Film Feature: Which X-Men We Want to See in Next X-Sequel

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Multiple Man
Photo credit: Marvel

X-Man: Multiple Man

Real Name: Jamie Madrox

Powers: He can create multiple copies of himself, duplicating himself over and over again, and, when finished, he can absorb his duplicates back into his own body, absorbing all of their memories and experiences in the process.

Why He Should Be in an X-Men Movie: OK, OK, you got us. Jamie Madrox, the Multiple Man, was already in an X-Men movie. But he was only in it for a few seconds and it was the WORST X-Men movie ever made (“X-Men: Last Stand”), so we’re just going to ignore that it ever happened, all right? We mean no offense to Eric Dane (i.e. “Grey’s Anatomy”’s McSteamy), who played Madrox in “X3”, but you just don’t take a character as cool as the Multiple Man and waste him in a cameo. His power may sound vaguely ridiculous, but Madrox became one of the most compelling characters in recent Marvel history ever since he found his muse, comics writer Peter David. Once David brought Multiple Man into the X-Men spin-off, “X-Factor”, he turned Madrox from a D-list back-up character to an A-list protagonist with one of the best character voices in the entire Marvel Universe. Madrox is funny, conflicted, sarcastic, lonely, plagued with doubt, loyal, principled… he’s got more dimensions than the multiverse and he’s one of the few X-Men with a strong enough personality to carry his own comic. His duplicating powers are visually arresting AND they have amazing ties to his character traits – his dupes typically embody different aspects of his persona. Basically, he is rich, grade-A material and he deserves better than a five-second drop-in in a Brett Ratner film. (Don’t we all?)

Who Should Play Him: There’s an online contingent that desperately wants “Psych”’s James Roday in the role of Madrox, and, after some consideration, we’ll agree, he’s a strong choice. We’re not 100% convinced that he could nail the sarcastic pathos of our favorite multiplying man, but he could pull of the humor without breaking a sweat. But we’d also love to see multiple versions of Adam Scott from “Parks & Recreation” or “Fringe”’s Joshua Jackson running around the next X-Men sequel.

By TOM BURNS
Staff Writer
HollywoodChicago.com
tom@hollywoodchicago.com