Why Juggernaut's X-Men: The Last Stand Costume Makes No Sense
"X-Men: The Last Stand" is widely considered to be the shakiest of 20th Century Fox's early 2000s superhero trilogy. While not the worst "X-Men" film of the series, it alienated a good deal of critics and enraged diehard comic book fans with what they considered a lack of proper dedication to the source material, particularly in the final act. The film culminated in mutant Jean Grey's transformation into the Dark Phoenix — something widely regarded as one of the best X-Men storylines of all time — and it did so with a lackluster, CGI-heavy final battle that failed to showcase Grey or many other characters with any degree of care or consideration, leaving many viewers to feel as if the climax of the trilogy failed to live up to the hype.
Considering that "The Last Stand," at the time it was released, may have been the most expensive movie ever made (via Popmatters), it could have been a lot better. However, one particularly strange adjustment from the source comics was the film's take on the character of Juggernaut.
In the comics, Cain Marko is a fearsome brute, one of few who can take on the Hulk in a fight. In "The Last Stand," however, he's mostly remembered for breaking through a few walls and yelling, "I'm the Juggernaut, b****!" (itself a reference to a then-popular online video, rather than something original). Looking back, it wasn't the best debut for such an iconic Marvel villain: even the actor who played him, Vinnie Jones, hates how lazily the character was portrayed compared to what he initially signed up for (via ComicBookMovie).
But not only is the Juggernaut given no depth in "The Last Stand" — the version of his suit in the movie makes absolutely no sense for the character.
The Last Stand version of Juggernaut wears armor for no discernable reason
In the prime Marvel Comics universe, Cain Marko, aka the Juggernaut, is not a mutant at all. Instead, he draws his power from the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak, a mystical and ancient stone of power from the Crimson Cosmos (not to be confused with Infinity Stones, as there are a lot of magic space rocks in the Marvel universe) which bound him to a magic spell called the Crimson Bands of Cyttorak. With that said, Juggernaut's armor draws its power from that same realm, and he can summon the armor at will. However, he doesn't need the armor to enhance his physical strength. It merely protects him from psychic attacks, much like Magneto's helmet, and prevents powerful psychics like Charles Xavier from manipulating his mind.
Now, when that is contrasted with the version of Juggernaut in "X-Men: The Last Stand," while the film character's abilities are similar on a surface level, this version of Marko is a mutant, rather than a cosmically-powered force of nature. And since the source of his power stems from an everyday genetic mutation, rather than a magic rock, it means that there's no Crimson Cosmos or Crimson Gem of Cyttorak in the Fox X-Men universe.
So, then, why is Juggernaut still wearing a big, blocky helmet? It's not protecting him from psychic attacks, and therefore serves no functionality for Juggernaut, who can bust through walls just fine without his suit of armor. In fact, it's beyond pointless for him use the helmet as a battering ram — because that helmet is bound to shatter long before his superhuman skull would. Essentially, Juggernaut's armor is yet another example of the carelessness "The Last Stand" took toward the beloved source material it was based on.