With the rights to the Fantastic Four and the X-Men safely back with Marvel, audiences could look forward to a much-needed reboot. The original X-Men hit theaters 25 years ago today, when a successful comic book adaptation was far from a sure thing. Despite a “tortuous” production, X-Men became Marvel’s first mainstream hit. He did have a hand in making a truly remarkable superhero film, but substance abuse, mood swings, and frequent tantrums didn’t make production easy. With the superhero genre on the brink of collapse, it makes sense to turn to what worked in the past.