One of the most iconic moments in all of the X-Men films is Vinnie Jones’ infamous exclamation that he’s the Juggernaut in The Last Stand. However, according to writer Simon Kinberg, that line was never actually in the script.
For years, X-Men: The Last Stand was considered the worst film in the franchise (though latter entries seem to have given it a run for its money). One of the few redeeming moments of the film came during the climax where Vinnie Jones’ Juggernaut chased down Elliot Page’s Kitty Pryde, letting out the iconic “I’m the Juggernaut, bitch!” as he breaks through the floor.
According to Simon Kinberg, the iconic Juggernaut line wasn’t in the original script he made with Matthew Vaughn, instead being added in by Brett Ratner after Vaughn left the project. While Kinberg didn’t comment much on Ratner’s version of the film, he did reveal Vaughn’s original vision for the project when he was still on board:
“With Matthew [Vaughn], it was a major departure from Bryan Singer, who had directed the first two movies. Matthew himself is a world builder – or maybe more than a world builder, a tone builder,” Kinberg told Polygon. “He wanted to do something tonally very different than the previous two films. And so we were really in the script phase, even through pre-production, because Matthew was aboard for a long time.”
“And so it felt like, even though we weren’t creating an entirely new universe, because Bryan had obviously done an amazing job of building the foundation with the first two films, and all of those decades’ worth of incredible comics, we were creating a new tone within that world and new rules.”
It’s clear that Matthew Vaughn and Simon Kinberg’s original vision for X-Men: The Last Stand is far different from what fans ended up getting. While perhaps a more fleshed-out film would have ultimately been better, many fans likely would keep the current film, if only for Vinnie Jones’ Juggernaut line. Luckily, X-Men ’97 seems set to scratch the world-building itch for mutant fans.
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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