by W.T. Bane
The trailer for one of next summer’s hottest movies dropped today and it gave us a lot of new information. Let’s talk what we learned.
In general the tone is much more similar to the post-Sentinel world from Days of Future Past and rightfully so. It is obvious from the very beginning that the stakes are so much higher this time around than in previous films. The fate of the very world is in their hands.
The opening dialogue between Xavier and a young Jean Grey gives us plenty to talk about from very little spoken. First, Xavier has fulfilled his promise to Wolverine and has continued to find new mutants and has evidently already taken Jean Grey underneath his wing. I may be reading to much into this brief dialogue, but from their interaction with each other I already get the feeling that they are carrying over the relationship from the comics where Xavier was more partial to students with psychic abilities. Even Emma Frost comments on it in the books when she says that he finds them elevated above the rest.
Also of note, Jean is able to sense the rising tide of the Apocalypse on an unconscious level where Xavier hasn’t yet. In the books, Jean Grey’s telepathic powers were too much for her to cope and Xavier suppressed them and trained her in telekinesis, and later down the line she became a more powerful telepath. It’s clear that even at a young age in this film, she has an untapped potential of power that is still in it’s infancy as she is able to sense this new threat while Xavier is unaware.
Apocalypse is the ancient one En Sabah Nur. At the end of Days of Future Past we got a glimpse of him building the pyramids with 4 figures on horseback in the background. Here we learn just a little more about him from Moira Mactaggert. He is the first mutant. He has been worshipped for thousands of years and has been called by many religious names. In the books, Apocalypse has a similar origin but it appears they are forgoing the celestial route due to the celestials being under the cinematic ownership of Marvel Cinematic Universe proper. In the books, Apocalypse believes that only the strong should survive and the weak should be culled from the ranks to strengthen the herd. It appears this film version believes in destroying what is in order to create something new and better and the focus will be on his mutant “children” as he sees them. It appears that Apoclaypse wants to end that world ruled by homosapians in order to create a world for homosuperior.
They’ve definitely not sold him short on his power level either. Apocalypse is one of the most powerful mutants to ever appear in the books or shows and is finally getting his due in the films. They show that he can still control his body on a molecular level by increasing in size as he holds Quicksilver down inside the mansion. I have no idea what he is doing at the end to the city of York, but clearly he is not going to be an easy take down for the X-Men.
This makes sense as to why Magneto would join his ranks. Magneto believes in the same philosophy of Mutant superiority. The brief glimpses we see of Magneto appear like he is disillusioned. What will be interesting is to see as to why the rest of the mutants join his cause.
Storm is a long time X-Man in the books and joined the ranks in the Giant Size X-Men #1 that rebooted the X-men world and is the start of the important history of the X-Men books. She was worshipped as a god at points due to her weather control but also spent time living on the streets until she was found by Xavier. She was also one of the ones mentioned by name by Wolverine at the end of the last film to be one of the ones for Xavier to find. Apparently he didn’t find her quick enough and Apocalypse has come for her, or Xavier has lost her to Apocalypse for some reason.
Psylocke is another interesting choice. It’s clear they are skipping the whole “she’s really British but underwent a mind/body swap with an asian woman” thing. Olivia Munn will be portraying her but there hasn’t been a whole lot of information on her film portrayal as of yet.
Finally, Angel, or should I say Archangel is here. Hopefully we’re just forgetting he ever appeared in X-Men: the Last Stand as this is the arc for the character that people really care about. In the books Angel loses his wings and Apocalypse grants him new metallic wings and brainwashes him into serving as the horsemen Death. Why he chooses to follow Apocalypse in this film will be interesting to see. Of note, gone is the blue tinted skin that he gets after the procedure to bond the metallic wings. He retains his white skin but appears to have new facial tattoos to support his new more evil demeanor.
Cyclops appears briefly, again being the complaining one due to his lack of control over his powers but due to where he is in life at the moment as a teenager just recently gaining this new burden, it’s understandable for him to be in such a place. I wouldn’t like it either if I couldn’t do anything but blast lasers from my eyes all the time. Here’s to hoping that they do more with him than they did in the first two films.
Mystique will be joining the ranks of the X-Men this go around. It appears that the heart to heart that she and Xavier shared at the end of Days of Future Past has settled in and she wants to fight for the sake of the world. She has teamed up with the X-Men before in the comics but typically it is for her own gain or to be in an opportunity to betray them. Just recently she joined the ranks in Uncanny X-Men Volume 4 where the team is lead by none other than Magneto.
Other mutants that appear are Nightcrawler, Jubilee and the returning Quicksilver. I believe that the young man accompanying Xavier to the Cia offices is the returning Havok.
The trailer ends with one last shot of Xavier with a bald scalp. Finally, James Mcavoy will be shaving it down for the role of the more typical appearance of young Xavier. Why? We don’t know but my guess is for to get a better use of cerebro in his war against Apocalypse.
X-Men: Apocalypse hits theaters in May 2016. Full Trailer below.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=COvnHv42T-A&w=560&h=315]
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