Daily Inspiration Quote by Matthew Vaughn

There is something almost aggressively unromantic about Vaughn's line, and that is precisely why it lands. In an entertainment economy addicted to inflated reverence - every sequel framed as a sacred calling, every franchise entry sold as a “dream” - his phrasing refuses the performance. “I like the X-Men” is a small, human verb choice: not “adore,” not “revere,” not “grew up worshipping.” Just like. It reads as a quiet corrective to the suspicion audiences now carry into IP-driven filmmaking: that the people steering beloved properties don’t actually care, they just clock in.

The second half, “otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it,” is doing the heavier lift. It implies agency in a system that often feels assembly-line. Producers are typically positioned as dealmakers and risk managers, not fan-surrogates; Vaughn is insisting that taste still matters at the executive level. The subtext is both defensive and transactional: if you want to trust me with your mythos, believe there’s at least baseline enthusiasm behind the spreadsheets.

Contextually, it’s also a subtle bid for permission. X-Men is a particularly charged sandbox, loaded with allegory (minority identity, state power, chosen family) and fan expectations shaped by decades of comics and uneven screen adaptations. Vaughn’s modesty can be read as strategic humility: he’s not claiming to “fix” the franchise or outsmart it. He’s claiming the simplest credential possible - enjoyment - and betting that, right now, sincerity is the rarest special effect.