These movies have been a fixture since the original "X-Men" exploded onto the scene in 2000. They've weathered every misstep and survived the rise of Marvel Studios and the Avengers. And now "X-Men: Apocalypse" is here to introduce a whole new wave of mutant heroes and the biggest, baddest X-Men villain of them all.
To celebrate this big release, we're looking back at the five core "X-Men" movies released so far and explore some of the interesting trivia and hidden cameos you might not know about.
'X-Men' (2000)
2. Joss Whedon penned a rewrite of the screenplay. Whedon's draft was rejected by the studio because of its "quick-witted" approach to the source material. Somehow, Marvel Studios didn't seem to mind that approach when Whedon directed "The Avengers" 12 years later.
3. Several major characters (Beast, Nightcrawler and Pyro) and other iconic X-Men elements (including the Danger Room) were cut from the script before filming because of budget concerns.
'X2: X-Men United' (2003)
5. Rather than resort to digital trickery, director Bryan Singer relied on a group of trained mimes to play the museum crowd that Xavier freezes in place with his psychic powers.
6. In the scene where Mystique accesses Yuriko's computer terminal, viewers are treated to a number of references to other Marvel characters. Among many other things, the computer files reference Gambit, Mister Sinister, Omega Red, Project Wideawake, the Von Strucker twins, and even Franklin Richards from the "Fantastic Four" franchise.
'X3' (2006)
8. When Singer dropped out of this sequel to direct "Superman Returns," Fox approached a number of potential replacements before ultimately choosing Brett Ratner. That list included Peter Berg, Joss Whedon, Alex Proyas, and 'X-Men: First Class" director Matthew Vaughn.
9. Gambit was originally intended to appear in this sequel as one of the X-Men and a rival for Rogue's affections. Though the role was written out of the script, Gambit does have a small cameo in the novelization.
'X-Men: First Class' (2011)
11. While there was once a Marvel comic called "X-Men: First Class," it featured an almost completely different cast of mutant heroes, including Cyclops, Jean Grey, Iceman, Angel, and Beast.
12. The film's original ending featured a "psychic" battle between Emma Frost and Charles Xavier, involving a city of the mind that the two would battle each other within -- think punching each other into buildings or with buildings. The filmmakers were very excited to film, but never got the chance. Why? Fox cut it when "Inception" came out because of similar sequences in that film. Womp womp.
'X-Men: Days of Future Past' (2014)
14. When Mystique infiltrates the army base in Vietnam, her cover identity is "Col. Sanders." Apparently she loves those 11 herbs and spices.
15. Quicksilver's appearance in both this film and "Avengers: Age of Ultron" created some tension between Fox and Marvel Studios. The two studios hammered out an agreement that stated that the X-Men movies can't reference Quicksilver's status as an Avenger, while the Avengers movies can't acknowledge his mutant heritage or the fact that Magneto is his father.
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