Shaq, Mariah Carey, and Michael Jackson Wanted to be in Fox's First X-Men Movie

With Marvel Studios releasing 10 years worth of movies and DC trying to play catch up with their own cinematic universe, it's hard to believe that superhero films used to be pretty niche. Thankfully, movies like X-Men and Spider-Man proved that the genre could thrive, though the misfires that came after them almost drowned out the efforts of those releases. Now that Fox's X-Men is turning 20-years old, people who worked on the movie revealed that a number of stars wanted in on this now popular film.

During a lengthy retrospective from Observer, screenwriter David Hayter revealed that celebrities like Terence Stamp and Mariah Carey wanted to be in the movie. Executive Producer Ralph Winter also confirmed that stars like Michael Jackson and Shaquille O'Neal wanted to play Professor Xavier and Forge respectively, the latter of whom was not in the movie.

Hayter: "Patrick Stewart didn't want to [play Charles Xavier]. It took a long time to convince him. Terence Stamp told me, ‘You know why Patrick doesn't want to do it? Because of the chair. He doesn't want to be stuck in the chair. But I don't mind. In fact, I also look excellent bald.' Everyday I was surprised by the faces coming in. Like, I'd find Mariah Carey sitting in my office wanting to go talk to Bryan (Singer) about being Storm or something. So that's always shocking."

Winter: "I have lots of warm memories of people that came in wanting to be in the movie. Michael Jackson was a big comic fan and wanted to play Charles Xavier. Shaquille O'Neal showed up at the offices and wanted to play Forge, who wasn't in the movie."

The interview also reveals a number of actors who turned down these roles, like Charlize Theron, who they wanted to be Jean Grey, Russel Crowe, and Viggo Mortensen, both of whom were approached to be Wolverine. Even Professor Xavier himself Patrick Stewart was a bit hesitant to star in the movie, which Terence Stamp tried to use as a way to get the role himself.

X-Men might be a bit flawed now when compared to MCU films but the movie did give us a good blueprint on how superhero movies should be done. We're sure an MCU X-Men will be very good but one can't help but feel that Marvel Studios wouldn't even be a thing if not for a niche movie about mutants trying to fight for their rights in a world dominated by humans.

Fans can watch X-Men now on Blu-Ray, DVD, and digital stores.

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