Part II, Chapter IX: "Evolution"
“The films are much bigger now, but the modern superhero films owe almost everything to the two big franchises of the 1990s, Batman and X-Men.”
- Stan Lee, during an interview in 2015.
1989 would prove to be one of the most important years in cinema for the burgeoning superhero film genre. DC would release the Tim Burton directed
Batman, and Marvel would have some success with
The Trial of the Incredible Hulk. The darker
Punisher however, would prove to be a large flop, being critically panned. [1]
There was no denying that DC was dominating the market when it came to adaptations of comic book material.
Batman proved to be a great success, starring Michael Keaton as Batman and Tim Curry as the Joker. While there was some criticism for how dark the film was, critics gave it positive reviews nonetheless.
With a successful Batman film under his belt, Burton was, unsurprisingly, asked to return to direct a sequel. Burton was none too keen on the prospect, agreeing to return only if the story “offered something new and exciting”. Despite the lack of a confirmed director, work soon began on the sequel, to be titled “Batman Returns”. [2]
Marvel needed to do something big if it was to compete with DC on the big screen. There had been many plans for Marvel films to be made, but few had come to fruition.
This would change in 1989, as talks between Stan Lee and Carolco Pictures turned into an agreement. The film rights to the X-Men characters were leased out to Carolco Pictures, and work began on the first film in what was hoped to be a franchise to beat
Batman. [3]
Work on
Wolverine and the X-Men began slowly at first, with Kathryn Bigelow attached to direct, James Cameron producing, and Gary Goldman writing. In 1989, only two main parts would be cast, with Bob Hoskins playing Wolverine and Angela Basset playing Storm. [4]
As 1989 passed, work began in earnest on completing the roster, and hopefully, beginning filming.
[1] Most of this update is OTL, but most of what happens for Marvel and DC here on out isn't.
[2] More OTL, the main change here is the casting of Tim Curry as the Joker, rather than Jack Nicholson. As a result, the Joker doesn't end up overshadowing Batman so much. Other casts are as OTL.
[3] This fell through in OTL, as James Cameron became distracted by the possibility of a Spider-Man film. This doesn't happen here, and we get some 1990s X-Men films.
[4] Why were only two main characters cast? These were the only two characters that they seemed to have people in mind for. I'm working on the other characters, but would appreciate suggestions if you have them.