The superhero film genre might not be what we know it as today if not for the pioneering of Bryan Singer's X-Men films. While both the original X-Men and its sequel, X2: X-Men United, garnered a lot of praise, the third entry in the film franchise, X-Men: The Last Stand, received less-than-stellar reviews from fans and critics alike. Several factors contributed to this reception, one of which was the departure of Singer from the franchise to work on Superman Returns. Brett Ratner was later selected to helm the film in Singer's stead, leading to the start of a dark period for the franchise. When asked about his absence from X-Men: The Last Stand in an interview with Fandango, Singer admitted he may have been partly responsible for the third film's reception. "I like finishing things. I like finishing this particular iteration. I know X-Men 3 was quite rushed and I didn't complete it, and I felt a little like it was probably my responsibility to do that as a filmmaker, and I didn’t."
Despite having some enjoyable elements (such as Kelsey Grammer's 'Beast' and Ellen Page's 'Kitty Pryde'), the film made several controversial decisions, including the killing of Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Charles Xavier, along with a near-butchering of the classic Dark Phoenix storyline. Singer was able to return to the franchise to undo some of these decisions with 2014's X-Men: Days Of Future Past, but said he probably wouldn't have made those decisions had he been directing. "I might not have killed all those characters. But that's what was so fun about Days of Future Past. We had a joke on set: 'Hey Brian, you're not only directing Days of Future Past -- you're actually living it!' I was going back and making changes in history. [With X-Men: The Last Stand], I don't fault anyone, including myself. It was just that circumstances didn't allow for it to happen."
Singer's latest installment in the franchise, X-Men: Apocalypse, releases May 27, 2016.