Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

Head coach Frank Beamer has become one of the winningest currently active head coaches in Division I-A football (178 following the 2005 season). There are several video games for various platforms starring the X-Men. The Hokies currently have the fifth longest bowl streak in the country, having participated in bowl games each of the last 13 seasons. In 1996, FOX produced a television movie based on the X-Men spinoff Generation X. Virginia Tech has become a major power in college football in recent years. James Cameron, director of Aliens and The Terminator, was said to be the most likely director of the films but it never came to fruition. This rivalry continued until 1970 when VPI's football program became too large and too competitive for VMI. The first attempts to make a film version of the X-Men began in the late 1980s along with Spider-Man and Hulk films.

This rivalry developed into the original "Military Classic of the South," which was an annual football game between VMI and VPI. The X-Men also introduced several fictional locations which are regarded as important within the shared universe in which Marvel Comics characters exist:. During the early years of VTCC, a rivalry developed between the Virginia Military Institute and Virginia Tech. Wells, having portrayed to some degree the experience of disfigured people in late twentieth century American society. Virginia Tech's fight song, which was created in 1919, is Tech Triumph. It remains in use today, although the Old Hokie spirit yell is more widely known. The comics have also featured mutants whose mutation results in physical disfigurement as well as the granting of powers, with the Morlocks, inspired in part by the Morlock characters created by H.G. The school's major athletic rivalries include the University of Virginia, West Virginia University, and the University of Miami. Homosexual characters include Northstar, Destiny, and Karma, Anole, with Mystique portrayed as being bisexual.

The "athletic VT" symbol is trademarked by the university, and appears frequently on licensed merchandise. Examples of Jewish characters include Shadowcat and Sabra, whilst Dust is a devout Muslim, Nightcrawler a devout Catholic and Thunderbird III and Karima Shapandar are followers of the Hindu faith. The stylized VT (the abbreviation for Virginia Tech) is used primarily by the athletic department as a symbol for Virginia Tech athletic teams. In addition, characters within the X-Men mythos also reflect religious, ethnic or sexual minorities. Originally the teams were known as the "Fighting Gobblers" and the turkey motif was retained despite the name change. Long before international characters became popular in the comics world, the X-Men franchise brought in characters from all over the world such as from:. The mascot is the Hokie Bird, a turkey-like creature. Since Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975), the X-Men have also become famous for their wide cultural and ethnic diversity.

The word "Hokies" originated in the 1890s; see Hokies for more information. Thus, the effects of alienation on one's well-being and psyche are often explored in the franchise. The word "Hokies," which originated from the Old Hokie spirit yell, is often used interchangeably with "Fighting Gobblers" to refer to the sports team, fans, students, or alumni, although the former is the official usage. For instance, Cyclops must wear a visor or specialized glasses at all times to keep his powers in control and has thus grown-up emotionally restrained; Rogue, whose mutant power prevents her from establishing physical contact with others, feels an enormous sense of personal isolation and the scientifically brilliant Beast must always fight the perception that he is a monstrous brute due to his furry, animalistic appearance. Its teams participate in the NCAA's Division I-A in the Atlantic Coast Conference, which the school joined in 2004 after leaving the Big East. This metaphorical content is also present, more personally rather than politically, in some of the characters. Virginia Tech's sports teams are called the Hokies; the mascot is the Hokie Bird. Part of the attraction of the X-Men is that it offers a sanctuary to openly explore and celebrate your differences within a unique subculture.

The limestone is mined from various quarries in Southwestern Virginia, Tennessee, and Alabama, one of which has been operated by the university since the 1950s. The mutant "power" that must be hidden from the world is analogous to feelings of difference and fear usually developed in everyone during adolescence. Each block of Hokie Stone is some combination of gray, brown, black, pink, orange, and maroon. Director Bryan Singer has remarked that aside from specific differences of race or sexual orientation, the X-Men franchise has served as a metaphor for acceptance of all people for their special and unique gifts. Hokie Stone is a medley of different colored limestone, often including dolomite. Also the series District X takes place in an area of New York City called "mutant town." These instances can also serve as analogies for any minority within the population that establishes a specific subculture of its own. On the Blacksburg campus, the majority of the buildings incorporate Hokie Stone as a building material. In some cases, particularly in Grant Morrison’s stories of the early 2000s, mutants were portrayed as a distinct subculture with “mutant bands” and a popular mutant fashion designer who created outfits tailored to mutant physiology.

