Storm Deserved Better: Setting X-Men (2000) Straight

[00:00:00] This week we're going full mutant mode. In this bonus episode we're getting Patrice's employee pics, breaking down all the ways X-Men 2000 got our favorite characters wrong, and dragging Bryan Singer for the choices we'll never forgive. Plus, we're sharing our thoughts on the upcoming Avengers Doomsday movie because the future of comic book films is looking...complicated.

[00:00:32] Welcome to the No More Late Fees podcast. I'm Danielle. And I'm Jackie, and we're just two best friends and ex-Blockbuster employees re-watching some of the best and worst movies from the late 90s and early 2000s. And in this bonus episode, we're welcoming back our pal and Danielle's cousin Patrice. Hello, Patrice. Welcome. It's been a long time coming. I know.

[00:00:59] Fun antidote. I went to see our other cousin Brandon not too long ago, and I, and we were just sitting there unprovoked. He's like, well, I'm, I'm assuming I'm in first place as favorite cousin. And I was like, what? I don't know why he keeps doing this to himself. I think it's been well established at this point that that's not the case, but you know, whatever. He can live in Delulu.

[00:01:28] He's so sweet. Oh, Brandon. I don't know why he's so sweet. Well, Patrice, as I raised you on X-Men, our time has come. There was many people that asked to do X-Men with us. And I said, there's only one. There can only be one.

[00:01:53] And you know, like, I think one of the other things too, I thought it would be so much fun to do X-Men with the lens of having women talk about it, instead of having a mixture, because women like comic books too. Correct. I support women who love comic books.

[00:02:19] So Patrice, when did you first start liking comic books and the X-Men? Ooh, I don't even remember. I just feel like I've always really liked that kind of fantastical stuff. Even when I was in school, I felt like my favorite subjects had to do with like history, specifically with like mythological stuff, like different ancient religions and stuff because they reminded me of superhero stories. Yeah.

[00:02:46] So for as long as I can remember, I've always been drawn to that kind of thing. That is true. You have always liked it. And then with the influence of, you know, my older cousin guiding me in the, in the proper ways and teachings of life. How could I not? Love comic books. Was X-Men your first comic book or did you read something else? Ooh.

[00:03:15] Honestly, I'm not even sure what my first comic book was, but it was always my favorite, mainly because of Storm, because she was the only, she was the only black woman that I felt like I had to look at in comic books. So that was like a primary figure. So I was immediately drawn to X-Men specifically because of her. Yeah. Facts. She left her mark for sure.

[00:03:40] I am trying to think if what other comic books that like I actually read, I think a few of like my cartoon characters were like the first foray. Like, you know how cartoons would also make a comic book or whatever. Mm-hmm. And then, you know, when we were young, the X-Men animation came out. So I think that peaked. Ooh, X-Men 97! Yeah.

[00:04:10] That peaked all of our interest into this entire dynamic. And then what I loved about X-Men is just that there were so many characters, so many stories. And we all know I love soap operas. And I was just like, I would always laugh because boys would make fun of soap operas. And I'm like, it's literally what comic books are. Like the storylines in comic books, twins. Yeah. And wrestling. And wrestling. And wrestling.

[00:04:39] I'm like, they're not doing anything that we don't see on like telenovela with these fake slaps. Right. And these dramatic things. It's just manly. And in the 90s, that was at a peak. Like the McMahons or whatever. And I was like, wait a minute. I thought these people were really married in real life and stuff like that. I didn't know all the stuff. Some of them were. Yeah, some of them were.

[00:05:08] I wasn't into comics, but I was into wrestling for a period of time. So I can answer some questions about that. But yeah, like the storylines in comic books. Amazing. Like they were sleeping with each other, having secret babies, killing each other. It was just soap operas on roids, essentially. Right. Soap operas with superpowers. Yeah.

[00:05:38] 100%. So when, you know, the movie was coming out, I was like, you couldn't tell me nothing. You couldn't tell me nothing. Okay. And so this came out in 2000. When I got to college, I met this girl, one of my roommates, like, I think my junior year. And she was like really into X-Men and Buffy like me.

[00:06:07] But she was like, I didn't think you could get nerdier than me, but she, she was. And she was obsessed with Rogue. Like I thought I loved Rogue that I couldn't hold a candle to her. And so she really got me more into the lore of just like, my favorite couple is Rogue and Gambit always. And she was obsessed. So we used to talk shit about this fucking movie all the time. Because they didn't get anything right.

[00:06:36] Like, so I went in blind. I had no clue what X-Men was, but Danielle said, we're going to see X-Men. And I said, okay. And so we get into the theater. And I had like a, one of my most vivid movie watching experiences ever, because it was Danielle leaning over to me and explaining who the characters were, which was helpful and like what their powers were.

[00:07:06] But also telling me everything they got wrong. So I was on information overload by like 10 minutes in. I just, okay, to me, it can be overwhelming. Like I could understand all the years of canon that can make it very difficult to make a movie.

[00:07:31] So you have to make a movie with so many characters that no one really, no one takes a backseat in X-Men. There are so like all of these characters have the capabilities to be fleshed out. Like nobody is level D, I guess. I mean, yeah, there's a few, but they, they all get their time to shine. And they all just ended up in Deadpool. Right.

[00:07:59] So I can understand how the magnitude of like trying to take all these characters that so many people love and make it relevant and that everyone gets a part. And also trying to figure out like who to focus on and because it's so long, a long storied history. So normally when you do a comic book movie, you choose at least one comic book, like to reference.

[00:08:29] And then maybe you're pulling stories from other things to kind of like pull it together. So here you are having to introduce an entire group of people who may or may not have seen this movie. So you want the comic book fans to be happy. And then you want like newbies to, to come in and not be overwhelmed with knowing all the lore. Brian Singer didn't want comic book fans to be happy. So there's that.

[00:08:57] Well, and like, they had a blueprint. He didn't give a damn. Yeah. They had a blueprint. They had Blade. Blade was a perfect example of how to introduce a character and make everyone happy. He introduced his backstory to those who are new to his storyline while also staying true to who he is as a comic book character.

