X-Men

There are several video games for various platforms starring the X-Men. Although he is not particularly strong nor a great leaper, his height, long arms, and quickness allow him to play effective defense even against the strongest players. In 1996, FOX produced a television movie based on the X-Men spinoff Generation X. The mobile defense that is demanded from Yao is believed to be a factor in his fatigue. 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. On defense, Yao does not stay put in the paint, because his team's defensive scheme calls for him to chase offensive players on the perimeter and trap pick and rolls. The first attempts to make a film version of the X-Men began in the late 1980s along with Spider-Man and Hulk films. A comparison of the actual percentage of opposing teams' shot attempts that are blocked by Yao to the block percentages of other players reveals that Yao is an elite shotblocker.

The X-Men also introduced several fictional locations which are regarded as important within the shared universe in which Marvel Comics characters exist:. It should be noted that the Rockets play a slow-paced style of basketball and that Yao does not get many minutes for a star player (because of a combination of low stamina and a tendency to pick up fouls), both factors that would lead to lower stats. Wells, having portrayed to some degree the experience of disfigured people in late twentieth century American society. However, Yao's wingspan is still longer than average. 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. Some analysts blame Yao's number of blocks on his proportionately short wingspan, which, unlike many other players, is slightly less than his height. Homosexual characters include Northstar, Destiny, and Karma, Anole, with Mystique portrayed as being bisexual. Although he is among the league's leaders in blocked shots, many people criticize Yao's shotblocking abilities because they believe that at his height, he should average even more (Yao did not reach an average of 2 blocks per game until the end of his third season).

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. Defensively, Yao's height makes him an intimidator and deterrent in the paint, although many still feel he is not nearly as strong in the low post as he can be. In addition, characters within the X-Men mythos also reflect religious, ethnic or sexual minorities. He finished third in field goal percentage in the NBA for the 2004-2005 season. 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:. His field goal percentage, however, has been impressive. Since Giant-Size X-Men #1 (1975), the X-Men have also become famous for their wide cultural and ethnic diversity. His shot attempts are low compared to other elite players, thereby limiting his points per game average.

Thus, the effects of alienation on one's well-being and psyche are often explored in the franchise. However, Yao is considered a consummate team player, often giving up shot opportunities and passing to his teammates. 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. Some specific criticism of his game is that he is not particularly aggressive and has trouble maintaining his stamina. This metaphorical content is also present, more personally rather than politically, in some of the characters. He has great fundamentals along with a great sense of court instincts. 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. Yao's court vision is excellent for a big man as is his passing ability.

The mutant "power" that must be hidden from the world is analogous to feelings of difference and fear usually developed in everyone during adolescence. He is very mobile and runs the floor well for a big man but Jeff Van Gundy runs a slow system that does not push the ball up the floor. 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. He is among the league leaders in free throw shooting for centers, shooting over 80% for his career. 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. He has an accurate jump shot as far as 20 feet (he even made one 3 pointer in his rookie season and several in his CBA career) but he scores primarily within 10-12 feet of the basket through an assortment of hook shots, turn arounds, and slam dunks. 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. While not particularly athletic, his height provides an excellent method of shooting over defenders.

It should be noted, though, that issues of class stratification have never been part of the X-Men’s creed. Yao is considered by many to be the NBA's most versatile center. 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). In the 2006 NBA All-Star game after the second balloting returns, Yao again led all NBA players with 1,319,868 votes, while Kobe Bryant had 1,213,387 votes, the second most. 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. However, he is back, after missing out twenty-one games and scored 15 points against Memphis Grizzles. Occasionally, undercurrents of the "red scare" are present. He was placed on the inactive list, and estimates were that he would be unable to play for 6 to 8 weeks.

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. On December 18, 2005, with the rest of the team staying in Los Angelas to play the Lakers, Yao returned to Houston to have surgery performed on the toe. In the comic books, Magneto has routinely sought to establish a "mutant homeland" which may be a parallel to modern day Israel. The toe had been giving him trouble since its nail had fallen off in the preseason, and Yao blamed Danny Fortson for aggrevating it in a game against the Sonics in Seattle. At one point he even utters the words "never again" in a 1992 episode of the X-Men animated series. However, twenty-two games into his fourth season Yao was forced onto the inactive list for an extended period for the first time in his career due to an acute case of osteomyelitis in the big toe on his left foot. Magneto, a Holocaust survivor sees the situation of mutants as similar to those of Jews in Nazi Germany. He missed no games in his first two seasons, and failed to play in only two during his third.

