James Marsden didn't expect 'X-Men' films to be so popular

"X-Men" alum James Marsden says while he always knew the team was creating something special, no one anticipated the franchise to exceed expectations of the comic book fans.

Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, X-Men are a team of fictional mutant superheroes appearing in American comic books, first published in 1963 by Marvel Comics.

Marsden, who played Scott Summers/ Cyclops in four "X-Men" films, believes the books gave a solid base to the filmmakers to start the series in the year 2000.

"I think we all hoped it would become what it's become, and we knew it had the power to with the legacy of the X-Men universe. They've been around since 1962, 1963? And so when we first started, it was 40 years of backstory and superfans.

"So we knew if we do this right, this could be something forever, for a long, long time. I'd hoped, but I did not anticipate that they'd still be making them. I mean, I thought maybe they'd make four or five of them in its success, but how many have they made now, 10? So it's kinda crazy and really cool," the actor told CinemaBlend.

The 46-year-old actor, whose last appearance was a cameo in 2014's "X-Men: Days of Future Past", is proud to be associated with the franchise.

"Obviously I'm not a part of all of them, but you exist in that universe and it's always something I've been really proud of. It was definitely the first time in my career I was like, 'Now I'm part of something really special right now, and this is a once in a lifetime opportunity'," he said.

"It's rare to know you're part of something special while you're shooting. Often you shoot it and it becomes some sort of surprise success, like The Notebook or something like that, where no one knew when you were filming it. But during the 'X-Men' movies, it was like, 'Okay, this is something unique. This is something special'," he added.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the "X-Men" films.

The latest film under the franchise was last year's "X-Men: Dark Phoenix", fronted by Sophie Turner. Another in the works is the spin-off "The New Mutants", starring Anya Taylor-Joy, Maisie Williams, among others.