Summary
20th Century Fox’sX-Menfranchise delivered some brilliant moments of comedy and lightheartedness throughout its two-decade-long history. Ryan Reynolds' debut in theMCUas Wade Wilson’s Deadpool has reminded audiences how funnyFox’s formerX-Menfranchisecould be, even though most of Fox’s mutants' adventures were often intense, emotional and dramatic. It’s not only Deadpool who delivered some hilarious scenes, as other characters, including Wolverine, Storm, Professor X and Quicksilver, have also made audiences laugh.
While the exploration of racism, discrimination and segregation is hugely important to any good X-Men story, it’s also impossible to ignore how funny Marvel’s mutant characters can be.20th Century Fox did a good job at showcasing the relatable personalities of the X-Men team members, though there are hopes that Marvel Studios will handle this even better in theMCU’sX-Menreboot. Having said that, however, there are several moments in Fox’sX-Menfranchise that are truly funny.
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10Storm Takes Out Toad
X-Men (2000)
Although this moment inFox’s originalX-Menmovieperhaps wasn’t meant to be funny, Storm’s iconic line has certainly gone down in history as one of the most hilarious moments in theX-Menfranchise. During the final battle on Liberty Island,Storm takes on Toad, who had been fighting alongside Sabretooth and Mystique to protect Magneto’s machine. After showing off her impressive weather-manipulating abilities, Storm ponders what happens when a toad is struck by lightning, before delivering the deadpan answer,“The same thing that happens to everything else.”
STORM:Do you know what happens to a toad when it’s struck by lightning? The same thing that happens to everything else.
Released in 2000,X-Menwas packed full of cringeworthy moments and awkward scenes, but this moment between Storm and Toad stands out as one of the worst. This was a truly laughable moment, but for all the wrong reasons.This also made Storm seem significantly less powerful and like much more of a jokey character than she should have been, particularly given the fact that she is considered to have god-like powers in Marvel Comics. This was never really seen in Fox’sX-Menfranchise, and the originalX-Menmovie didn’t help very much.
9Logan Gives Noburo Ten Words
The Wolverine (2013)
After the disappointment that wasX-Men Origins: Wolverine, Hugh Jackman’s next solo movie asJames “Logan” Howlett, a.k.a. Wolverine, was far more entertaining. During the movie, Logan apprehends and interrogates Mariko’s fiancé and corrupt Minister of Justice Noburo, but only gives him ten words to explain himself.Noburo uses nine of these words with"You don’t have the faintest idea what’s going on…“and only pauses when Logan punches him, leaving Noburo with only one word remaining.
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Logan’s chemistry with Rila Fukushima’s Yukio at this moment is great to see, and provides a brilliant moment of comedy, as she was the only one keeping track of Noburo’s word count.Logan punching Noburo and throwing him out the window is also a great bit of physical comedy that delivers the shock factor, too, though all is well after Noburo is revealed to have survived by falling into a swimming pool a few floors beneath.The Wolverinewas one of Jackman’s more lightheartedX-Menmovies.
8NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye” Plays In Cyclops’ Car
X2: X-Men United (2003)
After Wolverine, Rogue, Iceman and Pyro escape from Xavier’s School during Stryker’s invasion inX2: X-Men United, they use one of Cyclops' prized cars to leave the premises. This sets up one of the originalX-Mentrilogy’s best jokes, asPyro turns on Cyclops' radio, which blasts out the sweet sounds of NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye.“The thought of James Marsdan’s hardened and stoicCyclops listening to NSYNCin his car is a hilarious thought, and the fact that Wolverine cringes upon hearing the song underlines the differences between them.
This scene fromX2: X-Men Unitedhas recently become even funnier, as the opening moments of 2024’sDeadpool & Wolverinefeatured a fantastic call-back to Cyclops' favorite song.While battling TVA agents, Deadpool dances to NSYNC’s “Bye Bye Bye,” copying the exact moves from the boyband’s own performances of the tune.Deadpool & Wolverine’sopening dance scenehas become an instant classic, and continues a long-running joke in theX-Menfranchise.
7Wade Wilson Jokes In The Elevator
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
X-Men Origins: Wolverinecertainly had its problems, and one of these was the movie’s treatment ofWade Wilson’s Deadpool. By the end of the movie, Wade Wilson had his mouth sewn shut, and was transformed into an unrecognizable amalgamation of other mutants. However, the beginning ofX-Men Origins: Wolverinegave a tease of how good Ryan Reynolds could be as Deadpool.Stuck in an elevator on their way to infiltrate a diamond smuggling facility in Nigeria, Wade Wilson jokes with Team X, giving a glimpse at his comedic potential.
WADE WILSON:Great, stuck in an elevator with five guys on a high protein diet… Dreams really do come true… Thank you, sir. You look really nice today. It’s the green. It brings out the seriousness in your eyes.
While this was one of the few moments that allowed Ryan Reynolds to showcase Wade Wilson’s humor inX-Men Origins: Wolverine,this scene contributed to fan calls for Reynolds to bring a more comic-accurate version of the antihero into theX-Menfranchise. This eventually led to the development of 2016’sDeadpool, which made Reynolds' character much more faithful to his Marvel Comics history.X-Men Origins: Wolverinewas full of horrible moments, many of which failed Deadpool, but this elevator scene was actually fantastic.
6Charles Xavier Punches Erik Lehnsherr
X-Men: Days Of Future Past (2014)
Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr didn’t have many moments of comedy in either of their iterations in Fox’sX-Menfranchise, as they were more often depicted as serious and steadfast characters. However,their younger depictions, portrayed by James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, respectively, took part in more lighthearted scenesas their friendship was explored in greater detail. DuringX-Men: Days of Future Past, this is put on full display, and Xavier manages to deliver this moment with fantastic comic timing.
