20 Years Ago, X2: X-Men United Gave Us A Rare Comic Book Villain That Was Just Human
Even two decades after their release, the original "X-Men" movies remain gems of the superhero genre. They are bold, ambitious, unique movies — the first two anyway — with exquisite casting and poignant stories of bigotry and tolerance. They also gave us Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, and Ian McKellen in tremendous roles that have defined their respective characters, delivering a grounded look that, for better or worse, established a certain superhero style that still resonates to this very day.
After the success of "X-Men" in 2000, "X2: X-Men United" went even bigger and better, with louder action set pieces, more mutants, and a classic story of old enemies banding together to face one hell of a villain.
Perhaps no aspect of this movie feels more miraculous in 2023 than the character of William Stryker, the main antagonist of the film. Aside from having Logan Roy from "Succession" as the bad guy, the fact that Stryker is just some dude, a military man with no superhuman abilities but enough hatred and authority to almost destroy the X-men and the entirety of mutantkind.
Sure, Brian Cox's take on Stryker doesn't have the religious angle of the original "God Loves, Man Kills" comic, but he is equally menacing. Besides, in the years since, Stryker has only become more special because of how rare he is as a supervillain with no powers, no special suit, nothing. Stryker is special because of how unspecial he is, and we don't really see villains in comic book movies like that anymore.
A real human threat
The first "X-Men" movie had Magneto as the main villain, a mutant with impressive superpowers, and the third film had the super powerful Jean Grey in terrifyingly powerful Dark Phoenix mode. After that, subsequent "X-Men" movies continued to lean into evil mutants (as well as giant robots in "Days of Future Past") as villains. But "X2" offered something different.
The first hint we get of how big a threat Stryker comes when a brainwashed Nightcrawler breaks into the White House and wreaks havoc in a spectacular opening sequence. Stryker has Nightcrawler, Lady Deathstrke and even Magneto under his total control thanks to his son Jason's brain secretions allowing the villain to brainwash mutants, turning the people he hates against each other.
Unlike Magneto, who is more of a Shakespearean villain with a tragic past, Stryker is simpler. He's just a bigot with a platform and power. He is not some ultra genius like Bolivar Trask (the creator of the sentinels), and he is not employing cartoonish robots or a power suit. Instead, Stryker has a regular old army of humans with guns and the occasional brainwashed mutant.
This is something the Marvel Cinematic Universe has always lacked. From the very beginning, MCU movies would have villains be essentially evil versions of the hero, with similar powers and everything. Even when we have characters without powers, like Tony Stark and Ant-Man, they still faced villains with the same kind of powerful super suit, making them more than just regular humans.
For better or worse, the closest we've come recently to a superhero movie with this kind of villain is in the Batman movies, whether it's Christopher Nolan or Matt Reeves tackling the character. But even something like "The Batman" featured a villain who — despite their lack of powers — still looks and feels like a comic book villain. That's not Stryker, the man who almost killed mutants without any powers. Maybe it's time for superhero movies to come back down to Earth, at least when it comes to their bad guys.