Somewhat more explicitly suggested is the comparison to anti-semitism. Although players his size have historically been unreliable, Yao had been very durable his first three seasons in the NBA. 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. In 2005, Yao became the subject of a documentary film, The Year of the Yao, which focuses on his first year in the United States. Ian McKellen (who played Magneto in the film) was involved. This was mostly aided by the fact that Shaquille O'Neal was traded to the Eastern Conference Miami Heat during the offseason but it is also a testament to Yao's rise to one of the NBA's elite. 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. He was voted as a Western Conference All-Star in February after shattering the record for most All-Star votes, breaking Michael Jordan's previous record.

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. The Rockets were eliminated in first round of the 2005 NBA Playoffs by the Dallas Mavericks in 7 games, during which Yao averaged 21.4 points, 7.7 rebounds, and 2.71 blocks per game, including three 30+ point games. Comparisons have been made between the mutants' situation, including the concealment of their powers and the age they realize these powers and homosexuality. On 11 March 2005, Yao logged an impressive "20/20" game against the Phoenix Suns in which he scored 27 points, grabbed 22 rebounds, and blocked 5 shots. Another civil rights metaphor applied to the X-Men is that of gay rights. In 2004–05, his third season in the NBA, Yao had another impressive season leading the Rockets along with offseason acquisition Tracy McGrady to their second straight playoffs. He was, wrote Darius, explicitly counter-revolutionary. He was selected to the All-Olympics team with his dominating performance, averaging 20.7 points and 9.3 rebounds per game while shooting 55.9% from the field.

In the earliest comics, Xavier expressed no concern with mutant rights but instead focusing on stopping mutant menaces. After some sub-par displays, where China slumped 58–83, 57–82 and 52–89 against Spain, Argentina and Italy respectively, they came back with a miraculous 67–66 win over reigning world champions Serbia and Montenegro; Yao practically carried the team with 27 points. 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. He then famously vowed to abstain from shaving his beard for half a year unless the Chinese national basketball team made it into the quarter-finals. 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. During the 2004 Athens Olympics, Yao carried the Chinese flag during the opening ceremony. While this interpretation has become commonplace, it is not without its critics. However, his performance left no doubt that Yao would be the next dominant center of the NBA.

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. Despite his efforts, the team was eliminated by the Lakers in the first round.
. Yao was also instrumental in helping the Rockets claim the seventh seed in the 2003–04 Playoffs. 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. His improvement was showcased by his 16 points and 4 rebounds in only 20 minutes in his second All-Star game. and Magneto to the more militant Malcolm X. He was voted the starting center of the 2004 NBA All-Star game for the second year in a row (once again ahead of Shaquille O'Neal).

Professor X has been compared to African American civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. As a result, Yao averaged 17.5 points and 9.0 rebounds per game (both team highs), and scored a career-high 41 points against the Atlanta Hawks in February. 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. Van Gundy ran a slower offense with a higher emphasis on Yao. The conflict between mutants and normal humans is often compared to the experience minority groups such as African-Americans, homosexuals. Before the start of Yao's sophomore season, the Rockets' head coach Rudy Tomjanovich had resigned due to health issues and long time New York Knicks head coach Jeff Van Gundy was brought in. The entire X-Men franchise is built on a sociopolitical undercurrent. Among his efforts was a telethon he hosted, which raised $300,000 to help stop the disease.

Notable story arcs of this time are "House of M" in 2005, "Wild Kingdom" in 2005, and Decimation in 2005 and 2006. During the NBA's offseason in 2003, Yao spent a great deal of time helping to raise money and awareness of SARS in his home country. 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. Yao finished the season averaging 13.5 points and 8.2 rebounds per game, second among rookies, in addition to a rookie-class best 1.8 blocks per game, and finishing 2nd in rookie of the year voting, losing out to high schooler Amare Stoudemire of the Phoenix Suns. 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. Following the All-Star break in 2003, Yao continued the consistency he showed in the first half of the year, as he helped the Rockets unsuccessfully battle for a playoff spot. As well, Cable and Deadpool's books, Soldier X and Agent X, were rolled into one book, Cable and Deadpool. Thanks to paper balloting, Yao went on to finish ahead of O'Neal that year by a margin of 29,000 votes overall.