The university also has several commonwealth branch campus centers: Hampton Roads (Virginia Beach), National Capital Region (Falls Church- Alexandria, Virginia), Richmond, Roanoke, and the Southwest Virginia Higher Education Center in Abingdon. It should be noted, though, that issues of class stratification have never been part of the X-Men’s creed. The Virginia Tech campus is located within Blacksburg; the central campus is roughly bordered by Prices Fork Road to the northwest, Plantation Drive to the west, Main Street to the east, and 460-bypass to the south, though it has several thousand acres beyond the central campus. In the 2000 X-Men film Kelly exclaims "we need to find out who these mutants are and what they can do," even brandishing a "list" of known mutants (a reference to Senator Joseph McCarthy's list of alleged Communist Party members). The College of Agriculture and Life Sciences offers the only two-year associate's degree program on campus, in agricultural technology. Senator Robert Kelly's proposal of a "Mutant Registration Act" is similar to the efforts of Congress to effectively ban communism in the United States. Bachelor's, master's, and doctoral programs are offered through the College of Agriculture & Life Sciences, the College of Architecture & Urban Studies, the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, the Pamplin College of Business, the College of Engineering, the College of Natural Resources, the College of Science, and the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Medicine. Occasionally, undercurrents of the "red scare" are present.

From 1970 for the next five years, the student population grew from about 13,500 to 22,000. The mutant slave labor camps on the island of Genosha, in which numbers were burned into mutants’ foreheads, show much in common with Nazi concentration camps as do the internment camps of the classic Days of Future Past storyline. Similarly, the abbreviation VT is far more common today than VPI or VPI&SU, and appears everywhere from athletic uniforms (most notably on football helmets) to the university's Internet domain vt.edu. In the comic books, Magneto has routinely sought to establish a "mutant homeland" which may be a parallel to modern day Israel. In the early 1990s, the school quietly authorized the official use of Virginia Tech as equivalent to the full VPI&SU name; most school documents today use the shorter name, though diplomas still spell out the formal name. At one point he even utters the words "never again" in a 1992 episode of the X-Men animated series. The new acronym of VPISU was derisively spoken as Vippy-sue by students and Hahn detractors. Magneto, a Holocaust survivor sees the situation of mutants as similar to those of Jews in Nazi Germany.

As a compromise, the school added "and State University" to its name in 1970, yielding the current formal name of Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. Somewhat more explicitly suggested is the comparison to anti-semitism. As part of this move, Tech would have taken over control of the state's other land-grant institution, a historically black college in Ettrick, Virginia south of Richmond then called Virginia State College; this failed, and that school eventually became Virginia State University. The comic books delved into the AIDS epidemic during the early 1990s with a long-running plotline about the Legacy Virus, a seemingly incurable disease similarly thought at first to only attack mutants. One of Hahn's more controversial missions was only partially achieved; he had visions of renaming the school from VPI to Virginia State University, reflecting the status it had achieved as a full-fledged public research university. Ian McKellen (who played Magneto in the film) was involved. The merger with Radford was dissolved in 1964, and in 1966, the school dropped the two-year Corps requirement for male students (in 1973, women were allowed to join the Corps; Tech was the first school in the nation to open its military wing to women). In addition, the first film featured a scene in which Senator Robert Kelly questioned whether mutants should be allowed to teach children in school, mirroring such debates as that over Section 28, in which Sir.

Marshall Hahn (1962-74) was responsible for many of the changes that shaped the modern institution of Virginia Tech. This was illustrated in a scene of the second X-Men film, directed by openly gay director Bryan Singer in which Bobby Drake "came out" as a mutant to his parents. President T. Comparisons have been made between the mutants' situation, including the concealment of their powers and the age they realize these powers and homosexuality. Later, throughout the early 20th century, another rivalry developed between Virginia Tech and the University of Virginia (founded 1819). Another civil rights metaphor applied to the X-Men is that of gay rights. This heartfelt and robust rivalry continued into the late 1970's, when Virginia Tech simply became too large and competitive in its athletic programs for VMI to continue competing (VMI enrolls 1,200 cadets and is the Nation's only all-cadet or classical state military college). He was, wrote Darius, explicitly counter-revolutionary.