[00:09:24] And I think like, I think that's where the Kevin Feige's and Dave Filoni's like actually got it right because at least they put it down on paper and had a vision and they had a focused storyline that they were following through. And there were adjustments made along the way, but they had a plan. Right. Bryan Singer went in with vibes and the vibes weren't great.

[00:09:49] Bryan Singer never had respect for the medium of comic books. Yes. If I look at most of the comic book movies that especially did really well, like X-Men is the only one or franchise that I think did really well just a name alone. Yes. Without the person behind it having a passion for it. Because when you go, when we talk about Spider-Man and Sam Raimi, he die hard. Yeah.

[00:10:18] Spider-Man fans. So there was that respect. So you felt the love and the attention to detail and all of the, the like hidden egg. What do you call it? Easter egg. Yeah. All the Easter eggs. And the nuances of Peter Parker and his backstory. Right. Yeah. So you see that Bryan Singer did not, does not respect comic books at a whole, not even X-Men. And you know why I say this?

[00:10:46] Because when he went, he left X-Men after the second movie. Yep. He left it to go do Superman. And when he went to do Superman, there is a clip of this motherfucker pretty much saying he didn't really read any of the comic books. And I heard a rumor that he didn't know. And I heard a rumor that he didn't know. I don't know if this is true, but I heard a rumor that he didn't allow people to have the comic books written and reading them on set. I don't know if he didn't. He didn't. He didn't.

[00:11:15] It was Feige who was sneaking around because Feige had literally been on all these sets from even blade. He was literally sneaking people the comic books. But a few of the actors before they even got the movie were reading the comic books. Like, James Marston really got into it, read it, whatever. So here you are, you are so disrespectful. You do not care about the fucking canon of anything.

[00:11:44] And you could tell that in this script. You could tell in the way that he did these characters. And it's almost like he just looked at Wolverine and that was it. Mm-hmm. Right. Which is crazy because Wolverine is a popular character, but he's not the most popular character, I think, of all the X-Men. I just, I don't think so.

[00:12:11] Like, when we would look at the X-Men comic books and we're talking about, like, who's fighting who, I don't know. I mean, I think people pick Wolverine, but, like, when you think of all the other people you could pick from, I don't think back then it was Wolverine. I don't know. I don't know.

[00:12:33] Because one thing that I do think that they did in regards to the X-Men 97 cartoon, I think they did a much better job with this reboot that they did of giving a lot of the other characters some shine. So if we were to base it off of them, I do think that Wolverine was kind of the most popular. I think they wrote him that way in the old X-Men cartoon to be kind of the main character. That's true. And I think he was just riding that wave. Yeah. I mean, Wolverine's backstory is so interesting.

[00:13:02] I get it. I just, I feel like you could still make him popular without making everybody weak, which was weird to me. Right. You know? Like, Scott. Well, because the good thing about the X-Men is they all have their abilities so that,

[00:13:26] depending on the situation, they can like take lead in whatever it is. And so like, they have to work together as a cohesive group in order to defeat who, whatever bad guy pops up. But like, no one is more important in the X-Men than the other. Right. Right. Right.

[00:13:52] Like, going in and not knowing anything about the backstory of these characters. Like, it's very obvious. Like, they want us to believe that Logan is one of the most powerful. Beyonce. Yeah. I just want to, I want to ask you, Jackie, when you watch this movie, did you think that Cyclops Scott was the leader? Like he was in charge? No. No. Bitch kept losing his glasses. Like, what happened?

[00:14:23] It was insane. So let's go through the comic book characters. Okay. So yes, they've made it clear Wolverine is Beyonce. Fine. Rogue, they decided to make Rogue at the forefront. Not mad at it. Not mad at it. But why turn her into whatever this was? Yeah.

[00:14:53] I mean, I wasn't getting the science at all. Yeah. Let me ask what is, because I know, I only know of Rogue's powers because I mean we get nine more Logan movies so I understand exactly who he is. And even Sabretooth is like featured in Origins and stuff. So like, I get a lot of backstory of some characters but other characters I'm like, the only thing I know is what they show in these movies.

[00:15:20] So what, and I stopped when they rebooted and like had the younger character. I was just over it by that point. So what is Rogue's power in the comic books? It, the, her powers are pretty accurate considering in the movie, which is that she literally can suck your fucking power. Okay. Yeah. And your life force. Your life force. She has killed people, like obviously.

[00:15:50] Yeah. She acquires other people's powers for after, like for long periods of times. Not like how they made it in some, in the movie where, like with Logan, she had it for a little bit. But like, this is why people are excited about the new movie because it, she gets her flight from Captain Marvel. Like that's a whole big canon event for her. Right?

[00:16:19] So everyone just, that's why when like the last Captain Marvel movie came out they were expecting like maybe Rogue would pop up because that's how she's able to fly. So that's why in these movies you never see her fly because that situation didn't happen. So her powers include flight, super strength and power absorption, which she obviously got those other two things from Merkin, getting up from other people.

[00:16:46] The other part of the storyline is that they make her, they age her down to be some sort of teen. Oh, I remember, I remember that rant. Yeah. They make her some teen. They make her really timid and quiet when, if you know Rogue, she is confident. She's brash. She has a thick accent, southern accent.

[00:17:12] I don't know what Anna Paquin was doing. I watched this with my sister-in-law who has not seen this movie since it originally came out. And she's like, why is she so terrible in this movie? Like we have seen Anna Paquin in other things. She has an Oscar. Like even Sookie Stackhouse.

[00:17:36] Like she, she's fine as an actress, but this role, I'm like, you're really phoning it in girl. I know everyone, everyone keeps saying she's a great actress and she got an Oscar. She was a child. That's true. Honestly, tell me a movie Anna Paquin has been in as an adult that like, that... I wasn't gonna say it.

[00:18:04] I mean, I think we've been writing this, oh, she was a good actor because she has the Oscar or whatever. But like, I ain't seen it. I'm sorry. Like as the years have progressed and maybe I just haven't seen enough of her stuff. But I'm just like, yo, it's not in the CODs. Yeah, I've really, I've really only ever seen her in the X-Men films. I didn't watch True Blood. Somebody don't nobody kill me.

