In the summer of 2000, a big-budget superhero movie was about as far from a sure thing as Hollywood could imagine. The state of the genre was dire: Batman’s popularity was on the decline after fans rejected director Joel Schumacher’s campy take on the caped crusader. Additionally, Superman was too much of a do-gooder for edgy, Y2K-era audiences. The success of Blade a couple of years earlier suggested superheroes still had potential. However, there was no guarantee that one R-rated vampire movie could prop up an entire industry.
Enter the X-Men, who blasted and clawed their way into theaters 25 years ago on July 14, 2000.
