The New X-Men Cinematic Universe
Bryan Singer and his vision of X-Men is a big reason as to why comic book films have taken off the way that they have. His first two entries into the original trilogy of films were spectacular films for their time that put a precedent on the characters and the drama of being in a mutant in a world that does not want you. X-Men United will always rank as the best of his films but now he is back at it with X-Men: Days of Future Past which will be the biggest X-Men film to date. It peaces together both the First Class and Singer's X-Men. It is the perfect way to do this film as it calls upon time travel. In the future, all mutants face extinction due to the uprising of the Sentinel Empire who are gigantic robots programmed to kill all mutants and have rule over a dystopian United States. Mutants are hunted down and locked into internment camps while on the eve of a holocaust, the remaining X-Men send Kitty Pryde's mind backward through time, to possess the body of her younger self to prevent a pivotal moment in history. This moment is that of the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly by Mystique's newly reassembled Brotherhood of Mutants. It is unclear how much of this will be present in the film, but I'd imagine a good portion of it is true. In the trailer it is clear that Wolverine is the one sent backward in time which makes sense on so many levels as it allows them to use the same actor in both timelines. The Mystique aspect seems to be shown briefly in the trailer as she seems to be trying to assassinate someone at a political gathering.
This film is being considered a reboot of sorts while also being a direct sequel to First Class. It promises to alter the timeline allowing certain characters to come back to life that previously died in the original trilogy. That being said and with the future X-Men films having James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence still attached it seems likely that we would see Cyclops and Jean Grey return as new members of the X-Men at some point in the future. Bryan Singer announced a few months back that they have already been confirmed to get a sequel called Apocalypse. Apocalypse is a big villain in the X-Men lore as he is described as being one of the first mutants that ever lived and frequently begs to question if he is even a God. However, with this in mind it sets the X-Men cinematic universe on it's way to becoming much bigger then we could have ever expected. Fox even is getting the ball rolling on making an X-Force film that would connect to the X-Men franchise as well as somehow connecting the new Fantastic Four franchise with this. It is impressive and it is all being over seen by writer Simon Kinberg. It is interesting to think about how Bryan Singer is the reason why comic book films are successful to begin with, but since the Avengers showed that bigger comic book films can happen it has had a ripple affect to all comic book films.
The interesting aspect of the inclusion of the X-Force into this expanded universe they are creating is the fact that it is led by Cable. Fans of the comic will know Cable as the son of Cyclops and Jean Grey, but beyond that he is also a mutant who was sent into the future. He had telepathy and telekinesis just like his mother, but also technopathy as well having enhanced senses on top of being an expert marksman and hand to hand fighter. As leader of the X-Force he fought against Stryfe and Apocalypse frequently. With that in mind, I would imagine that they would tie Cable into X-Men: Apocalypse somehow allowing the X-Men trilogy to easily tie into the X-Force film with the singular piece being Cable. Now, Cable also had his run ins with Wolverine in the comics, but I don't think they are going to continue to rely on Hugh Jackman's great performance as the character to make their films successful. Cable is a fan favorite due to the fact that in a lot of ways he is an anti-hero just like Wolverine. He has a lot of anger inside of him but always is driven to do the right thing, but also very frequently brought against the likes of Apocalypse.
En Sabur Nur, or more notably known as Apocalypse is the biggest and most powerful of X-Men's long list of villains. For the longest time X-Men fans have wanted to see him on the big screen and with the promise of an expanded cinematic universe it is now a certainty that we will see him. The eagle eyed X-Men fans will also notice in the recent trailer of Days of Future Past that the temple that the future X-Men go to in the apocalyptic future looks a lot like the temple that Apocalypse rests in. This being said and having known that the film will travel back and forth between the two timelines that once it is fixed with the Sentinels being stopped that somehow Apocalypse will awaken, and he will not be happy. The interesting aspect of this is the fact that the X-Men franchise will continue with the younger group led by McAvoy and Fassbender which are in the past so when Apocalypse rises, would he travel in the past? Would the final reveal be that of him waking up and brutally killing the original cast to showcase how powerful he truly is before he travels back in time? That one I doubt solely because it would be completely different in terms of tone from hiding from the Sentinels the entire film but it certainly would be a shock. Considering the next film is titled Apocalypse I would not be surprised in the slightest if there is a small reveal of the character before the end credits. Of course, I can not go without saying that way back when First Class came out I wrote an article stating that this new trilogy would one day introduce the character for the third film. Anyways, it is nice to know that they are now thinking of the future of the franchise but once they introduce Apocalypse, I do not know how much further they can go as they have already covered a lot of ground in the X-Men verse.
