Over a year ago, when director Bryan Singer first confirmed that the X-Men: First Classfollowup would be based on the much beloved ’90s Days of Future Past storyline from Marvel Comics, the reveal painted an interesting and exciting future for the franchise. The concept of time travel has yet to be explored in the superhero movie genre, and for the X-Men specifically, which has had many films over the last 13 years, it’s a way to bring back everyone and rewrite history, right some wrongs.
Time travel gives storytellers the ultimate plot device to alter continuity, change and bring back characters, etc., but it also lets the X-Men movies do bigger and better things – including introducing one of Marvel’s most dangerous villains in Apocalypse, for instance. Singer confirmed yesterday in an out-of-the-blue announcement on Twitter that another X-Men film is coming 2016 and that it would be all aboutApocalypse – it’s becoming increasingly clear that it will be more of a continuation of Days of Future Past than a standalone affair.
We know this partly because there were rumors this summer around Comic-Con time that Apocalypse would be introduced as the next big bad in Days of Future Past and when Bleeding Cool asked Bryan Singer directly about the villain, he danced around the question awkwardly. We now know why. He just couldn’t say so at the time but Apocalypse is coming and it’s a safe bet he’ll be introduced or teased in Days of Future Past. With so many characters being revealed in the fist X-Men: Days of Future Past trailer, Singer and co. must be holding some things back, right?
The second part of this we learned after Singer’s exciting tweet. Co-writer Simon Kinberg, the man who came up with the Days of Future Past movie idea with Matthew Vaughn (who was going to direct and is now producing), just signed a three-year deal with Fox which will essentially let him help write and produce Marvel stories that span multiple films. This involves both the X-Men and Fantastic Four universes, and their inevitable crossovers. Fun fact: Matthew Vaughn and Simon Kinberg are also producing Josh Trank’s Fantastic Four reboot.
Here’s where it gets interesting. Bleeding Cool also claims to have learned early in the year that Apocalypse was always in the cards as not only another sequel, but a direct continuation of the story which brings back everyone – some in reduced roles – while still introducing new characters. It would involve characters from the past and present much like Days of Future Past features both.
But there’s more and be warned, but now we’re entering epic spoilers territory…
[Warning: There are major potential spoilers ahead regarding the end of X-Men: Days of Future Past]
***
**
*
According to First Showing, who claim to have an insider in the know who they spoke to after the X-Men: Apocalypse announcement, Apocalypse is introduced at the end of X-Men: Days of Future Past and director Bryan Singer already cast him, but it’s not what you think. Apocalypse will become a character already in the franchise. Here’s how.
In the film universe, Apocalypse will reportedly have the power to transfer his consciousness and abilities into other mutants and possesses a key character you already know. First Showing has seen a few pages of the script from a second source that seemingly verifies this information, but they don’t reveal some of the even bigger spoilers surrounding the epic conclusion of the film and major “unbelievable” teases of the future of the franchise.
You should know by now to keep your butt planted as the credits roll for a Marvel movie and you definitely need to stick around for this. The X-Men: Days of Future Pastpost-credits button will – according to FS - show young Magneto in the ’70s (Michael Fassbender) living in isolation out in a desert – likely because the world is after him for thinking he assassinated president John F. Kennedy - and while out of his hut grabbing water he sees an object come crashing down from the sky and into the ground nearby. Magneto investigates and an alien described as ”towering, terrifying, with a twisted metal face and dark pits for eyes” emerges and says:
“I have crossed rivers of time to find you.”
Magneto asks the being to identify itself and it responds:
“I am your future.”
Apocalypse then possesses Magneto, resulting in a massive explosion. Magneto, now possessed and realizing his upgraded god-like powers, smiles and then it cuts out. Do we have a time-travelling super-powerful Michael Fassbender as the primary antagonist of the past and present X-Men for X-Men: Apocalypse? Sounds like it.
While this revelation, if true, is of course a deviation from the comics, it could be drawing elements from the Ultimate X-Men comics where Apocalypse is introduced by using Mr. Sinister – another key X-Men villain - as a host. In that iteration of the universe and character, Cable takes Professor X into the future to train him to battle Apocalypse (makes a lot of sense to have that happen with James McAvoy). They come back and team up with the X-Men and – you guessed it – the Fantastic Four to fight Apocalypse. Even Jean Grey’s Phoenix Force (see: X-Men: The Last Stand) is involved.
Also in the Ultimate universe, the time-travelling mutant known as Cable is actually an older Wolverine who’s spent much of his life battling Apocalypse. We still don’t know if Cable is going to be introduced, but with time travel stories and X-Force on the way, it’d be strange not to introduce him, since fellow time travelers Bishop (Omar Sy) is going to play a role in Days of Future Past. We’ve tossed around theories on the site here several times on how Hugh Jackman could play Cable as well as Wolverine should the creatives choose that route instead of making Cable the son of under-utilized X-Men team leader Cyclops.
We now wonder if the 2015 reboot of Fantastic Four will also tie into X-Men: Apocalypse (the timing is right) and how X-Force will factor in. Will Fox essentially run two separate timeline/dimensions side-by-side with many of the actors playing different versions of the characters in each? Will we see some fan-favorite mutants become the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse? Could the alternate timeline device Fox is employing be the answer to the potential ultimate multi-studio crossover years and years down the road? One step at a time.
No comments:
Post a Comment