SPOILERS: 10 Frustrating Questions You'll Be Left Asking After Watching X-MEN: APOCALYPSE
Continuity stopped meaning anything to the X-Men franchise a long time ago, but timeline issues are just one of the many questions you'll be left with after watching the latest instalment from Bryan Singer...
From glaring plot holes to unexplained twists and reveals, X-Men: Apocalypse is a movie which is sure to leave comic book fans talking for the next few years, and not always for the best of reasons. While none of these ruin the experience of watching the Bryan Singer helmed release as such, the fact that they aren't properly addressed in the movie or leave moviegoers feeling unsatisfied isn't good.
So, with all of that in mind, what you'll find here are the ten biggest unanswered questions we've been left wit after watching X-Men: Apocalypse? Is [Spoiler] really dead and how exactly did [Spoiler] end up becoming [Spoiler] anyway? Those are just a couple of the ones we try to answer and figure out here...
10. How (And When) Did Wolverine End Up Joining The X-Men?
Days of Future Past concluded with a glimpse of the future, a future where Scott and Jean stayed together and Wolverine was a member of the X-Men. However, after escaping Weapon X, how exactly did Logan end up living in Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters? We know that Rogue and Iceman are together in this new timeline, so was it still Wolverine who brought her to the mansion before finding himself becoming an unwilling member of this superhero team as depicted in X-Men?
Unfortunately, X-Men: Apocalypse provides no answers, and with The Wolverine 3 set to take place in that future (where Logan only has memories of the original timeline and not the new one), chances are we'll never find out how he ended up joining the team, a pretty frustrating omission.
9. Is Angel Dead?
The Angel in X-Men: Apocalypse bears very little resemblance to the Warren Worthington III from the comic books, and we simply don't get to spend anywhere near enough time with him in order to learn whether he has the same wealthy background as that version before somehow ending up being forced to fight in Germany. It's understandable then why we don't see Angel lining up alongside the rest of the X-Men at the end of the movie, but is he even alive at that point?
His story concludes with him being left in a bloody heap after crashing to the ground in a jet piloted by the X-Men, and while he looked dead to me, many believe he could have survived. Personally, I wouldn't mind learning in the next movie that he was taken by Weapon X, and as a result of their work to save him, has Archangel's blue skin from the comic books...
8. What Originally Caused Professor X To Lose His Hair?
In X-Men: Apocalypse, we learn that Charles Xavier lost his hair when En Sabah Nur attempted to transfer his consciousness into his body, but why exactly was Professor X hairless in the original timeline? Did the X-Men still square off against the villain, albeit without the assistance of characters like Magneto and Mystique?
That's highly unlikely, especially as the events of Days of Future Past created an entirely new timeline (for example, because of that movie, Scott Summers was brought to the X-Men by his brother Alex rather than being saved from Weapon X, while the Charles we saw in X-Men Origins: Wolverine was already bald and still walking about). This is one of those things that we're never going to get an answer for and needs to just be accepted as a result, but it's still pretty hard not to wonder!
7. What Happened To Mystique-Stryker?
This unanswered X-Men: Days of Future Past question is carried over into X-Men: Apocalype and never even addressed. While Bryan Singer and Simon Kinberg have offered a pretty weak explanation (despite Mystique's attempts to save Wolverine, he still ended up being taken by Weapon X) which admittedly does work in some respects, it doesn't really touch on what Raven did after pulling Logan from the river or why she looked so happy about it.
Did she just drop Wolverine - who would have had no memory of her or helping the X-Men due to being possessed by his future self - off somewhere? When Cyclops and his pals explained those dead bodies to Mystique, Beast, and Quicksilver, would they not have recognised the description as of that clawed mutant as being Wolverine? Honestly, it's best to just pretend that was the real Stryker at the end of Days of Future Past.
6. What's Next For Psylocke?
Once Apocalypse is defeated, Psylocke slinks away, and her fate remains a frustrating mystery as a result. Is that the last we're ever going to see of her or will she return somewhere down the line? The latter option seems most likely in all honesty, but when and if we do see the former Horseman again, will she be a friend or foe to the X-Men?