[00:18:33] But apparently I think that sticks with a lot of people too, because people love that series and she was in it. But that series was like, I loved, I didn't watch all of it, but the episodes I did see, I did love, but it's campy fun. So there's not like, we're not getting Emmys here. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. Yeah. I've just seen her way better than this. You're right. I mean, even the accent.

[00:19:01] She needed the Sookie Stackhouse accent for Rogue. Like, where was that? Like, it was just, it felt so miscast on so many levels. And like, I don't mind her as an actress when she pops up.

[00:19:19] But like, this was just, it was, it was not giving, especially, and it does such a disservice because she is like one of the lead characters to all the other incredible actors and actresses that are in this movie. That like, have to take a backseat to that and their characters poorly written and they're probably fighting with fucking Bryan Singer every step of the way to get anything changed or put their own, like emphasis on their character.

[00:19:48] it was just they led with the worst you're correct on everything yes it's like it doesn't make any sense so she's not timid she's not this young also like she I don't I'm sure there's like flirtation and stuff with Logan like their relationship so the what they do to Rogan this movie is essentially Jubilee what Jubilee's role is with Logan

[00:20:18] that relationship they just made it in Rogue and just didn't have Jubilee in it which for whatever reason they always do a weird cameo Jubilee in every movie I don't know if you caught it in this one but she's there in her fucking bright ass yellow jacket in like multiple movies that they've done and she gets zero lines she's just there it doesn't make any sense like justice for Jubilee also the other

[00:20:46] background of Rogue is her whole dynamic of like being a bad guy first and then coming to the X-Men like her relationship with Mystique and her relationship with the Brotherhood her being like fucking with Magneto like she's a kid what are we trying to say okay Magneto's mad old and Rogue is still younger than him but

[00:21:14] it's giving pedophile vibes just it's weird so I don't know why so the Brotherhood remind me what where have I heard that before oh that's that's Magneto's gang of like bad guys and are they bad I don't know yeah you know because hashtag Magneto was right right also

[00:21:44] Kitty Pryde shows up in this and so I feel like also Kitty Pryde is like a combination with Jubilee as well it's like they took all three of those characters and just said there you go we'll make it Rogue and then we don't have Gambit we don't have Gambit and when I say we don't have Gambit we don't fucking have Gambit in all three of these movies

[00:22:13] and when they bring him on it's in one of those Wolverine shits and I don't know what the fuck that guy was doing you have him in a movie where his like we don't even have a Rogue interaction okay Storm when I tell you watching this movie I was viscerally justice for storm mad

[00:22:42] justice for storm I think like honestly for every little black girl they have a feeling like they felt more robbed than anything like you can't tell me racism didn't have anything to do with the injustice of this fucking character correct like as well as colorism right because Hallie love my girl I do

[00:23:12] I do I love my girl good or bad but this wasn't it especially when in our time frame they were talking about Angela Bassett being potentially the one like I'm telling allegedly she turned it down and possibly for good reason if she read the script the script and was just like what the hell is this there's no lines the silence in this movie yeah and they give her one of the worst lines in

[00:23:42] cinematic history and it makes me so angry every time I think about it because it's just it's a throwaway stupid man line that some man was like huh this is funny and it's not fucking funny it is dumb so bad do you know what happens to a toad that's struck by lightning the same as everything else what the fuck is that somebody wrote that down and was like

[00:24:11] bars this is it it's it's atrocious like she I want to count how long in the movie before she actually says a word because if you remember when Logan comes in she doesn't say anything till like way later it's it hurts my heart when you talk about you know in x-men all the mutants are different

[00:24:41] levels so there are the highest levels are like omega level x-men right these magneto our bay right here okay yep there are people in the comic books that worship her as a god she has god-like ancestry

[00:25:10] not exaggerating they made it seem like my girl needed like she's getting choked I she's getting choked tripped pushed like it don't fucking makes it I've never I don't even know how they could get hands on her like and then they made it seem as if the only way that she could actually protect herself

[00:25:40] is when the roof of the building was off and then she could make like no baby she can make it that you the air you're breathing like is not like she is mother nature that is who she is essentially the disrespect she's royalty now she doesn't like I think the misconception and what they were trying to do it almost

[00:26:09] felt like Halle Berry was doing some Bahamian accent or trying to yeah I felt that she doesn't have like an African accent per se but there's like a regalness to her voice and I they were they said there was a scene that they took out that was about her back story and how like a backstory where she was like in Kenya

[00:26:39] which I was like she was born in Egypt and lived in like Harlem so where Kenya came from I mean what she's Kenyan she's Kenyan by her mom's side but but she grew up in the streets of like Egypt or whatever yeah so I maybe it was a different I was just I'm like part of

[00:27:09] me the reason that my flag went up to see I think she's even been

[00:27:38] the sorcerer supreme before she has been the leader of the X-Men she was the queen of Wakanda like right it's insane it's just it's crazy she's led the X-Men to replace Cyclops and Professor Xavier as the team leader they

[00:28:08] also don't show what I hate what I loved about it showing in the new X-Men comic books is the relationship between Jean Grey and Storm and their friendship like they you know you obviously see the animosity between Scott and and Logan but you don't see all the nuances of

[00:28:37] those roles also Bobby Bobby is one of the original X-Men so to make him some kid is devil's work I tell you yeah so I have a question so yes it but like for the different groups did they come up through like

[00:29:07] Xavier's Academy together where they've like lived together and gone to school together like this whole time for some of them yes yeah so Jean Grey Cyclops Bobby Beast who was not shown at all which they combine him being a doctor and they give it to Jean Grey as if that bitch knows how to carry a needle we'll go on to Jean Grey slander in a second

[00:29:37] because that's me and Patrice's favorite thing to do and then was it was it Sunfire I think Sunspot Sun is a Sunspot then Storm is a part of the like second wave that comes because the original group disappears or goes missing and so Professor Xavier has to go find other potential X-Men to help him find the original and that's how we get that crop of them coming through

[00:30:07] but yeah they like Scott is literally like Professor Xavier's son essentially like he has been there this whole since he was young and then a lot of them have come from situations where they have been bullied ostracized by their families so this literally is their family or like Scott's family who is just filled with mutants they have a lot of dynamics going on there