In fact, "The Military Classic of the South" began as a rivalry between VMI and VPI. In the earliest comics, Xavier expressed no concern with mutant rights but instead focusing on stopping mutant menaces. Shortly after its founding as a Military college, a rivalry began with VPI and Virginia Military Institute (founded 1839). Sentinels are thought to often represent oppressive forces like the KKK giving a form to denial of civil rights and amendments, Disney's Gargoyles also did this with the Quarrymen. Virginia Tech, for a time, was the largest university in the Commonwealth of Virginia until recently being surpassed by Virginia Commonwealth University and George Mason University. In 2002, comics critic Julian Darius argued in "X-Men is Not an Allegory of Racial Tolerance" that a close examination of early X-Men comics would make Magneto not Malcolm X, but the radical revolutionaries of the Black Panthers. VPI achieved full accreditation in 1923, and the requirement of participation in the Corps of Cadets was dropped from four years to two that same year (for men only; women, when they began enrolling in the 1920s, were never required to join). While this interpretation has become commonplace, it is not without its critics.

The "Agricultural and Mechanical College" section of the name was popularly omitted almost immediately, though the name was not officially changed to Virginia Polytechnic Institute until 1944 as part of a short-lived merger with what is now Radford University. X-Men comic books have often portrayed mutants as the victim of mob violence, evoking images of the lynchings of African-Americans in the age before the American civil rights movement. McBryde, the school reorganized its academic programs into a traditional four-year college setup (including the renaming of the mechanics department to engineering); this led to an 1896 name change to Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College and Polytechnic Institute.
. Under the 1891-1907 presidency of John M. The X-Men’s purpose is sometimes referred to achieving "Xavier’s dream" perhaps a reference to King’s historic "I Have a Dream" speech. The school considers this to be its founding date, although some would like to date it to 1851 because the school purchased land and facilities from a private Methodist school on the same site. and Magneto to the more militant Malcolm X.

Founded under the provisions of the Morrill Act, the institution became a state-supported land grant military institute called the Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College in 1872. Professor X has been compared to African American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. . Also on an individual level, a number of X-Men serve a metaphorical function as their powers illustrate points about the nature of the outsider.
. The conflict between mutants and normal humans is often compared to the experience minority groups such as African-Americans, homosexuals. Virginia Tech was ranked 78th in US News and World Report's Top 100 US Universities and tied for 34th among all US public institutions.[1] In 2004, The Times ranked Virginia Tech as one of the top 200 universities in the world.[2]. The entire X-Men franchise is built on a sociopolitical undercurrent.

Virginia Tech has the largest full-time student population in the Commonwealth of Virginia and is best known for its academic programs in agriculture, engineering, architecture, veterinary medicine, and recently for the success of its football program. Notable story arcs of this time are "House of M" in 2005, "Wild Kingdom" in 2005, and Decimation in 2005 and 2006. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, (also referred to as VPI or more commonly Virginia Tech) is a research university in Blacksburg, Virginia, USA, in the New River Valley of western Virginia near the Appalachian Mountains. Its conclusion drastically altered the mutant population on Earth, reducing it to a few hundred individuals with all others, including X-Men members, losing their powers. Camarda, Class of 1983 (Ph.D) -- Astronaut on board the space shuttle Discovery for the STS-114 mission. The mid-2000s have been dominated by the reality-warping changes of the crossover event House of M, which temporarily created a mutant paradise with Magneto as the world's leader. Charles J. As well, Cable and Deadpool's books, Soldier X and Agent X, were rolled into one book, Cable and Deadpool.

Mark Embree - Rhodes Scholar, currently Assistant Professor of Mathematics at Rice University. Several short-lived spin-offs and mini-series started including Gambit, Rogue, District X, Phoenix: Endsong, Colossus: Bloodline and Jubilee. William Lewis - Rhodes Scholar, Founding Director of McKinsey Global Institute. This period also included the deaths and resurrections, most notably Psylocke and Colossus. Richard Baker -- game designer. Decades-long relationships all disintegrated specially Jean Grey and Cyclops. Asselstine, Class of 1970, Commissioner of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission during Three Mile Island incident. Also memorable villains, most notably Cassandra Nova.

