Available on VOD February 6, 2018
Now with the acquisition of FOX studios by Disney, X-Men is set to have a new renaissance in film and the media and “Chris Claremont’s X-Men” is available to audiences and comic book fans in a brand new feature length edition. Director Patrick Meaney adds over thirty minutes to his biography of Chris Claremont, featuring brand new interviews, extended interviews and even insights in to the franchise. From the comics, to the animated series, and movies, both old and upcoming, we manage to garner some keen and interesting looks in to the mind of Claremont, the man who made the X-Men as we know it.
“Chris Claremont’s X-Men” is the story of the X-Men and how they were created by Stan Lee as a means of creating a new super team. On the brink of cancellation and woefully obscure, often taking a back seat to the Avengers and Fantastic Four, Marvel decided to give their mutant team a make over. With the make over they hired Chris Claremont, an aspiring actor who was brought in to write and re-invent the X-Men, given carte blanche in how he portrayed the characters. Through this new renaissance we were given almost quintessential versions of characters like Cyclops and Jean Grey, while also being introduced to iconic, diverse characters like Storm, Nightcrawler, Colossus and Wolverine.
“X-Men” fans will find this documentary a wonderful companion to “The Image Revolution” as it’s yet another documentary about a maverick creator who grew jaded after years of working with Marvel Comics. The way Claremont re-invented the characters of X-Men, allowing for true diversity and squeezing in a ton of unique, explosive heroes and villains is truly engaging to watch, especially when we learn his creative process. I love how Claremont decided to work against conventions and tropes in fiction, even turning the demonic Nightcrawler in to a swashbuckling, mischievous, albeit devoutly religious hero. There’s also the humorous creation of Wolverine which fans will surely gt a kick out of. “Chris Claremont’s X-Men” will offer some neat insight in to the creative process behind one of the comic book medium’s most innovative minds, and it’s a great treat for X-Men buffs.