[00:30:36] so like his brothers and stuff like that so there's layers to all these people and how they came to Professor Xavier's house and whatnot so that's why I really hate the new movies when they had what's her name Mystique Jennifer Lawrence being like growing up with Charles it's like making some sort of love try it was so fucking

[00:31:06] weird I was like nah nah man not cool who else we got Danielle let's see so Cyclops they make him so weak in these movies even the newer versions he is like a punk a bitch and Cyclops is kind of like he is a dick at times you know he's very arrogant I think they say that he comes off arrogant and dismissive in this

[00:31:36] movie but I don't think he's arrogant enough like he's the head bitch in charge like there is no question about it when you're reading the comic books and when you see this movie it's just like I don't know if it was James Marsden I don't know if it was the way they wrote him but it was pretty shitty and then Gene fucking Gene now there's a lot of people who love

[00:32:06] I feel I feel faint I feel faint like like like this bitch isn't a fucking level whatever but again this might go back to the cartoon maybe that's all Bryan Singer saw and that's why he behaved this way because we that was the running joke about the 90s cartoon too she used her powers to lift up a freaking pencil and then she faints like that that was how it was in that 90s

[00:32:35] cartoon like it was so annoying so maybe he was just taking cues from that I mean okay so here's the thing that the people doing these fucking X-Men movies don't get Jean Grey is very strong right like her powers are very strong she is not she doesn't naturally progress to become the phoenix that is not what happens and I hate that fucking

[00:33:05] storyline like I wish they would just let the phoenix storyline die because they can't get it right let it be gone let it be that it happened already and it's like all the things that roll out from it enough to hold their

[00:33:34] what I don't even know what the technical terms of this shit is cosmic power they need a host right professor Xavier can't do it bitches old can't do it can't do it they go to find him they're like that's it that's the one but he can't do it his can do this bitch right here she good enough that's what happens it's they always make it seem like

[00:34:04] her mutant abilities evolved over time yeah that's that's not it well like her power her powers in general stem from the phoenix inside of her that's always been there right when that's not the case Jean Grey is a very strong powerful mutant alone enough to not be sitting in the motherfucking car watching professor Xavier trying to stop one bullet when this bitch could stop all the

[00:34:34] bullets by herself like I put that in my notes I put that in my notes I was just like what's happening here I mean she wasn't even strong enough to lift a person so when toad flies at her she stops in the air but then when they needed to float Wolverine up into the air she was just like I what are we doing and Scott's like Jean wait no don't do that she's not strong enough Logan what do you mean

[00:35:04] the fuck is happening right now the fuck is happening I Famke Jansen is not it like I'm sorry every single thing I've seen her in has been the same like just very like one note expression not too much of my girl though

[00:35:34] and Nip Tuck if you any of the Nip Tuck stands out there she did that thing I don't like the lack of trans representation but her character she played that role but yes continue flat I the faculty worked in the faculty because she was taken over by aliens she had no emotions because

[00:36:04] of the character I just there's never been a role I've seen her in where I'm like that bitch nailed that like none she feels like she's phoning it in every time I see her on screen and for her to be cast as Jean Grey which is such an important role in the X-Men like is just ridiculous yeah Jean Grey okay because she's not my

[00:36:34] favorite character I didn't give a fuck either way I hated that they played the love triangle so quickly and I was like was the love triangle this I it felt like Scott was metaphorically pissing on her in everything with the scene with Logan and like and then Wolverine's flirting was so cringe it was like couldn't wait to get my shirt

[00:37:04] off again huh like he didn't even know this bitch you just choked her out five seconds ago you just choked her out and now you're offering to let her rummage in your fucking brain that you don't and she is like okay she starts off by saying I can't okay hold on it anyways speaking of Logan

[00:37:33] speaking of my boy Logan and here's the thing I think there are moments when Bryan Singer is like oh I'm going to do this scene to get the comic boys up because of the beef between Sabretooth and Wolverine and so that they have their fight or whatever I remember people being very excited about that and I was just like okay whatever so Wolverine is supposed to be 5-3 I very much think

[00:38:03] at that time they had the CGI to make it happen motherfucking Hugh Jackman is 6-2 a whole 11 inches off right I on the rewatch Hugh Jackman's acting not great in this movie also not as ripped as I remember no I was like I guess he didn't get ripped until like

[00:38:33] origin we talk about that in the episode because he was cast so late that's why he didn't have enough time to get to that so he did what he could I didn't think it was bad being last minute at all I'd still do it I mean I enjoy Hugh Jackman by no means is he the worst actor in this movie no and

[00:39:02] like it just wasn't the caliber I am used yeah he carried this whole fucking franchise let's be real he did on his adamantium line spine he carried everybody shirtless eight pack body only two characters they got right I

[00:39:32] believe is professor x and magneto our grandpas yeah our gay grandpas our our gay and bicurious grandpas because you can't tell me that Patrick Stewart they've made out like they have they have they're constantly kissing I love them so much I love them independently I love them together

[00:40:01] I just I if I could choose my grandpa it would be Patrick Stewart I just adore the man and Ian McKellen makes them better they're a great duo and I love that they're friends in real life like you could tell yeah and they've both been knighted right so they're both sirs yeah yep so fancy so I think they didn't do it too poorly

[00:40:31] the problem it's like but I do feel like Ian McKellen looks really old for Magneto and I get why they do it too because like he's a survivor of the Holocaust but I like people talk about that now about like what are they going to do with recasting yet another Magneto because the time frame from the Holocaust to now is so long and I'm like it's fucking mutant yeah he's

[00:41:01] a mutant he could be like Wolverine and he doesn't age as fast as everyone else who cares but that is such a key component of his character and I really do hope when they cast this time they cast a Jewish actor because hello right he's not as physically intimidating as we saw in the new X-Men animation which

[00:41:30] at this point I'm getting I'm getting to a point where I'm just like I don't even want another live action I'm so tired and I don't trust these people just continue to give me the animation and I'll be fine because motherfuckers can't do it I will say though I didn't hate Michael Fassbender as a young Magneto I actually enjoyed him yeah I actually enjoyed him in the role but

