Kelly LeBrock as Mystique for sure. From the Breakfeast Club gotta have Paul Gleason as Magneto and Ally Sheedy as Rogue.

Get the guy who played Bernie from Weekend at Bernie's to play Professor X.

And of course... you can't go without the lovely and talented Rae Dawn Chong as Storm. Mrrroowww.
Kid Chris | 07.14.06 - 12:38 am | #

Steve Gutenberg as Cyclops, Michael Winslow as Moses Magnum, Bobcat Goldthwait as Sabretooth, and Brian Tochi as Sunfire.
De Baisch | Email | Homepage | 07.14.06 - 6:16 am | #

...better yet, what if X-Men has been a silent film from 1919!

--m4
mojo_iv | Email | 07.14.06 - 6:45 am | #

Diane Lane as Jean would be much better.
Bryan F. Irrera | Email | Homepage | 07.14.06 - 6:48 am | #

Dang, Chris took my Ally Sheedy suggestion. But let's see what I can do with the rest of the Brat Pack.

How about Rob Lowe as Angel? He can play upper-class, and is pretty nice to look at to boot. Judd Nelson would have made a good Beast; he seems like a beast to me anyhow. And Emilio Estevez could have been Iceman. Don't ask me what to do with Demi Moore, though.
The Doc | Email | Homepage | 07.14.06 - 7:03 am | #

m4: Louise Brooks would play Rogue. Antonin Artaud would be Magneto. Peter Lorre would be Toad.
Robby K. | 07.14.06 - 7:37 am | #

No, Mike, I think I've got you beat. Cyclops and Wolverine, circa 1980, can be played by only two people: Dan Aykroyd and Jon Belushi.

And while we're at it, Magneto should be Charles Gray, the guy who played Blofeld in "Diamonds Are Forever." And Professor X is Telly Savalas.
Reed Richards | Email | Homepage | 07.14.06 - 8:12 am | #

Ally Sheedy would be better as Kitty Pryde.

Emilio Estevez would be a rather short Colossus (but it would go with his Breakfast Club jock character, somehow.)

Another possibility for Nightcrawler would be Ralph Macchio.

And for Cyclops: Anthony Edwards.
Jon Hendry | Email | 07.14.06 - 8:51 am | #

Demi Moore as Dazzler!

Or maybe Lorna Dane.
craig | Email | 07.14.06 - 9:49 am | #

Martha Raye as Dazzler!
Reed Richards | Email | Homepage | 07.14.06 - 11:04 am | #

Charles Nelson Reilly as Magneto!
Reed Richards | Email | Homepage | 07.14.06 - 11:04 am | #

If you're gonna pull out the Match Game staple of Charles Nelson Reilly, I demand Fannie Flagg as Jean Grey.
DougBot | Homepage | 07.14.06 - 11:54 am | #

Olivia from Sesame Street as Stevie Hunter.
craig | Email | 07.14.06 - 12:20 pm | #

Dirk Benedict as Angel? He was kind of the pretty "face" of the 80's, at least television wise.
antistarbuck | Email | 07.14.06 - 12:27 pm | #

> I demand Fannie Flagg as Jean Grey

Yes!
Reed Richards | Email | Homepage | 07.14.06 - 1:05 pm | #

Reed - In our store discussion, I actually brought up both Ally Sheedy as Kitty and Telly Savalas as Xavier...well done, sir.

As for Ackroyd and Belushi as Cyclops and Wolverine...

...

...

...

...

...I'll accept that. Well played.
Mikester | Homepage | 07.14.06 - 1:19 pm | #

I'd love to read this article -- I was involved with the Orion X-Men project right before it hit turnaround, when they'd finally given up on the Thomas/Conway version (the reason I was given by the development folks at Orion was that the budget estimates for the project were terrifyingly high and that the writing wasn't coming within loudhailer distance of good.) I was in discussions on Friday, and we hammered out ideas (amounting to "let's simplify the fuck out of this!") and an agreement for me to start on story as soon as the contracts were set and signed, meaning I should have been hard at work by the following Wednesday. On the Monday the development arm was beginning to hammer out the deal memo with my agent...and at the same time Orion management were busy picking projects to put into turnaround.

By Monday afternoon I got a phone call saying it was off -- X-Men was one of those in turnaround due to Orion's financial problems. The timing was just right to prevent the deal memo from being signed off on. I think that was the worst thing at all -- not even a kill fee.

As they say, that's showbiz.

One of the things that got me there, though, was being a comics fan and knowing the history of the characters and the title. And the approach we'd have taken? Strip it down and take it back...pretty much a similar approach to the one Singer finally took, although we would have had fewer effects due to the technical limitations at the time. Gene Warren's Fantasy II house would probably have handled most of the visual effects, with Peter Kuran's VCE handling some of the shinier stuff (Cyclop's optic blasts, for example.) No idea about prosthetic effects and animatronics; it's been a while. If I recall correctly they were looking to top out at $20 million on the budget, but I suspect that would have been cut back, given the financial issues.
Steven E. McDonald | Email | Homepage | 07.14.06 - 1:38 pm | #

Andrew McCarthy as Cyclops

Catherine Mary Stewart as Marvel Girl

James Spader as Angel

Dave Chappell as Iceman

And finally...

....Jerry Mathers as Wolverine.
Gordon | Email | Homepage | 07.14.06 - 3:02 pm | #

What about a 1980s Robin Williams as Wolverine?

--m4
mojo_iv | Email | 07.14.06 - 3:25 pm | #

I remember reading COMICS SCENE magazine in the 60s and a reader suggested Michael J fox for the role of Wolverine. He reasoned that Michael J Fox was A) short and B) Canadian. And what else would you need, really?
Eric L | Email | 07.14.06 - 5:03 pm | #

Dolph Lundgren as Colossus.
Rutger Hauer as Magneto.
Melanie Griffith as Phoenix.
Bronson Pinchot as Nightcrawler!

Love this site, by the way!
Mick | Homepage | 07.16.06 - 4:12 am | #