The cinematic world is awash with superhero offerings, but not all are equal.
Phase Five of the MCU is proof of that — as is pretty much anything offered up by DC. For every Guardians of the Galaxy or Spider-Man: No Way Home, there are a dozen Morbius‘ or Elektras to temper our expectations. One film rises above all the others, and even beats out MCU favorites with nothing but its opening scene. Sure, the remainder of X2 veers between thrilling and sub-par, but there’s simply no beating the 2003 flick’s first two minutes.
X2 was released several years before the MCU was born, and more than a decade before the X-Men were even a glimmer in Kevin Feige’s eye. It also served as the introduction to several new mutants — on top of Wolverine, Professor X, and various other characters introduced in the first outing — and saw the first, and last, appearance of Alan Cumming’s Kurt Wagner.
Nightcrawler is a staple of the X-Men, and he was spectacularly introduced to viewing audiences via a gripping two-minute opening sequence. The scene manages to pull off a range of things at once, as it introduces Nightcrawler (and his teleportation abilities), implies a plot against the President of the United States, and hints toward the overall plot of the film, which sees William Stryker kidnapping and brainwashing mutants for his own aims.
All of this is accomplished in an action-packed 120-second scene, which sees Kurt absolutely tear his way through a horde of Secret Service agents. A tweet sharing the film’s first few minutes recently declared the clip “the best opening action scene for a comic book movie,” and we’re inclined to agree.
The vast majority of commenters are on-board too. They flooded responses below the clip, praising X2‘s stellar opening and reminiscing on their reactions to Kurt’s big entrance when they first caught the film in theaters.
A few people pitched an alternate opening scene for consideration, and we can’t help but weigh Blade‘s stellar opening sequence against X2‘s.
The film’s first blood-soaked minutes have been captivating viewers since Blade arrived in 1998, and they are still just as gripping today. The opening is also still a contender for the most fake blood in a scene, despite the domination of films like Evil Dead.
Regardless of which opening sequence speaks more to you, its hard to deny the wisdom in launching both stories in such electrifying style. Few people would consider X2 or Blade among the superhero genre’s best releases, but their opening scenes are still wowing audiences two decades — and more — past their releases.