James K. This period also featured the return of Rachel Summers, now Rachel Grey, Jean Grey's daughter from an alternate future. Crouch, Class of 1968 (MS) and 1971 (PhD), NASA astronaut. Notable additions to the X-Men have been X-23, Stacy X, Emma Frost, Xorn and Sage. Roger K. Xavier left in order to restore a vague sense of order and stability to the wasted land, leaving Cyclops and Emma Frost as the new leaders of the Institute which now functions as a large-scale school. Homer Hickam, Class of 1964, NASA employee and author of Rocket Boys. The bright spandex costumes that had become iconic over the previous decades were gone, replaced by black leather street clothes reminiscent the uniforms of the X-Men movies.

Richardson, Class of 1958 (BS) and 1960 (MS), physicist at Cornell University, shared the Nobel Prize in Physics in 1996 for the discovery of superfluidity in He-3. Marvel added new series like Weapon X, Exiles, the new X-Force; later retitled X-Statix, New X-Men a teenaged soap opera comic focusing on the lives of the new young mutants at the Institute , Ultimate X-Men, a reinvention of the concept featuring of the X-Men set in the Ultimate Marvel Universe and meant to appeal to new readers, and Astonishing X-Men with writer Joss Whedon.. Robert C. Morrison left Marvel on 2004 and Xtreme X-Men was cancelled. Phillips, Class of 1947, Chairman and CEO of Raytheon Corp. He was soon removed on his two flagship titles in early 2001 and created his own spinoff series, X-Treme X-Men. Thomas L. In 2000s, Claremont returned to Marvel.

Chris Kraft, Class of 1944, NASA architect of Mission Control and the first flight director. In 1998 Excalibur and X-Factor ended and the latter replaced with the parallel world series Mutant X starring Havok. Cutchins III, Class of 1944, Chairman and CEO of Sovran Bank. Marvel launched solo series for characters including Cable, Gambit, Bishop and Deadpool, the last a sarcastic mercenary antagonist of X-Force. Clifford A. These included Generation X starring another team of teenage mutants and X-Man starring a powerful young mutant Nate Grey, an alternate version of Cable from the "Age of Apocalypse" reality. Garvin, Class of 1943 (BS) and 1947 (MS), Chairman and CEO of Exxon Corp. The 1990s saw an even greater number of X-books with numerous ongoing series and miniseries running concurrently.

Clifton C. Notable story arcs of this time are the "The X-Tinction Agenda" in 1990, "X-Cutioner's Song" in 1992, "Phalanx Covenant" in 1994, "Legion Quest"/"Age of Apocalypse" in 1995, "Onslaught" in 1996 and "Operation: Zero Tolerance" in 1997. Pamplin, Sr, Class of 1933, CEO of Georgia Pacific Corp. Notable additions to the X-Men have been Gambit, Forge, Jubilee, and Bishop. Robert B. Months later, Liefeld and Lee left Marvel with several other popular artists including former X-Men artists Marc Silvestri and Whilce Portacio to form Image Comics. Donaldson Brown, Class of 1902, financial executive and corporate director with both DuPont and General Motors. Claremont left after only four issues of X-Men due to clashes with Lee and the Marvel editors, thus ending his fifteen-year run as X-Men writer.

Boykin, USA, Class of 1971, Assistant Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence. Internal friction split the X-Men books' creative teams. Lieutenant General William G. The original series of this title having been already renamed to Uncanny X-Men. Element, North American Aerospace Defense Command.
In 1991, Marvel revised the entire lineup of X-books, creating X-Force led by the mysterious warhawk Cable written by Rob Liefeld and Fabian Nicieza and launched a second X-Men series simply called X-Men. Inge, USA, Class of 1969, Deputy Commander, United States Northern Command, and Vice Commander, U.S. This period also included the arrival of the mysterious Madelyne Pryor and the return of Jean Grey.

Lieutenant General Joseph R. A controversial move was to have Professor X relocate to space in 1986 to be with his beloved Lilandra, Majestrix of the Shi'ar Empire, making Magneto the head of the X-Men. Smith, USAF, Class of 1969. Notable additions to the X-Men have been Shadowcat, Rogue, Dazzler, Psylocke, Longshot and Jubilee. Lieutenant General Lance L. This plethora of X-Men-related titles led to the rise of crossovers, sometimes called "X-Overs", storylines which would overlap into several X-Books, sometimes for months at a time and usually once per year; including the Mutant Massacre, the The Fall of the Mutants and Inferno. Richards, Four Star General, Class of 1956, Deputy Commander in Chief of US European Command. In the 1980s, the growing popularity of Uncanny X-Men and the rise of comic book specialty stores lead to the introduction of several spin-off series nicknamed "X-Books", most notably The New Mutants, X-Factor and Excalibur.

