One Adrenaline-Packed X-Men Scene From 22 Years Ago Goes So Incredibly Hard, We’re Sure Even Kevin Feige Can’t Top It in MCU

The reign of the X-Men ended after 20 glorious years. With 14 myriad films in its collection, the Foxverse never fell short of wild, unpredictable, and adrenaline-packed scenes that could exterminate any other cinematic universe in its radius, especially Kevin Feige’s boy-scout-like realm of the MCU.

X-Men [Credit: 20th Century Fox]

Rising in the shadow of such legends as Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, and Michael Fassbender, the Marvel Cinematic Universe stepped into the ring in a welterweight category with Robert Downey Jr.’s Iron Man. However, in the 25 years since its advent, no MCU film (with the exception of Endgame) has had the resonance and effect on fans that the Foxverse collectively resembles.

Foxverse scores one over Kevin Feige’s MCU

Marvel’s action falls flat compared to Foxverse [Image credit: Marvel Studios]

For decades, 20th Century Fox stayed at the vanguard of the live-action comic book movie franchise, producing gems like X-Men: First Class, Days of the Future Past, and Logan. The Foxverse, as it so began to be called, gave birth to an X-Men universe where Wolverine didn’t have to be 5’5” to be iconic and the yellow spandex could be ditched for some millennium-era black leather.

With X-Men, Bryan Singer proved that mutants could be just as seductive in live-action as in its ’90s animated series. With X2, Foxverse publicized the power of gritty action in the comic book movie genre. Deadpool brought the eponymous anti-hero’s sardonic meta humor and some refreshing originality to the franchise while the semi-Western-inflected Logan left the whole world emotionally jarred and in tears.

Given the eclectic range and variety that the entire Foxverse catalog demonstrates, it is impossible to think that Kevin Feige could achieve even a fraction of the X-Men’s grit and defiance in his boy-scout Marvel universe.

More specifically, action cinematography in the MCU will forever fall short of the range and power demonstrated in the Foxverse. And to prove that, one can always rank the numerous fight scenes that stand out in the MCU versus the same in the divisively non-linear X-Men franchise.

X-Men 2 gave birth to an iconic scene for the ages

X-Men 2 feat. Magneto’s escape [Credit: 20th Century Fox]

While one could count on one hand MCU’s best and most memorable battles, the X-Men film series possesses innumerable and endlessly rewatchable action scenes. From Quicksilver’s kitchen rescue, Nightcrawler infiltrating the Oval Office, Magneto crippling an entire naval fleet, the bar fight in First Class, the showdown at the Golden Gate Bridge, and probably every scene with Logan in it – the X-Men franchise never fails to invent some blood-chilling moments.

Meanwhile, Marvel has achieved perhaps a finite number of scenes that truly resonate and stay with the fans, starting from The Winter Soldier elevator scene, Cap vs. Iron Man in Civil War, to the Battle of Wakanda in Endgame.

In X2: X-Men United, one prison escape scene featuring Sir Ian McKellen‘s Magneto deserves a spot at the top for its originality and inventiveness. While held captive in a plastic prison, the anti-hero drains the iron from the blood of one of the prison guards delivering his food and uses three metal balls shaped from the iron to kill his way to freedom.

Magneto escaping from prison is still one of the hardest scenes in a comic book movie pic.twitter.com/RQGTOyp2g9

The scene goes incredibly hard, especially considering the slow build-up with Mystique drugging the prison guard to later aid in Magneto’s escape and the dawning realization on the audience’s part about how the plan would work out in Magneto’s favor. The choreography of the escape ended up giving the fans a twisted new outlook on Newton’s cradle.

Meanwhile, the scene stands out as it shows the terrifying extent of Magneto’s true powers and how helpless people truly are in the presence of his god-like abilities.

X2 is currently streaming on Disney+.