather, and took a self-consciously grounded approach. But Feige fully believed in the source material. And, as he would later say, it was the influence of Richard Donner’s Superman — Lauren’s husband — that helped shape the tone and blueprint for what would become the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Fast forward 25 years: Feige is the president of Marvel Studios. Donner’s Superman is still cited as his north star. So as Superman flies high this summer, don’t forget the black-leather-clad underdogs who helped make it all possible.
X-Men is streaming now on Disney+.
