In one of the biggest “Duh” stories I have heard in some time, it seems that Bryan Singer recently made comments about his regrets in not directing ‘X-Men: The Last Stand.’ For those who do not remember the circumstances, Singer was working on ‘The Last Stand’ and he was offered the directing role for ‘Superman Returns,’ and he abandoned the franchise that he launched, taking with him his screenwriters, cinematographer, composer, and even one of his actors, which is part of why they killed Cyclops very early in ‘The Last Stand.’ Which is already bad enough, but Singer abandoned his franchise to do a terrible ‘Superman’ sequel that got middling returns, a dubious critical consensus, and basically killed the film career for Brandon Routh. Meanwhile, the third ‘X-Men’ film was helmed by questionable director Brett Ratner, who mucked up both the mutant cure and Dark Phoenix storylines by fusing them together into a huge mess, and whose only real contribution to the franchise was the casting choice of Kelsey Grammer as Beast. So yeah, Bryan Singer, I would definitely understand why you would “regret” not making ‘The Last Stand.’
In Singer’s own words:
“I like finishing things. I like finishing this particular iteration. I know X-Men 3 was quite rushed and I didn’t complete it, and I felt a little like it was probably my responsibility to do that as a filmmaker, and I didn’t.”
He goes on to state:
“I might not have killed all those characters. But that’s what was so fun about Days of Future Past. We had a joke on set: ‘Hey Brian, you’re not only directing Days of Future Past — you’re actually living it!’ I was going back and making changes in history. [With X-Men: The Last Stand], I don’t fault anyone, including myself. It was just that circumstances didn’t allow for it to happen.”
It has taken a lot of work for this ‘X-Men’ fan to warm up to Singer again after the state he left the franchise in, though that grief was helped along by his work on ‘First Class’ and directing ‘Days of Future Past,’ which brought the franchise back to its former glory, in my opinion. Here’s hoping he gets ‘Apocalypse’ right and finally manages to finish an ‘X-Men’ trilogy correctly, otherwise I may not be too sad to see him leaving the franchise.
What are your thoughts on Singer? Do you think the ‘X-Men’ movies can survive without him? Share your opinions in the comments below!
Source: Cinema Blend