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While Quicksilver breaks Magneto out of his Pentagon prison,Xavier suggests to Logan that he’s"not very good with violence.“Seconds later, opening elevator doors reveal Lehnsherr, who is quickly punched in the face by Xavier, contradicting his previous statement. This is a brilliant moment, expertly delivered by McAvoy, that harks back to the dramatic ending of 2011’sX-Men: First Classwhile also showing how different these versions ofProfessor X and Magnetoare from Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen’s depictions.
5Wolverine Rejects Charles Xavier & Erik Lehnsherr’s Proposal
X-Men: First Class (2011)
A decade before Wolverine teams up with Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr to save the future, he was approached by the two mutants during their recruitment process for the very first X-Men team.X-Men: First Classsaw Xavier and Lehnsherr find Angel, Darwin, Havok and Banshee with the help of a rudimentary Cerebro, but they also put Wolverine on their radar. This allowed Hugh Jackman to have a hilarious, albeit brief, cameo inX-Men: First Class, as he was approached with the prospect of joining the new team, but told Xavier to"Go f*** yourself.”
Including Wolverine for a brief moment inX-Men: First Classallowed the movie to cement itself fully into thehistory of Fox’sX-Menfranchise. As the first prequel movie in the franchise, this was important to establish. More than that, however,this moment gave Hugh Jackman the chance to start to demonstrate Wolverine’s comedic capabilities. This was teased a little further inThe Wolverine, and even more inX-Men: Days of Future Past, but was put on full display in the MCU’sDeadpool & Wolverine.
4Wade Wilson & Vanessa Celebrate The Year’s Holidays
Deadpool (2016)
Deadpoolwas the first honest-to-goodness comedy movie in Fox’sX-Menfranchise, as Ryan Reynolds' fantastic humor was put front-and-centeras a more comic-accurate Deadpool than the version depicted inX-Men Origins: Wolverine. While there are too many funny moments in the 2016 movie to choose from, the montage ofWade Wilson and Morena Baccarin’s Vanessa Carlylecelebrating the year’s Holidays is simply pure entertainment. This scene is, of course, only for a mature audience.
Wade Wilson and Vanessa celebrate Valentine’s Day, Chinese New Year (the Year of the Dog), International Women’s Day, Lent, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas, all while engaging in sexual activities with each other. This was a very Deadpool-esque way to include a time-jump in the movie, and showed the development of Wade and Vanessa’s relationship before the former is diagnosed with cancer shortly after the pair become engaged at Christmas. Full of pure joy and some hilarious moments, this scene is tough to forget.
3X-23’s New Friends Cut Wolverine’s Beard
Logan (2017)
Then-billed as Hugh Jackman’s final movie as Wolverine, 2017’sLoganis almost devoid of funny scenes. The movie catches up with Logan as an old and ailing man, as the adamantium in his body has been slowly poisoning him. Prior toWolverine’s emotional death at the end ofLogan, however, there are some lighthearted moments in the movie, especially when Dafne Keen’s Laura and Logan find the young mutants at Eden.At one moment, while he’s asleep, Laura’s new friends find it funny to trim Logan’s beard into its classic, comic-accurate shape.
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This moment not only allowed Hugh Jackman to sport the classic side-burns once again, but also helped to demonstrate the fact that the child mutants at Eden are still children at heart, despite having been through so much. Logan soon lays down his life to ensure they get to safety, but this funny scene is full of joy, showcasing humanity in the most dire circumstances.This scene is more entertaining as Laura and her friends take joy in laughing at Logan, making him the butt of the joke, rather than the gruff hero he had previously been.
2Quicksilver Saves The Students In Xavier’s School
X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)
One of the standout characters ofX-Men: Days of Future PastwasEvan Peters' Quicksilver, so it was great to see him developed further in 2016’sX-Men: Apocalypse. WhileDays of Future Pasthad included a scene of Quicksilver using his super-speed to take down guards in the Pentagon,Apocalypsetook this kind of scene one step further. After the X-Jet explodes, endangering everyone in Xavier’s School,Quicksilver arrives to save everybody (except Havok) with his impressive abilities, brilliantly set to the tune of Eurythmics' “Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This).”
Quicksilver saves the staff and students of Xavier’s School in some ingenious ways duringX-Men: Apocalypse, throwing many from windows to be caught in drapes, launching several into the pond outside, and rushing the likes of Hank McCoy and a pizza-eating dog to safety. He also takes the time to make some cosmetic changes to several students whose fashion has failed them, which adds an extra layer of comedy to this already fantastic scene. Although this ends in tragedy for the X-Men team, this moment is spectacular.
1X-Force Get Caught In The Wind
Deadpool 2 (2018)
Of course, the funniest moment in 20th Century Fox’sX-Menfranchise must be included in aDeadpoolmovie. Similarly to before, there are so many hilarious moments in 2018’sDeadpool 2to choose from, but scenes featuring the formation and tragic demise of X-Force are devastating and incredible. Ignoring warnings of high winds,Deadpool forces his new X-Force teamto halo jump during the mission to rescue Russell Collins' Firefist.The winds get the better of them, unfortunately, leading to the deaths of every member of the team, except for Deadpool and Domino.
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Rob Delaney
This scene features some very gruesome moments that mark the end of the road for the members of X-Force, but even these deaths are pulled off in an entertaining fashion.Deadpool’s commentary heightens the comedy of these moments, and surprises such as Brad Pitt’s hilarious cameo and Domino’s survival thanks to her luck-based abilities are wonderful. Ryan Reynolds' comedy provided some of the biggest highlights of 20th Century Fox’sX-Menfranchise, and he will surely be at the center of some of the MCU’s own funny moments in the coming years.
