Matthew Vaughn is a director perhaps best known for his work on the X-Men reboot films Days of Future Past and First Class. Vaughn was also attached to direct X-Men 3, but left the project upon discovering the studio’s attempt to trick Storm actress Halle Berry into appearing in the film.
The reason Matthew Vaughn left X-Men: The Last Stand, better known as X-Men 3, has been kept close to the chest for nearly two decades. However, during a recent appearance at New York Comic Con, the director finally opened up about what caused him to leave the movie. The reason? A fake script by the studio meant to trick Halle Berry into returning as Storm:
“I went into one of the executive’s office and I saw an [X-Men 3] script, and I immediately knew it was a lot fatter,” Vaughn explained. “I was like, ‘what the hell is this draft.’ He went, ‘Don’t worry about it,’ and I’m like, ‘No, no. I’m the director. I’m worrying about this draft,’” Vaughn recalled. “He wouldn’t tell me, so I grabbed it literally — it was like a crazy moment — opened the first page, and it said, ‘Africa. Storm. Kids dying of no water. She creates a thunderstorm and saves all these children.’”
“[I went,] ‘What is this?’ [They said,] ‘Oh, it’s Halle Berry’s script. I went, ‘OK, because she hasn’t signed up yet.’ ‘But this is what she wants it to be, and once she signs up, we’ll throw it in the bin,’” He continued. “I was like, ‘Wow, you’re gonna do that to an Oscar-winning actress who plays Storm? I’m outta here.’ So I quit at that point.”
While it’s certainly sad Matthew Vaughn didn’t stay on as director to try to right the sinking ship that was X-Men 3, it’s also understandable why he would leave. Studios attempting to trick actors like Halle Berry still continue to this day. One can only hope Berry’s rumored return as Storm in the MCU will be on better terms.
What can fans expect from X-Men ’97?
The final episode of the original series saw the X-Men saying goodbye to Charles Xavier as he left with Lilandra to visit the Shi’Ar homeworld. X-Men ’97 will pick up where the original series left off and promises to feature some of the most iconic villains from the X-Men universe, including Mister Sinister, Emma Frost, Sebastian Shaw, Callisto and Valerie Cooper.
Fans can look forward to the return of some of their favorite voice actors from the original series, including Cal Dodd, Lenore Zann, George Buza, Adrian Hough, Christopher Britton, Catherine Disher, Chris Potter, Alison Sealy-Smith, and Alyson Court. In addition, X-Men ’97 will include the voice talents of Jennifer Hale, Anniwaa Buachie, Ray Chase, Matthew Waterson, JP Karliak, Holly Chou, Jeff Bennett and AJ LoCascio.
X-Men ’97 was originally slated to premiere in the fall of 2022, but has been pushed back with no official release date. With Marvel reducing its Disney Plus output, X-Men ’97 is now expected to debut sometime in 2024.
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Source: The Hollywood Reporter