General Thomas C. New characters and teams that were introduced included Kitty Pryde, the Morlocks, the White Queen of the Hellfire Club, Rogue, Rachel Summers and Dazzler/Alison Blaire. Army Missile Command. The run met great critical acclaim and produced the "Dark Phoenix Saga" and "Days of Future Past"; arguably two of the greatest story arcs in Marvel Comics as well as X-Men: God Loves, Man Kills; the base of the 2003 movie X2. Moore, USA, Class of 1952, Commanding General of the U.S. The revived series was illustrated by Cockrum and later John Byrne and written by Chris Claremont, who would become the series' longest-standing contributor. Lieutenant General Robert L. The "all-new, all-different X-Men" were led by Cyclops from the original team and consisted of the newly created Thunderbird/John Proudstar, Colossus/Piotr Rasputin, Nightcrawler/Kurt Wagner and Storm/Ororo Munroe, along with three previously introduced characters, Sunfire/Shiro Yashida, Banshee/Sean Cassidy and, most notably, Wolverine/Logan who would become the breakout character.

Air Forces in Europe, Southern Area. Rather than teenagers, this group consisted of adults who hailed from a variety of nations and cultures. Druen,Jr., USAF, Class of 1951,commander of Allied Air Forces Southern Europe and deputy commander in chief, U.S. In Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975), writer Len Wein and artist Dave Cockrum introduced a new team that would appear in new issues of The X-Men beginning with issue #94. Lieutenant General Walter D. However, these early X-Men issues failed to attract sales and Marvel stopped producing new stories with issue #66, although a number of the older comics were later reprinted as issues 67-93. Cooksey, USA, Class of 1943. In 1969, writer Roy Thomas and artist Neal Adams rejuvenated the franchise and introduced two new characters Havok/Alex Summers and Polaris/Lorna Dane.

Lieutenant General Howard H. Then take in consideration that their arch Nemisis Magneto was Jewish, who survived a concetration camp and Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver (who would later be revealed as twin children of Magneto) where gypsies, which is a minority in Europe. Wilson, USAF, Class of 1942. Ironically, the team that was suppose to show the extreme horrors of prejudice and racism was mostly "Waspy", which is obvious just by their names. Lieutenant General Joseph G. Early X-Men issues also introduced the team's archnemesis Magneto and his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants featuring Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, Mastermind and the Toad. Elder, Jr., USA, Class of 1941. The original X-Men consisted of five teenagers whom the professor taught how to control their powers: Cyclops/Scott Summers, Marvel Girl/Jean Grey, Angel/Warren Worthington, Beast/Hank McCoy, and Iceman/Bobby Drake.

Lieutenant General John H. Xavier gathered the X-Men under the cover of Professor Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters at a large country estate at 1407 Graymalkin Lane in Salem Center, a city in Westchester County, New York. Robinson, USMC, Class of 1940. Professor X. Lieutenant General Wallace H. The X-Men were founded by the paraplegic telepath Professor Charles Francis Xavier, a.k.a. Pick, USA, Class of 1914. .

Lieutenant General Lewis A. Co-creator Lee recalled in his book Son of Origins of Marvel Comics and elsewhere that he devised the series title after Marvel publisher Martin Goodman turned down the initial name, "The Mutants.". Maj Lloyd Williams, Class of 1907, Williams has been attributed with one of the more famous quotes of World War I: "Retreat? Hell! We just got here!". The team's name is derived from the fact that mutants are "extra" powered due to their "X-Factor gene" which was coined by Professor X. Richard Shea, class of 1948, Awarded the Medal of Honor for actions as an army first lieutenant at Pork Chop Hill during the Korean War. This multicultural theme has persisted over the years with more and more characters of different ethnicities and cultural backgrounds constantly being added to the mythos. Femoyer, class of 1944, Eagle Scout Awarded the Medal of Honor for actions as an Army Air Force B-17 navigator on a bombing mission over Germany. During the 1970s, the roster was changed to further reflect this multiculturalism adding characters from Germany, Ireland, Russia, Africa and Japan.