[00:42:00] much like this movie I didn't hate what's his face as a young professor Xavier either James McAvoy yeah because the two of them had really good chemistry which is like such an important factor character but I don't know if they like can can y'all take the skills of casting you know what it's not even just the casting it's the writing it's the storyline

[00:42:31] so yeah and then Sabretooth they re cast him in the Wolverine movies but this is the same guy that was isn't he the dad in one his costume

[00:43:01] looks like they went and cut up like a big foot party city costume for it like it was just let's glue some hair on your face and give you some pointy teeth and you just grunt a lot and we'll be done like it was it it to when Leif Schreiber is Sabretooth

[00:43:31] because I feel like that was done really well and it was more close to Logan's appearance where you could believe okay these are brothers and like it just was congruent to the story where this just looked like he was in a weird animal human hybrid yeah and the brotherhood like all these

[00:44:00] characters are supposed to be unique they did feel like just second fiddle to Magneto and we don't get any connection of Sabretooth and Wolverine having like him it would haunt Wolverine with knowing their background and knowing Wolverine doesn't know like how much fun that would have been instead of sniffing that bitch out it was so weird and

[00:44:46] mystique doesn't talk right they make her out first of all she's worst mom of the year I mean she technically is she's nightcrawler's mom which obviously we see the resemblance and she also was it that she was rogue's mom or that she just impersonated her mom for a significant length of time like rogue's real mom died and she impersonated her mom yeah I think for a while we thought that she was rogue's mom and then I think we found out she wasn't like

[00:45:16] they retcon so many key factors of these characters like when you talk about scarlet witch and trying to fit like okay where are we now is magneto her daddy and you give me a definitive answer at this point what the fuck so I don't recall but yeah but I'm pretty sure it's something to that effect like she either is her mom or it was something happened to her mom where she basically impersonated her mom and raised her for a significant part of point

[00:45:46] of time so I'm just like why did they keep having this bitch in these movies where she's walking past her kids like hey what's up and you know no connection whatsoever right and this was another like she was cast because of her looks and her body yeah well you know what which I mean Mystique is that in the comic books right but like she's not naked no

[00:46:15] no I don't know what this was oh okay she's never been naked in the comic book she always she's blue but she's not naked yeah also I don't think I I need to put respect Rebecca Romaine's name because it wasn't until the new versions of these when we got an Oscar winning actress to be Mystique that I'm like you know what Mystique was

[00:46:45] a bad bitch when Rebecca was playing yes she was naked but she was a bad bitch this complaining version we got with what's Jennifer Lawrence yes not not a fan I could tell Jennifer Lawrence was as miserable as she probably was on that set and her performance showed it and I just like the Rebecca Romaine

[00:47:15] having to walk around the set mostly nude being painted every day like the amount of time she must have spent just in like hair and makeup and not able to use the bathroom and being like fully exposed to all of these men for the entire shoot like I just I feel for her because that could not have been easy yeah just to get no lines

[00:47:44] basically yeah which is yeah this is a complex queer and morally ambiguous character like she could have her own movie she is very interesting character to be able to turn into anyone right how that power is not shown to be as powerful as Magneto and

[00:48:14] Professor X like it's crazy that like she's just kind of shown as a minion and just like kind of just sent off on these little errands to impersonate people right like they don't show the dynamic relationship between her and Magneto at all you know one of my friends her boyfriend thinks that Jennifer Lawrence was so hot as Mystique and was like yeah she's thick I was just like

[00:48:43] thick the hair is what got me the hair anyway yeah I don't know what I don't know what to say the word thick in the black community in comparison to white people he's black he's black I don't know what to say

[00:49:12] thick thick that's like saying a McDonald's milkshake is thick in comparison to a Dairy Queen milkshake okay a Dairy Queen milkshake I can't even fucking lift the spoon okay a McDonald's milkshake by the time they hand it to me in the car it's fucking melted that is what Jennifer Lawrence is thick wise drippy is more

[00:49:42] what I would call it semi solid yeah like give me a break that girl is skinny and I'm not body shame here I just wouldn't call her thick like give me a break anywho let's get to the real meat and potatoes which is who is Bryan Singer well before we get into Bryan Singer I just want to give a trigger warning that we are going to be discussing content

[00:50:12] that involves sexual misconduct abuse and exploitation so if for whatever reason you need to skip this part and fast forward to the end please do so because we're going to get into yeah the thick of the dick who is Bryan Singer the thick of the dick is best known for the usual suspects X-Men he did Superman Returns and then Bohemian Rhapsody

[00:50:41] I just want to note that Bohemian Rhapsody came out in 2018 and a lot of the allegations about this man came out way before then and Hollywood should have definitely cancelled him he was fired before the completion of Bohemian Rhapsody but I'm sure he still got a good amount of money and all sorts of stuff so ChatGPT said despite his

[00:51:10] commercial success singer has been surrounded by allegations of sexual misconduct and abuse particularly involving underage boys and his reputation in the industry has been severely damaged he's also been known from a lot of people who worked on his sets that he is just an abusive verbally abusive mentally draining director he is not an easy person to work with Jennifer Lawrence has actually

[00:51:40] made jokes and spoken about this many people have but let's get into the essay allegations so in 97 he did at people there was a lawsuit from that movie so during the production there were minors that were used for a shower scene if you really want to go in the rabbit hole there are a lot of YouTube videos that kind of go into people talking about what happened

[00:52:10] the allegations were that there were several age extras ages 14 to 17 allegedly that claimed that they were coerced to disrobe completely nude without prior notice there were other things that were said that happened as well and the outcome was that it was the case was dismissed due to lack of evidence but it was one of the first public controversies surrounding singer and minors

[00:52:39] in 2014 Michael Egan there was a lawsuit that accused him of repeatedly essaying him in Hawaii and LA in the late 90s when he was 17 he alleged that singer was part of a Hollywood ring that groomed and abused young boys the case was dropped because there was inconsistencies in his story no charges were filed also in 2017 Cesar Sanchez Guzman there was a

