Rumors have been running rampant that the upcoming MCU X-Men film will feature the original five X-Men from 1963, together on screen (as a team) for the first time. The fact that we have three of the five founders – Jean Grey, Cyclops, and Angel – all now cast, with reports of Beast soon to be cast as well, it seems that the original five, or “O5,” as X-Men fans call them, will be the MCU’s “First Class.”
But what about announced X-Men in the cast like Storm, Rogue, and Emma Frost? Actually, we think the movie is going to set up a rival institution of learning to Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. And the reason we believe this all comes down to Samara Weaving’s role as Emma Frost.
Xavier’s School Had a Rival in the Comics — The Massachusetts Academy
In the early ‘80s, Uncanny X-Men writer Chris Claremont had introduced the Hellfire Club as one of the X-Men’s primary foes. This elite and decadent society, run by an Inner Circle of powerful mutants, first made itself known during The Dark Phoenix Saga. One of the Hellfire Club’s leaders, psychic Emma Frost, was the Club’s White Queen. In 1981, Claremont introduced the Hellfire Club’s Massachusetts Academy, an elite school for mutants. This school is where Emma Frost taught her students to be more aggressive and that they were innately superior to baseline humans. These students earned the nickname “the Hellions.”
The Hellions Were A Thorn in the Side of Xavier’s Class of New Mutants
The Hellions had a lot of drama with the X-Men. Emma Frost even tried to recruit Kitty Pryde into the Hellions. Later on, the New Mutants had a very “Gryffindor vs. Slytherin” rivalry with them. In the ’90s, the Hellions were all killed in a Sentinel attack, leaving Emma Frost in a coma for years. When she awoke, she realized her aggressive ways of teaching led to the death of her students. She then changed her ways (somewhat) and joined Xavier’s faculty. And we think the MCU may adapt all of this, only with a few different characters.
Emma Frost Could Teach at Her Own School in the MCU
We predict the O5 make up the main X-Men for the bulk of the film. We could then see Emma as headmistress of a rival school, just as in the ‘80s comics. Rogue, who began her comics existence as a villain, might be one of her students. Storm could be the same, even if she has no history of being villainous in the comics. The movie X-Men: Apocalypse did have her start her journey as a misguided mutant who switches sides by the end. So we could see the MCU doing this as well with Ororo Munroe. These more well-known mutants could replace the more obscure Hellions.
With Adam Driver as Mister Sinister in the film, we could see his character bankroll this darker school for mutants. We could also see the Hellions specifically trying to recruit the immensely powerful Jean Grey into the fold. And we suspect that by the film’s end, characters like Emma, Rogue, and Storm switch sides, and join the X-Men. This way, the movie starts with the O5, in keeping with Marvel Comics canon, but ends with characters from more popular eras of X-Men comics on the roster. It’s a win-win for longtime fans. And hopefully, the rival school has some more mutants who eventually switch sides. We know we’d love to see Colossus and Nightcrawler specifically. We’ll see if our predictions are correct when Marvel Studios’ X-Men arrives in July, 2028.