Believe it or not, this year marks the twentieth anniversary of the original X-Men film. That particular movie started a franchise lasting 19 years and 12 movies. It also initiated the concept of Marvel as a powerhouse cinematic brand. So no X-Men, no MCU. As a way of celebrating two decades of the leather-clad mutants, Funko has just announced a special X-Men anniversary wave of Pop! vinyls, one that encompasses the entire original X-Men trilogy.
Funko / Marvel
Among the Pop! figures in this wave are two different versions of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine; one in his X-Men costume, with the other in his street clothes. There’s a Patrick Stewart version of Professor Xavier, along with Ian McKellan’s Magneto. Rounding out the characters from the first film are Mystique, Storm, Rogue, and Cyclops. From the other films in the original trilogy, there’s Nightcrawler from X2; and Beast and Jean Grey as Dark Phoenix from X-Men: The Last Stand.
Funko / Marvel
Of course, there will be exclusives as well. Target and Walmart will feature metallic versions of Magneto (naturally) along with Mystique.
Funko / Marvel
For many years, there were little to no X-Men movie-based toys, outside of the occasional high end item. This had to do with licensing agreements between Marvel and Fox. But with the Fox/Disney merger, there can now be toys aplenty for the cinematic franchise. In fact, Hasbro was only recently allowed to create Marvel Legends action figures for the original movie series, which they debuted at this year’s Toy Fair.
Hopefully, this not just a one-off celebrating the original film’s twentieth anniversary. Because the X-Men also have another big anniversary this year, as 2020 marks 45 years since the debut of the “All-New, All-Different X-Men” in the pages of Marvel Comics. I know fans would love to see those classic iterations of the characters. They deserve to get their shot at Funko Pop glory as well.
Featured Image: Funko / Marvel