[00:53:09] lawsuit of him our rape our word him on a yacht in 2003 when he was 17 he claimed singer performed essay without consent and threatened him they ended up settling this lawsuit for $150,000 without admitting guilt in 2019 in 2019 there was an Atlantic investigation journalists interviewed over 50 sources including

[00:53:38] four new accusers who claimed singer had essayed them and exploited them as minors alleged allegations included grooming teenage boys hosting parties where drugs and alcohol were supplied sexually coercive behavior and singers denied the allegations calling it a homophobic smear campaign so he has in many cases leveraged him being gay as a way

[00:54:08] to say that this is why he's been attacked industry and on-set complaints singer's behavior has been widely criticized by actors and crews across multiple films absenteeism and erratic behavior he's often late or missing from set reports of substance abuse would leave for days during filming without warning there's been tension with cast and crew on Bohemian Rhapsody he clashed with Rami Malek and other cast members probably why he got fired he the crew

[00:54:38] reportedly reported he was verbally abusive and dismissive he was eventually fired some actors that spoke out while many A-listers have avoided direct confrontation several including who Jackman and others have acknowledged difficult set experiences and expressed regret about having to work with him or working under him after learning about his allegations several collaborators have said that he created a toxic or unsafe work environment now for me

[00:55:08] personally being a huge Brad Renfro Stan when I was younger like obsessed loved him so much when he died I knew I could track it back yeah so he was 14 when he did the movie at people and he was praised for his work but he struggled with addiction I feel like they coincided he was the lead actor in that

[00:55:37] role and he was also involved in that nude shower scene lawsuit he never accused Singer publicly he worked the working environment in broader context of his behavior was what rose questions and Renfro like young many young male actors at the time were surrounded by older men with power in Hollywood and as we all know he died of a heroin overdose in 2008

[00:56:07] at the age of 25 he had a lot of ins and outs in rehab and many see this death as symbolic of Hollywood's failure to protect young actors particularly boys and I think Ian McKellen was in that movie too so I think that's how he was able to convince him to be in this movie but not trying to tie them together I'm just remembering that he was in that

[00:56:37] there's also like a ton of lore and stuff if you really want to dig into like the parties the parties that he would have the quote unquote sex parties where they were like hire and find very young actors who wanted to make it into the business they would be invited to these parties and yeah I'm not going to go into all the conspiracy theories and the connections

[00:57:07] because I'm real into that stuff because I don't want us to get sued but all of this other stuff is public it's known so I already hated hated hated Bryan Singer because of the X-Men movies yeah but this shit on top of it infuriated just carry on shit sunday that is Bryan Singer

[00:57:36] yeah I literally did not know any of this information and yeah in the words of Samuel L. Jackson from that one movie yes he deserves to die and I hope he burns in hell so yeah and with that we have a question for everyone so making a hard right turn with the cast of the Avengers Doomsday now out how do you think Marvel is going to incorporate the

[00:58:06] X-Men into the MCU honestly I have no idea they're doing so bad right now unfortunately everything is just a cluster F that I don't see how they're realistically going to be like yeah these mutants have been here all this time hiding out and we've never heard of them or seen them ever okay so the reason I really think Marvel is like

[00:58:36] has lost steam is because the expectations of the audience after Endgame is just like so off it's almost like everyone just expecting oh we're gonna have more movies like Endgame right away but not realizing we had almost a decade of movies before we got there so how do you automatically want that and then Disney and Marvel continue to cave to the misogynistic

[00:59:05] racism and they don't protect the actors that they hire for and this is not just the Marvel IP this is multiple IPs at Star Wars all of it like they invest in diversity quote unquote and then they leave these people hanging out to dry and it's not even like it's like you have the Avengers and it's what is it 95% white like or 100% because I was just thinking

[00:59:35] about Brody but it's white they're all white guys so now you're incorporating more women you're incorporating more people of color and it's not like you're changing every comic book character to be this woke like the comics are woke X-Men was always woke always right what are we talking about so instead of just like saying actually no this is straight from the source material this is what

[01:00:05] we're going to do and that's it and instead of drowning out those naysayers and make really good quality movies that's the other thing like stop trying to stick to the formula that you think works and let take these and make a few smaller versions like you're fucking Disney you don't have to make every one of these movies a big box office hit you don't even have to have the budget you can make some small things you can put some stuff on TV and make

[01:00:34] it small give some indie directors a chance because you have such great source material you don't need everything to be on the Avengers level the case in point is the disservice they did to Black Widow first standalone movie I get it it came out during the pandemic they did not promote it they promised it would come out in the theaters and then decided to drop it on Disney

[01:01:05] which cut into Scarlett Johansson's profits that's why she ended up having to sue them and at least I know Benedict Cumberbatch defended her and I was like no she had every right to do that because that was part of her contractual agreement is that it was going to come out in theaters and you switched it up on her and that movie I feel I may not know Marvel comic books but I love

[01:01:34] the MCU and that movie is so underrated and so enjoyable and like I just feel like a lot of people haven't even seen it because they're like oh essentially it's like in our terms straight to DVD but it wasn't it was never meant to be that and the fact that her male counterparts got three movies each before she got one is just utter

[01:02:04] fucking bullshit and it's just a testament to the male dominated industry and they're gonna put their boys first which is just ridiculous and then Kevin Feige backs like backpedaling after saying Captain Marvel is the strongest or Scarlet Witch is the strongest like

[01:02:33] saying that stick with it like there's nothing wrong like it is accurate in the fucking comic book that bitch said like and no more no more mutants and they were gone like hello that is power beyond power at this point like give me a fucking break stick with it stop backpedaling because a bunch of crybabies are mad about it like

[01:03:03] they are not who you are making the movies for or who you started making the movies for you went in it with a very clear direction and trying to be really true to these characters and now you're catering to the mass audience which is ridiculous right and I do feel like part of the reason why I think you mentioned Captain Marvel that movie also didn't get a whole lot of support

[01:03:32] as well as the Black Widow film and I feel like part of it is because they came off like afterthoughts like it was like here damn put a woman in front all right here you go right and then it was like they already didn't really want to do it and then they did it and because they're getting flack they're just like well you know like they just what do you want yeah we tried you know somebody gives that like somebody owes somebody a favor and they're like fine you can have the movie but then

