(no subject)

[apocalypsos]

AICN has a very, very, VERY detailed script review of X3. Whatever you do, DO NOT READ THAT unless you don't care how spoiled you get for the movie, because if it turns out to be true ... oh, boy.

So what it looks like is ...

Mystique loses her powers.
Storm and Wolverine sleep together.
Scott and (this is just an educated guess from the clues they give) John die.
Storm takes over the team.
The A-plot appears to both blow and suck.

*headdesk*
*headdesk*
*headdesk*
*headdesk*

On the other hand, Warren and Hank look like they'll turn out really well, I can't deny I'm not interested to see the Bobby/Rogue/Kitty triangle (Although, Shawn and Maggie? This I have to see), and at least we'll get to see Gambit.

But for the most part, I think there are a few people who come to my mind (*coughminisinoocough*) who I wouldn't mind seeing go at the script with their X-Men knowledge and a gigantic box of red pencils.

Comments

[shoiryu.livejournal.com]

...Wow, I just breathed a sigh of relief that the awesome David Hayter is apparently not writing this one.

[channonyarrow.livejournal.com]

Dammit, if that's accurate, I'll be pissed. Not because I like Scott - the best thing the movies did was make him as big a wanker as he is in the comics - but because it's supposed to be Dark Phoenix saga!

[xerne.livejournal.com]

Maybe they're making it the Dark Cyclops Cycle because movies about chicks don't sell. =P

[channonyarrow.livejournal.com]

That would certainly fit in with the rest of the canon-rape they've committed. But I would have thought Famke Janssen's breasts, and the opportunity to give them more screen time, would have worked in favour of keeping it the Dark Phoenix saga.

Every time I try to think like a Hollywood exec, god kills one of my neurons.

[callmesyd.livejournal.com]

I seem to remember hearing somewhere that Marvel was thinking of doing as many as SEVEN(?!?!?) X-Men movies, so they may be putting a movie or two in the middle before they hit the DP stuff. You know, to Try And Make It More Emotional Even Though Everybody Knows What Happens And Surely They'll All Forget The End Of X2 With The Firebird Under The Lake.

[channonyarrow.livejournal.com]

Surely They Will, Because No Diehard Fans Saw That At All.

Let's see...they could do X-tinction Agenda, DP, that one where everyone thought the X-Men got cacked...

I'd like to see the Asgardian Wars, actually, even though I know it's totally minor and totally crossover with New Mutants, but it's got costumes!

[valerie]

I'm shuddering for the Storm/Wolvie alone.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Tell me about it. Storm nails Wolverine and takes over the team? I know it's pretty close to canon (depending on which version of comics Storm we're talking about, of course), but with give-me-more-screen-time-or-I-quit Halle Berry playing her, it rings of rampant Mary-Sue-ness.

[girlfromsouth.livejournal.com]

See, I don't think it's John. I think it's Xavier. And also possibly Magneto. Which would KILL me.

I think this is going to be...well, painful would be a kind word.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Oh, yeah. Either one of those two would kill me, too. Hell, I'm still wincing about the death of Scott, and that actually makes sense, plot-wise. *grumbles*

[girlfromsouth.livejournal.com]

They are the main reasons I watch. Bastards! gaaah! But, since apparently people are having fits over money and contract renewals and since I doubt either McKellan or Stewart come very cheap, and they're, y'know, older and not teenagers who can brood hotly, I think...it's something like inevitable. Also, I think if they kill one, they'll kill the other, as most of their meaningful character arcs are together.

[sabra-n.livejournal.com]

Isn't it a shame that the teenagers who brood hotly also can't act? There's a reason my level of interest in the characters is mostly proportional to their ages, and it's not just the writing. If I wanted to see teenagers angsting prettily I'd watch the WB. And for the record, I hate the WB.

-blue

Bear in mind...

[seferin.livejournal.com]

these are the X-men, who do not hover at deaths door, but rather walk through the turnstile, and get back on line.

Re: Bear in mind...

[cmpriest.livejournal.com]

And lo, you have made me laugh today ;-)

Cool.

[seferin.livejournal.com]

Two points for me.

[callmesyd.livejournal.com]

PleaserecastStormpleaserecastStormpleaserecastStormpleaserecastStorm.

[wal-lace.livejournal.com]

Apparently the current scriptwriter has gone on the record as saying that the script AICN reviewed is eight months old and the whole 'three deaths and a power loss' thing is bullshit.

Hang on, I'll see if I can find a source.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Here's hoping that's right. Because, seriously ... blech. *yacks*

[wal-lace.livejournal.com]

It took an age to open the page, and it's not very informative, but this might provide some relief. It's not an outright denial of our fears, but it at least suggests that much may have changed. Oh, and as you can see it's apparently four months, not eight.

To save time, I quote:

So what about the spoilers that Aintitcoolnews posted regarding death of mutants and sex scenes? According to Simon the script that Moriarty was referring to was 4 months old and was actually the first 88 pages of a rough draft. Bottom line is that the script that AICN was referring to is different to the one that is being prepped right now.

