In the latest round of throwing whatever you can at a wall and seeing what’ll stick, Fox is continuing to expand its ever-broadening X-Men film franchise with an installment that’ll no doubt come as a shock to many. Believe it or not, the latest mutant they intend shining the spotlight on is none other than Multiple Man.
Seriously.
Having been previously played by “McSteamy” himself, Eric Dane, back in 2006’s X-Men: The Last Stand, the self-replicating mutant known to comic book readers as Jamie Madrox will now instead be played by James Franco, who had previously familiarized himself with the superhero film genre via Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man trilogy. Now, this may cause confusion for some, but do remember that recasting various characters has been on the table ever since the timeline was rewritten thanks to 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Also worth noting is that the studio has enlisted Wonder Woman screenwriter Allan Heinberg to pen the script, with Simon Kinberg and his Genre Films producing along with Franco and Ramona Films. Kinberg, of course, has long been one of the guiding hands behind Fox’s own Marvel Cinematic Universe, so his involvement shouldn’t come as much of a surprise.
To be honest, it’s going to prove difficult not to ready some popcorn while seeing how social media reacts to this move. Because while some X-Men spinoffs make sense like say, Logan, Deadpool and X-Force, this one can be filed under “nobody asked for” and “studio banking solely on star power,” as is the case with Gambit and WB’s Black Adam. Well, people probably were asking for a Gambit solo flick at one point, but this isn’t 1994.
Regardless, a lifelong X-Men fan such as myself will likely allow curiosity to get the best of him, and will indeed check out Multiple Man if it sees the light of day. In the meantime, though, feel free to let us know what you think in the usual place below!