[01:04:02] they do no marketing behind it like the Eternals was not a bad movie it wasn't it actually wasn't it was not a bad movie it wasn't it sets up like I Danielle did you go see the newest Captain America I did not so it does set up like it's a really far callback to the Eternals and luckily I saw it because

[01:04:32] the reviews were like don't see this piece of shit but I was like it's Marvel I'll watch it and like it's setting up to how they discover Anamanthian is in the new Captain America is everyone's fighting over the celestial that's in the middle of the ocean now is a huge plot of Brave New World is that what it's called like so if you haven't seen the Eternals

[01:05:02] because it wasn't marketed or everyone was shitting on it then you're like well we're this because they don't really talk about where that celestial came from it's just this being that died in the middle of the ocean that everyone's fighting over now like so like there are important things that happen in the other movies and they need to be treated with as much respect as the Captain Americas and the Thors and the Avengers I can do a thesis

[01:05:30] a college level thesis on my thoughts on Sam Wilson and how I know that movie didn't stick the lane how they sabotage him I know Anthony Mackie was an executive producer on the movie and I feel really bad but the moment that they put that Saber character in there I was like I'm not fucking around with y'all and your bullshit like we are in the midst of

[01:06:01] real time shit and I know that the government pays these movies for propaganda I know it but I was just like the disrespect that people did for Falcon and Winter Soldier which by the way is one of my all time favorite favorite Disney Marvel shows like WandaVision amazing I didn't mind She Hulk I thought it was funny

[01:06:30] like again when I'm telling you about the different genres we don't need everything to be the same and it's okay like her character in the comic books is campy and funny and like that was and it was talking about real shit like it was so meta and I know in 10 15 years we're gonna look back in these shows and realize oh these were amazing the what's the is it Miss Marvel so fucking

[01:06:59] good and they're giving you different lenses from different things so when I watched Falcon and Winter Soldier it was such a good companion piece because it spoke about the fact that Sam becomes Captain America you could not just have that happen you can't have him become Captain America like Cap gives him the shield and then the next movie he's Captain America the way that they did that

[01:07:28] was so accurate to what this really means and the complexities of being African American and what that feels like to be proud to be a part of the structure of this country as well as trying to hold it accountable but also know from the outside looking in that there are people who don't want us to represent the fact that we have built this country and all the nuances that go with it so the fact

[01:07:58] that Sam took that shield and didn't feel like he it wasn't even that he felt like he deserved it it had nothing to do with that he knew he knew he deserved it but he knew what came with it and the the duality of that and then the relationship with Bucky as a white man not understanding because he's just looking at Sam as a good person and wondering why he's hesitating and then we

[01:08:27] meet what's the other guy's name Isaiah Bradley yes there we go when we meet Isaiah that adds another layer so like I'm afraid to watch the movie because I feel like they're gonna take all the great things that they built in that and just ruin it like I was like I can't believe they made this that when I watched that show I was like I cannot believe that we're having

[01:08:57] this conversation in this IP even though I know we could have it in the comic books and they were still bitching that they would prefer the Sebastian Stan even though he has been Captain America in the comic books but because the idea that the person that represents America is not Chris Evans they don't get it they keep talking about Chris Evans coming back and not just saying

[01:09:26] oh this is our Captain America and that just shows us like that black people we know this we know how white people feel about us we know how this country feels about us and that's why I love the show so much because I felt like they finally they put words and they showcased what it feels like to be American as a black person right and it felt like a really good full circle moment too sorry

[01:09:55] no no no it felt like a good full circle moment because obviously Isaiah Bradley's character was technically the first Captain America him and the other black soldiers that I guess most of them died but the fact that he was just hidden away he's a second Captain America because the other one came first oh okay well yeah but this is like it speaks to our history as black people in this country because what they did to him is just like Tuskegee essentially

[01:10:25] because they wanted to have the serum what do they do they tried to experiment on black people first right you try to get that and then when all those things don't work out they kill everybody else and then they wanted to kill him for his he had to like go in hiding and then you go into this museum and there's Captain America in his glory and there's nothing about what he went through and so he doesn't have the that legacy

[01:10:54] it doesn't feel the same because you took something from me you did not I didn't sign up like the parallels between those two versions of Captain America completely different that show is so good I can't but because I knew Disney was sabotaging essentially Anthony Mackie it's a totally different version than when we get Black Panther because they can they can be fine

[01:11:24] with Black Panther they're not fine with it being Black Black Black Black from an American standpoint and again I could do a thesis but go ahead oh I was just going to say a couple of things I think you're not I think if you watch Brave New World obviously it is going to be from the lens

[01:11:53] of mass marketing media and things like that but I think especially Isaiah's character they do justice to him in the movie and not obviously nowhere near full retribution but they honor him in the movie I don't want honor I want bitches I want money I want I know I

[01:12:23] like I don't want to be in a fucking museum where is my 40 acres and a motherfucking mule that is fair that is less than what he deserves right like fuck this shit I'm so over see that see anywho I will say when when I was watching Infinity War I was just like Sam was always just like kind of like third rate character

[01:12:53] like he was just he was there and he was Sam and he he was funny sometimes and so and he flew in and helped and he was just kind of like back up to cap and stuff and then when he gets dusted I like everyone's getting dusted I'm like oh my gosh what's happening like when Sam got dusted I started crying and I'm like I in in my present state I don't

[01:13:23] care about Sam as much as I care about all of these other characters that are getting dusted why am I crying about him and I really had to like think about like the the relationship I didn't even realize I had with Sam and him just being such an integral part of and support for all of the Avengers and so like I've just come to really love Sam as a character from that experience so I think that's why I was so excited

[01:13:52] about Brave New World is because I did love Falcon and Winter Soldier so much and I just really really adore Sam's character I do too I love his character and you know my boy Harrison's in it I'm like I'm so I just felt they were sabotaging him and every aspect putting that character in the marketing lack thereof the lack of support from

[01:14:21] Disney for this movie just everything that they did was so intentional because I knew they wanted it to crash and burn and just where we are in the country I was just like I'm not giving my money to fucking any of these corporations as much as I can at this point because y'all think you're slick you DEI and representation and all this

