Celebrate the 20th anniversary of X-Men with these wonderfully DIY superhero fan films

Twenty years ago today, the original X-Men movie was released into theaters, and everything changed.

Well, everything changed for superhero movies; the world mostly stayed where it was. But this was a big deal. Not only did it give us our first look at Hugh Jackman as Wolverine, which is probably still the most definitive onscreen superhero performance to date, but it proved that superhero movies could be proper blockbusters. Without X-Men, there’s no Marvel Cinematic Universe, plain and simple.

But with or without the 2000 movie, the X-Men have always been inspiring. Just recently, Twitter’s own @Doug_Tilley has put together a “mixtape” of some of the best (read: most fun to watch) superhero fan films out there, including highlights from 2013’s Beware the Juggernaut, from ThrowbackStudioz:

If you have 20 minutes to spare, I recommend it. If you don’t, @Doug_Tilley is here with the best bits, including the horrifying moment when Juggernaut, who’s wearing a pretty cool homemade helmet, rips off Morph’s head, while the other X-Men look on in horror:

He doesn’t look quite as tall as advertised when stood next to Wolverine, though:

In this clip, Beast — wearing his trademark black hoodie — consoles Professor X following Morph’s untimely death:

The Juggernaut unmasked!

And it doesn’t stop with the X-Men. Disney is surely contemplating a Fantastic Four movie right about now. These fans have beat them to it:

Actually, I would legit pay to see a movie-length Fantastic Four musical with plenty of dance sequences, especially if the actors can move like Doctor Doom up there.

Below, a preview of the Snyder Cut:

And finally, Spider-Man fights 14-year-old Wolverine:

I know I’m lightly mocking these fan films here, but at the end of the day I love that there are people passionate enough to make them. Happy 20th birthday, X-Men! Happy seventh birthday a couple weeks too late, Beware the Juggernaut!

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h/t The A.V. Club