[minisinoo.livejournal.com]

I read that, too, but it actually didn't reassure me much because Kinberg didn't actually SAY the rumors are false mind; he redirected the question. I suppose I'm skeptical because I've done something very like that when a fan had guessed what I had planned, and I didn't want it know yet. I'd try to redirect without outright lying. (g)

So I suspect the backbone of the plotarc is still there, although there may be some changes. Right now, there seems to be a pretty big outcry on Superhero-Hype about the death of Cyke, which might lead to some changes there, depending on whether Marvel thinks it could actually hurt sales. The bottom line to ALL of this is sales. :-) They may have allowed some of that script to be leaked so they could both say "it's an old script" AND gauge reactions to some of the more potentially controversial elements.

There are supposed to be three characters dying, and I suspect, from the script, they're Magneto, Cyke and Xavier. Two of those make a kind of sense, if looked at from the POV of the age of the actors. Cyke is actually a really bad choice based on the theme of the Dark Phoenix Saga.

[hemlock-martini.livejournal.com]

Storm as leader...uuurgh. If Halle Berry's still in the role, I'll be sitting this one out. I might rent it.

[lezopez.livejournal.com]

There was a small rumor going around the internet a while ago that they were planning on casting Josh Holloway (also known as Sawyer) as Gambit. My loins twitched. It turned out to not be true. BUT WHY COULDN'T IT BE?!?!

I knew we were in trouble when Bryan Singer wasn't coming back. I just KNEW.

[marag.livejournal.com]

I'm still in massive denial. I won't believe it until I see it.

::covers ears:: La la la I can't hear you!

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

*covers ears and sings with you*

[sabra-n.livejournal.com]

Let's all sing together!

Some things in life are bad,
They can really make you mad,
Other things just make you swear and curse,
When you're chewing life's gristle,
Don't grumble,
Give a whistle
And this'll help things turn out for the best.
And...

Always look on the bright side of life.
[whistle]
Always look on the light side of life.
[whistle]

It might not be true, right? Right. I'll keep telling myself that.

-blue

Monty Python rocks.

[azurelunatic]

Whee, an excuse to use my powers for AWESOME!
Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

[cmpriest.livejournal.com]

I read that yesterday, and spent the afternoon twitching.
I would TOTALLY read your version (were you to write one) and pretend the movie never, never happened.

[boozinjoebubala.livejournal.com]

look on the bright side...
no matter how bad the script sucks
we can always depend on Brett Ratner
to film it poorly

[minisinoo.livejournal.com]

I've been stewing since yesterday, and writing on Grail in frustration, which -- if this does turn out to be true (see my reply to Wal_lace) -- I think I'll regard as (my) X3. (G)

But more seriously, I see a potentially great script hiding under this mess, needing to be freed. It seems that most of the really bad elements are things that are probably being shoehorned in by Rothman -- the Storm/Wolvie stuff, etc. After X2, it would make far MORE sense to put Storm with Nightcrawler, not Wolverine.

But my biggest frustration is with the gutting of the main story of Dark Phoenix. IMO, the MAIN theme of that story is Jean's choice of humanity over godhood. It's the descent and redemption of the hero -- whether or not she lives. Jean died in the original, but she wouldn't necessarily have to, as long as the ESSENTIAL element is retained. But if she kills Scott AND Xavier (as I suspect from reading the script), then she's just offed the two central characters who brought Jean BACK (and for whom she came back) in the original Dark Phoenix Saga.

Er, what's going to bring her back in this script? IS she going to be redeemed, or just destroyed? If the latter, well -- frankly -- that's boring. It's just another "power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely" story, and those are a dime a dozen. They're also at frank odds with much of the genre tone of comics generally, which tend to underscore "heroism" -- the struggle to be BETTER. The reason Dark Phoenix worked is because it's one of the oldest of all Mythic Themes -- the Heroic Cycle. Dark Phoenix became a classic in the X-world *in spite of* all those crazy alien, planet-eating elements BECAUSE it tapped into that very old, very archetypical theme/plot.

Take that away, and it's NOT the Dark Phoenix Saga, no matter if some of the details are retained.

So, yeah, I'm going to go write more on Grail ...

[wal-lace.livejournal.com]

Isn't it obvious? Jean will be redeemed by the sheer studliness of Hugh Jackman. After which she and Storm will take turns.

[minisinoo.livejournal.com]

(Falls over laughing)

I fear you may be right. Well, not on the taking turns bit, but otherwise, yeah. Arguing against that is the script-readers observation that Logan doesn't do much besides follow Storm around. That could mean the "triangel" is deaddeaddead (which wouldn't make me sad). But one could also, equally, argue that Logan only SEEMS to do nothing because we haven't seen the final act, where he gets to strut his stuff and save the day (which would, in fact, gell with something Niel Gaiman said in his journal).

But just ... GAH! No.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Hee. See, this is why I'd rather you write it. So there. ;)

[backfromspace.livejournal.com]

All this is fine with me if they trade Halle Berry for Gina Torres.

Such would be a perfect world.

[apocalypsos.livejournal.com]

Ooo.

OOOOOOOO.

Okay, now I really, really want that. *covets that casting*

[ficbyzee.livejournal.com]

....

Boy, am I glad I jumped ship to D.C. *happily looks forward to Batman Begins*

[muffytaj.livejournal.com]

*sharp intake of breath* I... my braaaain!