The Best of the X-Men

Since 2000, the popular comic books about the adventures of the mutant X-Men have been brought to life in several films. Many actors have become famous simply for their role in X-Men, or have become synonymous with their character. Here are some of the most popular actors and their alter ego from the various films.

Hugh Jackman as Wolverine
Wolverine was Canadian and short but they cast Hugh Jackman who was a tall Australian that seemed opposite to the role. However, Jackman did such a good job that people can't imagine anyone else as Wolverine. When Jackman played the gay character Peter Allen on Broadway, fans would shout at him when his character had to kiss another man. Wolverine is so masculine that when Jackman takes on a portrayal of something so opposite to the mutant, people tend to get upset.

Sir Patrick Stewart as Prof. X
Stewart was a natural choice after his career making role in Star Trek. Prof. X was no doubt an intelligent person and his sense of duty was what Stewart's Capt. Picard was known for. It also helped that Stewart and Prof. X were both bald. In the three X-Men films from 2000 to 2006, Stewart became synonymous with Charles Xavier the same way he became so identified with Capt. Picard.

Sir Ian McKellen as Magneto
McKellen was so sinister as Magneto that it could not have been tasked with anyone else. Some have suggested that Malcolm McDowell would have been a good Magneto but only McKellen was tortured and charming at the same time. Even when Magneto was at his most wicked, there was still a vulnerable and broken man inside, and some fans were sympathetic to him. McKellen’s Magneto seemed both a Warlord and a damaged soul that we may not agree with his tactics but we understand why he does them.

Famke Janssen as Jean Grey a.k.a. the Phoenix
Janssen brought a dual intensity to the sensible Jean Grey and a fiery rage as the Phoenix. In most of the scenes as Dr. Grey, Janssen gave off a sense of understanding of her fate as a mutant. When she became the Phoenix and unleashed her untapped powers, she joined the Brotherhood, and inspired fear even in Magneto. Janssen was a combination of sexy psychopath and dedicated doctor and wife.

James McAvoy as the young Charles Xavier
McAvoy was very believable as a young version of the leader of the mutant school. It also helps that he shares the kind of old soul and sensibility with Patrick Stewart. If anything, McAvoy gave a dimension to Xavier that was not seen but only hinted at in other X-Men films.

Michael Fassbender as the young Erik Lenscherr
Before Mystique christened him Magneto, the leader of the Brotherhood was Erik Lenscherr the Holocaust survivor. Fassbender was actually told not to study Ian McKellen in previous X-Men films. Instead, he was directed to model the young Magneto after the 1962 James Bond film Dr. No. Fassbender also did a surprise move by giving us a very sexy version of Magneto. Who would've thought that Magneto was hotter than Wolverine?