These 'Disneyfied' X-Men Will Make You Want A Movie
Superstar artist Mark Brooks brings a Disney twist to Marvel Comics' fan-favorite X-Men in a new "Disneyfied" art series. On X (formerly Twitter), Brooks has been sharing his recreations of the famous mutant team (and its villains) in the distinct cartoon style the House of Mouse has made famous over the years.
Day 12 of my Disneyfied X-men- I promised a bonus weekend villain if I got 20k likes this past week. You folks provided 22k and a lot of you mentioned him so here's the most loathsome of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants Toad! pic.twitter.com/gBfUJpVn7P
— The Dread duck Pirate Mark Brooks (@MarkBrooksArt) April 13, 2024
Brooks is best known as a cover artist who specializes in realistic and gorgeously rendered superheroes, such as his recent piece for the new "Spider-Gwen: The Ghost-Spider" series. He also has experience providing interiors for comics such as "Han Solo." In late March, Brooks wrote on X that he wondered what an X-Men film could look like if it were produced by Disney Animation, leading him to design his own version of the mutant team in that style. He added that he spent months creating this version of the X-Men as a warm-up exercise, and it was time well spent. The results are outstanding and make us wish this was actual movie art.
Brooks has posted a number of Disneyfied X-Men, including his takes on Storm, Gambit, and Magik. For his version of Colossus, Brooks reimagines the hero's look as similar to Gaston from "Beauty and the Beast," giving the mutant a pose to truly channel the oft-flexing villain. His take on Kitty Pryde also perfectly captures the '90s Disney aesthetic, with her trusted alien dragon companion Lockheed providing another level of Disney tie-in as he resembles the classic Epcot Center mascot, Figment.
The reaction to the Disneyfied X-Men is overwhelmingly positive
The X-Men/Disney crossover art from Mark Brooks is being very well received on X.
@rhalegar responded to Brooks' version of Magneto by simply stating, "An animated show with these concepts would be fire." @Philsbackpack commented on Brooks' rendition of Magik, writing, "Amazing and beautiful, never thought of these characters drawn in this style...I wouldn't have guessed it was your art either." Even his peers, including "Birds of Prey" writer Kelly Thompson (@79SemiFinalist), praised the X-Men's Disney looks, as she tells Brooks, "I would watch a thousand episodes. It's so gorgeous and fun. That's like the cutest Kitty I have ever seen."
Looking at the positive reception to Brooks' art and the fact that Disney owns the characters, having paid a pretty penny to acquire the rights to them, the inspired redesign shows the potential this version of the heroes and villains holds. It would be a real shame if Marvel Comics (or Marvel Animation) didn't do something official with them. Marvel has already reimagined some classic Disney characters as X-Men and Avengers, so reversing the concept with Brooks' art for a variant cover program seems like a no-brainer. These designs are so on-point that they'd be an easy sell to Disney and Marvel fans alike.
For those hoping to see more than the eleven X-Men Brooks has redesigned in the Disney style, you're in luck. The artist told fans that he's already drawn 40 of them, so expect to see more heroes and villains who haven't been tackled yet, likely including mega-popular ones like Wolverine, Cyclops, and Jean Grey, sometime in the near future.