Today marks the 18th anniversary of director Bryan Singer’s iconic X-MEN film starting an expansive film franchise which has currently spanned . Starring Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Halle Berry, James Marsden, Famke Janssen, Rebecca Romijn, Ray Park, Tyler Mane and (then unknown) Hugh Jackman, the 20th Century Fox film was a success financially and critically after a wave of bad comic book films gave the “genre” a bad rap.

It was around the release of thefirst film that XMF was born, albeit under various names and URL’s over all the years.

This year we’re celebrating #XMen18 on Twitter @XMenFilms. A select few participants with our favorite X-Men tributes will receive two XMF cards and other goodies. This set (limited to 100) is also being handed out on the outskirts of Comic Con International in San Diego on Saturday, July 21. Follow #XMFSDCC for details on how to obtain a card that day.