[01:14:49] bullshit only matters when you're making a buck off of the backs of my people and so I'm like I'm over that shit as for X-Men how I think they're gonna come into the MCU I I mean now that we've fully established that we have multiple timelines we if you watch the Marvels we established that Miss Marvel is now considered a mutant we see we see Beast because

[01:15:19] there is what's that girl's name who gets she gets to she's in another dimension so we know that they're they're America yeah no not America Parrish Tiana Tiana Parrish's character oh yeah yeah yeah she fuck I can't think it starts I can't think of her character's name she's in another so it's just going to be a different timeline it's photon right photon yeah it is photon

[01:15:48] I think it's just going to be another universe and it makes the most sense if you just have Wanda kind of like house of M stuff where maybe she's the reason why we don't have mutants in this universe and maybe instead of speaking mutants out of existence she speaks mutants into existence so much of the storylines that happen in like secret invasions and all this other stuff like the mutant conversation has like

[01:16:18] you can't just like say they've been hiding this whole time because that's not how this works so it has to be where they are just coming into existence well yeah because they trickled it in like even with Namor too he called himself a mutant yeah so they've been trickling the word in here and there well in Doctor Strange 2 as they're going through the different timelines Professor Patrick Stewart shows up right

[01:16:48] so we yeah so we definitely know that like the the X-Men are in that timeline at the very least yeah so it's gonna I mean it's gonna be interesting and I know it's been hard for Marvel for a long time not being able to have that IP and then figuring out again because you can't just say oh they've been here this whole time because there's they're so integral into like politics and the things that are happening

[01:17:18] so the moment the Avengers came oh the rise of these superheroes that shouldn't have been like a surprise like Spider-Man popping up shouldn't have been a surprise because we have always been in the conversation so it should be pretty interesting I wish they just could have been around for the Civil War though that like there's such an integral part of that specifically like yeah you had you know Storm who was married to Black Panther at the time but they disagreed

[01:17:46] on you know they were on like the opposite ends of the spectrum obviously the fact that and of course if I was a mutant in this world I definitely would be pissed because everybody seems to look up to Captain America and these guys but you treat me like shit right because I was born because I was born with these powers like I was born this way yeah like Captain America and all of them like they get posters and merch and they're cool but I'm a piece of shit like what like what and I think that's why Black people

[01:18:15] and people of color and anybody who's a minority or part of the global majority feels so connected to the X-Men characters because it is an allegory for racism and we understand that like it it's there's nothing worse than being shamed for the things that naturally come for us our body shapes our noses our

[01:18:44] hair and then see someone co-op it like I love Korean dramas and K-pop but to see these people reheating my nachos and shit and then they're getting hyped the fuck up as is they're columbusing this shit out of our culture and now Blackpink's out here saying the n-word am I surprised absolutely not absolutely not but for all the K-pop stans who

[01:19:13] swear swear that they discovered this and it's more palatable because it's coming from them sure okay I guess I only rock with Jisoo right now of Blackpink because she's the only one who I haven't seen the tapes saying the n-word I put in my notes that Senator Kelly definitely MAGA yeah just for the record like the way he was talking to the senate I was just

[01:19:43] like wow this is like it felt so like now that's yes yes so but it's been a long winding road in this what are we calling it now tape two are now our bonus episodes our interviews if you're still with us thank you for for joining us on this ride you either have a long commute

[01:20:12] or you love X-Men or you hated it or you hated it yeah but we're gonna put Patrice in the hot seat for a minute and we are going to ask for three employee picks so let's see what movie she'll stock on the shelves at Blockbuster oh well let's see here well you know I'm a Disney kid

[01:20:42] so I feel like mine are all gonna be Disney or actually in this case Prince of Egypt yes the Prince of Egypt absolutely we should just have Danielle guess Patrice you know what she probably could guess though oh god no no I'll let you go go ahead okay the Prince of Egypt I think The Lion King came out too early it did

[01:21:12] what year did that come out 92 94 it's not James and the Giant Peach even though that's in our time frame no it's not for the fact that Phil Collins ate on that soundtrack we're gonna say Tarzan my boy this is so hard I know I was not using my time properly I don't know I guess wait what year did the Hunchback

[01:21:42] of Notre Dame come out 98 it's in our time frame woo okay did I watch that movie I don't know I feel like I must have because you did very much like that one didn't you it was it was it was a pretty dark film for a kid it was good I remember my mom was doing my hair one time as a kid and I was watching it and she

[01:22:12] literally said she was just like this film is dark she was just like is this a kids movie they were not paying attention to what we were watching not at all I think by your because Patrice and I are 10 years apart so I think by the time you came along a little bit more but me no I mean I was watching kids movies and I'm like how did y'all let me watch this for real

[01:22:42] like they just let me sit and watch whatever and then on top of that they were watching their movies and I just was sitting there and they didn't close my eyes or nothing my dad took me to like I still can't get over it took me to the movie theaters to see Boomerang Boomerang but mom said mom said uncle les used to take her and your dad to the dirty movies or whatever like the it would be like the blaxploitation

[01:23:11] movies and they were titties out all the time yeah not like I should have corrected not dirty yeah no but like the blaxploitation movies and he didn't care he wasn't covering our eyes R.I.P. Uncle R.I.P. Uncle Les alright so if you have any opinions because we talked about a lot

[01:23:41] on X-Men Bryan Singer Patrice's employee pics were wrong about the MCU whatever hit us up at no more late fees on TikTok Instagram Twitter Facebook YouTube threads Boozguy and if you want to get more hot takes from Patrice on her favorite TV shows movies dating whatever comes to her mind hit her up on social Patrice tell everybody how they can find you yes I'm still a loser who's on Facebook so you can find me at Patrice Akila on Facebook

[01:24:12] and I am on Instagram and threads at Empress underscore Akila E-M-P-R-E-S-S underscore A-K-I-L-A-H and do not miss us next week as we celebrate our fifth year anniversary with Clueless y'all we're doing it we're doing it we're doing it finally and as always be kind and rewind and you Thank you.