15. Deathstrike
Unsheathing her adamantium fingernails, Deathstrike’s appearance in “X2: X-Men United” immediately made her the most fearsome of Wolverine’s foes. Shorn of her complex comic back-story, Deathstrike is sadly reduced to being a henchman in the film, brainwashed by Col. Stryker’s mind-control serum. Kelly Hu’s rare moments when Deathstrike gains control of her mind reveals a quiet, wordless vulnerability, bringing unlikely pathos to such an underwritten part. And when she lets loose, taking the fight to Wolverine, it’s a spectacular throwdown, the best one-on-one fight of the Singer films thus far. Death has a certain ambiguity with this crowd — we wouldn’t mind Deathstrike somehow returning to the “X-Men” world, particularly considering Hu’s always been signed to multiple films, and her character has a secret past we’d all like to know about.
14. Storm
Because she’s had such a diverse history, the filmmakers behind the “X-Men” films were able to have Storm develop her own identity within these films independent of continuity. How peculiar that they opted for aggressive malevolence: Storm’s had plenty of dialogue scenes where she basically whispers her opposition to humans and her hope that she might one day give in to her anger and take her fury out on the human race. In the first film, she gets snippy with Senator Kelly, to the point of delivering veiled threats. In the second film, she actually suggests to Nightcrawler that he open his heart up to hate against their human oppressors. And in the third movie, she’s so defiant against the “mutant cure” that she basically walks around Xavier’s Mansion throwing hissy fits. The new movie shows that her militancy wasn’t a front, so at least there’s consistency there. But they really missed a chance to make her formidable on the battlefield: she’s basically a plot device these films, asked by others to create rain or dissipate fog like she was a machine.
13. Rogue
The movies’ biggest departure from the comics has to be Rogue, the Southern belle of the page turned into a much more demure younger woman. As played by Oscar winner Anna Paquin, Rogue is a scared runaway in the first movie, hanging out with Wolverine as she attempts to distance herself from her home life, and an accident that may have cost a boyfriend his life. Unfortunately, the movies end up trapping her in love triangles, without establishing if she’s part of the main team or just another student. In the second film, she finds herself attached to Iceman; even though it’s clear Pyro sees chances to impress her. And in the third one, she has to deal with Iceman straying towards Kitty Pryde, eventually opting to change herself to better suit his needs and keep his affections. It’s just one of many questionable creative decisions that the third film makes in regards to the female characters, turning Rogue into not a hero or independent woman, but someone who needs to alter the essence of their being just to be with a boy.
12. Nightcrawler
Though he only had one shot at playing the character, Alan Cumming created a pretty unique Kurt Wagner in “X2: X-Men United.” The movie decided to chuck the humor and peculiar sensuality of Nightcrawler in the comics, instead taking things in another direction, creating a character of strong, overly guilty Catholic faith. While this dour reading meant that any arc he underwent would be truncated, limited to that film’s fifth or sixth most pressing storyline, his appearance was notable, from the sharply-detailed body paint and hoof-like fingers to his intricately designed tattoos. Of course, there’s also that first scene in “X2: X-Men United” when Nightcrawler lets loose in the White House, BAMFing all over the building in an impressive display of power, showcasing not only his dynamite teleportation skills but also the lethal aspects of his prehensile tail. Though he had some good material with Halle Berry’s Storm, Cumming did not return to the role, which is unfortunate since his powers skill set would have definitely granted him membership on the team.
11. Sebastian Shaw
In the midst of every civil rights struggle, there are opportunists. Such is the nature of Sebastian Shaw, a sniveling salesman who manages to capitalize on both World War II and the Cold War. When he threatens Magneto during the Holocaust, you realize this is just the latest of several mutant children he’s captured and tortured, physically and emotionally. His jackboot authority suited him well during the war, but when the sixties rolled around; Shaw switched gears and sexualized his act, becoming a swaggerlicious vanilla ice cream suit-wearing slime ball who attempts to maneuver the world into nuclear war that would allow the remnants of a nuked society to be ruled over by the Children Of The Atom. In Matthew Vaughn’s “X-Men: First Class,” the film cannily argues that, unlike previous comic book villains, Shaw’s style is based in the seeds of capitalism, desires that lead him to betray his own kind with a smile on his face, making him maybe the most insidious of X-baddies. True to form, Kevin Bacon adds to the colorful roster of bad guys on his resume, playing Shaw as a slime ball with genuine threat, a guy who’ll make one effort to recruit you before crushing you underneath his foot. If Shaw wants you on his team, best to join or pay the price.