To me, my X-Men!

I realized this about X-Men: The Last Stand:

It marks the first screen appearance of all of Stan and Jack's X-Men:
Although I had a pretty good idea of where the movie was going even before I stepped in the theatre and bought my popcorn, inside my little stuffed heart, I kind of hoped that meant we might end the film with Professor X sitting alone in his study in his wheelchair, lifting his head and thought-broadcasting: "To me, my X-Men!

And running in through the door, flying in through the window, bounding in from the corridor, riding an iceslide into the study would be the five original X-Men, gathered around their mentor and leader.

I'm pleased with the movie and where it went. And I realize the movie isn't made solely to please little fanbulls with a love of the comic. You can't just cater to the fan market; you're not gonna get a $100 million plus opening weekend by slavish copying of the original.

But in the Hypertime movieplex of my mind, there exists a "What If" X-Men: The Last Stand, where that scene exists on film, before it dramatically swoops out, the words Based on the characters created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby appear in big big letters, and then end credits roll over bombastic music...