Several short-lived spin-offs and mini-series started including Gambit, Rogue, District X, Phoenix: Endsong, Colossus: Bloodline and Jubilee. These paper ballots were handed out in NBA arenas and shopping malls in the United States and Chinese fans were unable to vote on them. This period also included the deaths and resurrections, most notably Psylocke and Colossus. Yao managed to make up for this by outvoting O'Neal in paper balloting. Decades-long relationships all disintegrated specially Jean Grey and Cyclops. In fact, for the 2004 All-Star Game, the year in which Yao won the starting spot by the smallest margin in his career, he actually received around 4,000 fewer online votes than his rival, Shaquille O'Neal. Also memorable villains, most notably Cassandra Nova. However, despite the significant backlash against Yao, no actual figures have yet been provided to prove that Chinese fans have ever been the deciding factor in All-Star voting.

This period also featured the return of Rachel Summers, now Rachel Grey, Jean Grey's daughter from an alternate future. Yao's main Western Conference rival at center in his first two seasons, Shaquille O'Neal, has also cited Yao's support from Chinese fans as the reason why he receives more All-Star votes. Notable additions to the X-Men have been X-23, Stacy X, Emma Frost, Xorn and Sage. These fans are quick to point out China's massive population as an unfair advantage in favor of Yao. 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. Many basketball fans have criticized Yao's All-Star selections, claiming that he could not be voted in as a starter without the substantial number of votes he receives from his native China, as the NBA had extended its online fan voting for the All-Star starters to that country for the first time in 2002–03. 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. Although he scored only two points and grabbed only two rebounds in 16 minutes of play, his selection proved how popular he was with fans, as he garnered more votes than established NBA stars such as Shaquille O'Neal.

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.. In February, Yao was rewarded for his excellent play by being selected as the starting center for the Western Conference in the 2003 NBA All-Star Game in Atlanta. Morrison left Marvel on 2004 and Xtreme X-Men was cancelled. Featured in advertisements of Apple, Gatorade, and a popular Super Bowl ad for Visa, it did not take long for "Yao Ming" to become a household name. He was soon removed on his two flagship titles in early 2001 and created his own spinoff series, X-Treme X-Men. His likability inspired a catchy song in the Houston area by artists Chance McClain and Kevin Ryan (loosely based on the popular "Olé" chants you would hear at a European football game), and, despite being just a rookie, Yao quickly became one of the league's most marketable players. In 2000s, Claremont returned to Marvel. That sort of good humour and light-heartedness off the court, plus his reputation for being very personable, made him extremely popular among fans.

In 1998 Excalibur and X-Factor ended and the latter replaced with the parallel world series Mutant X starring Havok. Yao took it in stride, and eased the situation by joking that "Chinese is a hard language to learn.". Marvel launched solo series for characters including Cable, Gambit, Bishop and Deadpool, the last a sarcastic mercenary antagonist of X-Force. O'Neal was criticized for comments he made before the season when asked about the matchups, as he told a reporter to leave Yao a message which mimicked the Chinese language. 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. Shaq games. The 1990s saw an even greater number of X-books with numerous ongoing series and miniseries running concurrently. Eventually, he was perceived as a rival to the Lakers' star center Shaquille O'Neal, turning Rockets/Lakers games into Yao vs.

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. He put up only a few big games, largely because he did not play as many minutes in games, but he helped his team whenever he took to the court. Notable additions to the X-Men have been Gambit, Forge, Jubilee, and Bishop. By December and January, Yao was proving to be a highly consistent starter. 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. By the end of the month, Yao was firmly entrenched in the starting lineup. 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. Two games later, against the Rockets' in-state rival Dallas Mavericks, he deposited 30 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in a game that showed that Yao could definitely play as a starter.

Internal friction split the X-Men books' creative teams. This performance led to a memorable televised incident where TNT basketball analyst Charles Barkley, having lost a bet in which he stated Yao would never score 19 points in a game for the season, was supposed to literally kiss up to his TNT co-analyst Kenny Smith, but was forced to fulfill the bet on a donkey brought onto the TV set by Smith. The original series of this title having been already renamed to Uncanny X-Men. In a game against the Los Angeles Lakers, he scored 20 points, making all of his shots (9 field goals and two free throws) against one of the best teams in the NBA.
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. However, he began to turn things around in mid-November. This period also included the arrival of the mysterious Madelyne Pryor and the return of Jean Grey. He started the regular season on the bench, and seemed to be a long project and years away from becoming a major contributor to the team.