Fox could go either way, but the best place for her is without a doubt that planned X-Force spinoff being worked on by Simon Kinberg. Of course, with that set in the present, it's going to be tough to explain why she hasn't aged a day in thirty odd years, but hey, this f***ed up timeline is no doubt something the fourth wall breaking Deadpool could have some fun with. It would have been nice to have some sort of tease about what's next for Psylocke anyway.
5. Is Nightcrawler Mystique's Son?
Why exactly Mystique decides to rescue Nightcrawler is never made clear, and while Raven making it her mission to help mutants being treated poorly is hinted at here and has been acknowledged in recent interviews, that doesn't really explain why she would go out of her way to track down Kurt. Angel may be a bit of a dick, but why not rescue him and the countless other mutants no doubt being held backstage who have to fight in this arena?
Could it be because Nightcrawler is her son? It's odd that no one in X-Men: Apocalypse acknowledges the fact that he has blue skin and pretty much an identical appearance and power set to Azazel in X-Men: First Class, so could it be that he and Mystique hooked up before his death at the hands of Bolivar Trask? Alas, that's not even hinted at in this movie, and it looks like this franchise has no plans to reference them being mother and son any time soon.
4. How Is Alex Summers The Same Age As His Parents?
The timeline in the X-Men movies doesn't make a lick of sense, but as comic book fans who have watched their favourite characters age just a few years over decades, it shouldn't be that difficult to accept that this is how this franchise works, right? The problem is that X-Men: Apocalypse acknowledges the fact that a decade has passed since the events of Days of Future Past on multiple occasions, and while no one has aged in that time, that revelation is particularly problematic for Alex Summers.
Assuming he was 16 in First Class, he now has to be closing in on 40 (he's a Vietnam vet for Chrissakes!) and his and Scott's parents don't look much older than that! If they're mid 40s, they must have had Alex in before their teens, and the fact that he still looks about 20 is obviously baffling. It certainly doesn't ruin the movie, but issues like these are a distraction for sure.
3. Could Anyone Have Really Survived The World's Destruction?
It's easy enough to understand that En Sabah Nur wants to cleanse the world and start over in X-Men: Apocalypse, but how exactly does he expect anyone to survive the...well, apocalypse? White House scientists point out that not a single structure built since the bronze age will survive the widespread destruction, and while the villain is expecting the "strongest" to survive that, pretty much the only way they'll be able to do so is to stand in a field out in the middle of nowhere with their fingers crossed that there's not a single scrap of metal in the ground beneath them!
Apocalypse also intends to steal Professor X's powers in order to control the survivors, a pretty flawed idea when there probably won't be that many people left. In the grand scheme of things, this isn't the end of the world (no pun intended), but his plan leaves us with far too many unanswered questions to be wholly satisfying.
2. How Did Wolverine End Up Becoming Weapon X?
This one ties into the Mystique-Stryker point, but if we just assume that Logan went off and did his own thing for a while before ending up in the clutches of Weapon X, we're still left without any idea as to how that went down. Bear in mind that X-Men Origins: Wolverine revealed that the clawed mutant decided to volunteer for the experiment (an interesting twist which was handled poorly), so did the same thing happen in this timeline or was he taken against his will just like in the comic books?
Seeing as he's caged up with that mind controlling helmet on, the latter seems most likely, but it might have been nice to get some more details on this. Unless it's touched on in the character's solo movie next year, chances are that we won't get any answers about how this all went down, and it's a shame because it feels like there's an interesting story here to be told.
1. Is Magneto A Superhero Now?
At the end of X-Men: Apocalypse, it looks like Erik is on the path to becoming a hero, but he for some reason decides to leave the X-Mansion, something which again leaves his fate up in the air. Now, we're left to wonder whether he's going to go and do some good or end up returning to his villainous ways. In fairness though, it's hard not to be excited about what's next for him in this franchise, so as unanswered questions go, at least this one sort of works!
Did X-Men: Apocalypse leave you with any unanswered questions? Which of those listed here bugged you the most? As always, feel free to let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.