Robert E. Later on the philisophies' of Professor X and Magneto would be compared to that of Martin Luther King and Malcom X respectfully. Monteith, Class of 1944, Awarded the Medal of Honor for actions as an army lieutenant at D-Day during World War II. The X-Men franchise contains a richly diverse cast that is perhaps comics' most multicultural.The book was suppose to be a social reflection on "American Perjudice". Jimmie W. Professor X, a wealthy mutant who founded an academy to train young mutants to protect themselves and the world from Magneto and other menacing threats. Thomas, class of 1944, member of Virginia Tech's Athletic Hall of Fame, Awarded the Medal of Honor for action on Bougainville Island in World War II. The X-Men were gathered by the benevolent Professor Charles Xavier, a.k.a.

Herbert J. This fact is worsened by a number of mutants and most notably the team's archnemeses Magneto and Apocalypse, who use their powers to try to disrupt and dominate the human society. Gregory, Class of 1923, Awarded the Medal of Honor for actions as an army sergeant during the Meuse Argonne Offensive in World War I. It must be noted, however, that not all of humanity fears and hates mutantkind. Earle D. Ordinary humans, Homo sapiens, often hate mutants, here termed Homo sapiens superior, because of prejudice and the fear that mutants will replace them. Gaujot, Class of 1894, Awarded the Medal of Honor for actions on the Mexican Border in 1914, the only soldier ever awarded the Medal for actions of a peacekeeping nature, brother of Antoine Gaujot. The X-Men are mutants, who in the Marvel universe are humans who, through a sudden leap in evolution, are born with latent superhuman abilities which generally manifest themselves at puberty.

Julien E. A third X-Men movie is scheduled for release in May 2006. Gaujot, Class of 1901, Awarded the Medal of Honor for actions as an army corporal at the Battle of San Mateo during the Philippine Insurrection. Its sequel X2 was released in 2003 and became the sixth highest grossing film of the year. Antoine A.M. The year 2000 saw the debut of following series X-Men: Evolution and the long-awaited X-Men movie directed by Bryan Singer. Keion Carpenter--football, defensive back for the Atlanta Falcons. Since the 1980s, the X-Men universe has branched into both television and film including one of the most successful Saturday morning programs, X-Men: The Animated Series.

Franklin Stubbs--baseball first baseman. The X-Men franchise, with its original stories of youthful alienation in which teens literally are the freaks they often figuratively feel like, has grown to become one of the most popular comic books producing dozens of spin-off series over the years and turning some of its writers and artists into industry stars. Johnny Oates--former baseball catcher, manager for the Baltimore Orioles. Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, they debuted in X-Men #1 from September 1963, the same month as the premiere of The Avengers. Michael Vick--football, quarterback for the Atlanta Falcons. The X-Men are a team of comic book superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe. Bruce Smith--former football defensive linesman for the Buffalo Bills and the Washington Redskins. The line-up of all three X-Men films:.

Kevin Jones--football running back; drafted by the Detroit Lions of the NFL. Reputable movie news site http://www.superherohype.com is now reporting that X-Men 3 screenwriter Zak Penn is now writing a third X-Men spin-off film as well. Antonio Freeman--former football wide receiver. Rebecca Romijn, who plays Mystique in the X-Men franchise has been approached about a Mystique film. André Davis, Class of 2001--football wide receiver for the Cleveland Browns and the New England Patriots. Turner has stated that "It's going to take place from 1939 Auschwitz up to 1955 or so." So it's unlikely that Ian McKellan will be reprising the role. Dell Curry--basketball player, shooting guard. The plot will deal with the character's friendship turned sour with Charles Xavier.

Vernell "Bimbo" Coles--member of the United States 1988 Olympic Basketball team; played in the National Basketball Association, ending his career with the Miami Heat. Screenwriter Sheldon Turner is currently working on bringing Magneto to the big screen in his own spin-off film. Frank Beamer, Class of 1969--football Coach at Virginia Tech. One film will star Wolverine, in which Hugh Jackman will reprise his role as the clawed warrior. Spin-offs: Lauren Donner, producer for the first two movies, has said the movie studio is interested in producing two spin-off films. Singer did not direct the third X-Men movie, as he signed on to direct Superman Returns and director Matthew Vaughn was slated to direct, but dropped out in June 2005 due to "personal issues".

In 2006, a third movie X-Men 3 directed by Brett Ratner will be released. It was an even greater success than the first movie and many fans and critics considered it a superior film. This film was loosely based on the 1982 graphic novel God Loves, Man Kills. In 2003, the sequel X2: X-Men United also directed by Singer, was released.

