1. The Phoenix Saga (Season 3, 5 Parts)
In terms of what the actual story is, we aren’t breaking any ground here – An evil dictator wants to obtain a crystal that will allow him to rebuild the universe as he sees it. That’s it. Within that simple plot, we get the perfect episode of X-Men. It’s thrilling from beginning to end. The X-Men break into a space station and commandeer a shuttle. The Phoenix takes control of Jean Grey. Professor X goes crazy. The Juggernaut bashes his way into the story. Cyclops meets his father, but doesn’t know it. There are space pirates. The music is electrifying. It all culminates with the X-Men literally battling a God. It’s awe-inspiring, with an ending that’s bitter sweet if there ever was one. If the movie universe could ever pull this off, it would be quite the achievement, but this one is probably better left immortalized in cartoon form. These are the episodes I’ve watched the most times from the series, and truly represents why the X-Men are the best superheroes, behind only Batman.
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Daniel Cohen is the Film Editor for Pop-Break. Aside from reviews, Daniel does a weekly box office predictions column, and also contributes monthly Top Tens and Op-Ed’s on all things film. Daniel is a graduate of Bates College with a degree in English, and also studied Screenwriting at UCLA. He can also be read on www.movieshenanigans.com. His movie crush is Jessica Rabbit. Follow him on Twitter @dcohenwriter.