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. Yao's preseason performances, however, were questionable, and left many wondering why he was the first overall pick. Notable additions to the X-Men have been Shadowcat, Rogue, Dazzler, Psylocke, Longshot and Jubilee. This helped reinforce his reputation and led many to predict that Yao would become the next dominant NBA center. 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. After making the all-tournament team in Indianapolis, he played with NBA rookie-to-be Manu Ginobili and NBA stars Dirk Nowitzki and Peja Stojakovic. 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. Yao played with the Chinese national team at the FIBA World Championships in Indianapolis during the 2002 offseason.

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. college experience to be selected first overall. 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. In the 2002 NBA Draft, Yao became the first international player without 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. The Rockets needed a center after the departure of long-time star Hakeem Olajuwon a year before, and decided Yao would be able to fill their void. 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. It caught the interest of the team with the #1 overall draft pick, the Houston Rockets.

Rather than teenagers, this group consisted of adults who hailed from a variety of nations and cultures. Widely considered a top prospect, he allegedly wowed scouts with a terrific exhibition at a draft camp. 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. Yao automatically became eligible for the 2002 NBA Draft, with international players being eligible if they were 22 at the start of the NBA season. 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. He was even more dominant in the playoffs and had a game in which he made all 21 shots he attempted. In 1969, writer Roy Thomas and artist Neal Adams rejuvenated the franchise and introduced two new characters Havok/Alex Summers and Polaris/Lorna Dane. He won a sportsmanship award and, more importantly, led his team, the Shanghai Sharks, to a CBA title (ironically, the team he helped beat was a "Rockets" team, the Bayi Rockets).

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. This proved to be a good decision, as he played even better in 2001–02, scoring 32 points and grabbing 19 rebounds per game with a 72% field goal percentage, second in the league in both points and rebounds per game. 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. However, after the CBA assured him that he would not get released from their league if he entered the draft, Yao chose not to enter the 2001 NBA Draft. 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. Having been a veteran of international competition for several years, he played wonderfully in the Sydney 2000 Summer Olympics, and was a teammate of Wang Zhizhi and Mengke Bateer on the Chinese National Team where they became known as “The Walking Great Wall”, but it was his MVP selection that put him in the minds of NBA scouts. 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. The 2000–01 season proved highly fruitful for Yao, as he became MVP of the league at the age of 20 with a fantastic year, scoring 27 points and grabbing an exceptional 19 rebounds per game.

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. Missing much of the following season to injury, he returned in 1999–2000 with 21 points, a league-best 14 rebounds, and over 5 blocks per game. Professor X. He put together a solid year for a young player, scoring 10 points and grabbing 9 rebounds a game in 1997–98. The X-Men were founded by the paraplegic telepath Professor Charles Francis Xavier, a.k.a. Yao Ming debuted in the Chinese Basketball Association as a presumably shorter 17-year old. . .

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.". Yao Ming is currently the tallest player in NBA basketball, listed at a playing height of 7 feet, 6 inches (2.29 m). 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. He currently plays center for the Houston Rockets in the National Basketball Association. 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. Yao Ming (Chinese: 姚明; Hanyu Pinyin: Yáo Míng; born September 12, 1980 in Shanghai, China) is a Chinese professional basketball player. During the 1970s, the roster was changed to further reflect this multiculturalism adding characters from Germany, Ireland, Russia, Africa and Japan.

Later on the philisophies' of Professor X and Magneto would be compared to that of Martin Luther King and Malcom X respectfully. 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". 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. The X-Men were gathered by the benevolent Professor Charles Xavier, a.k.a.

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. It must be noted, however, that not all of humanity fears and hates mutantkind. Ordinary humans, Homo sapiens, often hate mutants, here termed Homo sapiens superior, because of prejudice and the fear that mutants will replace them. 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.

A third X-Men movie is scheduled for release in May 2006. Its sequel X2 was released in 2003 and became the sixth highest grossing film of the year. The year 2000 saw the debut of following series X-Men: Evolution and the long-awaited X-Men movie directed by Bryan Singer. 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.

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. 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. The X-Men are a team of comic book superheroes in the Marvel Comics universe. The line-up of all three X-Men films:.

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. Rebecca Romijn, who plays Mystique in the X-Men franchise has been approached about a Mystique film. 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. The plot will deal with the character's friendship turned sour with Charles Xavier.

Screenwriter Sheldon Turner is currently working on bringing Magneto to the big screen in his own spin-off film. 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).