The film, along with the Blade series and Spider-Man gathered approval from fans and enough good reviews to begin a revival of superhero-themed movies.. In 2000, 20th Century Fox released X-Men, a $75 million film adaptation of the comic, directed by Bryan Singer. Avi Arad, CEO of Marvel Studios, stated "X-Men is one of Marvel's crown jewels and it makes sense to focus on the popular Wolverine character for our second animation project.". In 2007, Marvel Studios will put out a new X-Men animated show that will primarily feature Wolverine, this time using a mesh of 2D/3D animation for characters and backgrounds.

The series ended in 2003 after its fourth season. In 2000, Warner Brothers Network launched X-Men: Evolution which portrayed the X-Men as teenagers attending regular high school in addition to the Xavier Institute. It was put back in Fox's line up for several months after the first movie was released. It continued for five seasons ending in 1997.

The series was an extraordinary success becoming one of the most watched animated series in television history and helping widen the X-Men's popularity. In 1992, the Fox Network launched an unrelated X-Men animated series with the roster of Beast, Cyclops, Gambit, Jean Grey, Jubilee, Professor X, Rogue, Storm and Wolverine with Bishop and Cable frequently guest starring. Professor X and Kitty Pryde also appear. In 1991, an 4- and 6-player arcade game was based upon this failed series starring Cyclops, Wolverine, Colossus, Storm, Nightcrawler, and Dazzler.

The series was never picked up but the single episode aired infrequently in syndication during the Marvel Action Universe series and was later released on video. In 1989, Marvel Productions produced a pilot X-Men episode for NBC called Pryde of the X-Men. The X-Men would return the following season in the episode entitled "The X-Men Adventure." Making appearances there were Professor X, Cyclops, Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus, Sprite, and Thunderbird. The next appearance on Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends was in the episode "A Firestar is Born." Making appearances in this particular episode are Professor X, Cyclops, Angel, Wolverine, Storm, and Juggernaut (plus Magneto in a cameo appearance).

Appearing in this particular episode (in a flashback sequence only) are Professor X and the five original X-Men: Iceman, Cyclops, Marvel Girl, Angel, and Beast. The X-Men made their first ever animated appearance on the Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends episode "The Origin of Iceman". Spider-Man, Iceman and Firestar were the three regular heroes. The X-Men occasionally guest-starred on Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends.

Krakoa, the Living Island. Savage Land, a hidden prehistoric location in Antarctica. Muir Island, a Scottish island commonly associated with being the place of Moira MacTaggert's laboratory. Associated with Viper.

Madripoor, an island in Southeast Asia, near Singapore. Genosha, an African island near Madagascar and a long-time apartheid regime against mutants. Oceania: Aborigine (Gateway), Australia (Pyro, Slipstream, Lifeguard), Māori (Kiwi Black). Middle East: Israel (Gabrielle Haller and Sabra).

Sinister, Pete Wisdom and Toad), France (Fantomex although by choice, Tarot), Germany (Nightcrawler, Fenris and Maverick), Greece (Avalanche), Ireland (Banshee, Siryn and Black Tom Cassidy), Netherlands (Beak), Poland (Magneto, also Jewish), Russia (Colossus, Omega Red, Darkstar, Magik, Soul Skinner, Mikhail Rasputin and Alexi Vazhin), Scotland (Wolfsbane and Moira MacTaggert), Spain (Empath). Europe: Austria (Mystique and Destiny), England (Chamber, Psylocke, Captain Britain, Mr. Asia: Afghanistan (Dust), Bangladesh (Thunderbird III), China (Xorn I and II), Japan (Sunfire, Sunpyre, Silver Samurai, Shinobi Shaw, Yukio and Mariko Yashida), Vietnam (Karma). Americas: Apache (Thunderbird I, Warpath), Brazil (Sunspot), Cajun (Gambit), Canada (Sabretooth, Alpha Flight, Wolverine, and the Quebecois Northstar and Aurora as well as the First Nations represented by Shaman), Cheyenne (Forge, Moonstar), Chinese American (Jubilee), Jewish American (Shadowcat), Mexico (Rictor), Puerto Rico (Cecilia Reyes, Tag), Venezuela (Wind Dancer).

Africa: Algeria (M), Egypt (Apocalypse), Kenya (Storm), Morocco (Jetstream), South Africa (Maggott).