X-Men's biggest foe is.... Continuity?

X-Men's biggest foe is.... Continuity?

Exactly why are the Fox-Men in danger? Sinister? Apocalypse? Unfortunately, for fans of the mutant team, it seems their biggest threat is the contradicting timeline that has been building up since 2000...

Editorial Opinion
By Gunslinger - Jan 30, 2014 07:01 PM EST
Filed Under: X-Men

I saw quite a few comments in other articles about how fans are lenient with Marvel Studios for inconsistencies in their movies, but tended to be unforgiving when it comes to Fox's portrayal of the X-men. In my modest opinion I think most fans at this point in time aren't as concerned with the X-Men "cinematic universe" not following the comics, as much as with the movie's complete disregard for continuity.

To illustrate this, please consider the following issues I personally have with the "Fox-Men" continuity. Hopefully, this will be also clarify the difference between "DIFFERENT FROM THE COMICS" and "THE CONTINUITY MAKES NO SENSE".

1 - Who built Cerebro? In X1 and X2 it's stated Xavier built it with the help of Magneto but in First Class, Hank (Beast) builds it.



2 - In X1, Xavier tells Wolverine both Jean Grey (Phoenix) and Scott Summers (Cyclops) were among his first students. In First Class there was no sign of them.



3 - We have two completely different incarnations of Sabretooth? The deaf/mute minddless brute in X1, and Wolverine's more eloquent BROTHER in Wolverine Origins. What happened? Are we supposed to believe these two are the same character?



4 - Mystique as portrayed in First Class is quite close to Xavier. Actually, that's an understatement. She's his sister in everything but blood. They grew up together from early childhood (7-9?) and you could see throughout First Class they were very close. Even if she becomes a mutant extremist, even if she prefers Magneto's approach to the future of mutants, in X1 she tries to kill Xavier by tampering with Cerebro with absolutely no hesitation. Magneto himself who doesn't share as profound a connection with Xavier seems to be saddened by their disagreements and actually defends Xavier's contributions to the mutant cause. Mystique? She shows no emotion. No connection was acknowledged in the original movies. Doesn't it seem a bit weird? Just a little?



5 - In X1, Xavier tells Wolverine he met Magneto when he was 17. In First Class they are in their mid 20s? I assume they are because they look older than 17, and Oxford University graduate Xavier is publishing his thesis on mutation. And drinking pints at the pub.



6 - Moira MacTaggert in X3 was a geneticistic and mutant biologist. In First Class she was an FBI agent? Not to mention the time gap... let's say she was 20 in First Class (being generous for argument's sake). X1 was out in 2000.... that would make her an extremely yummy and well preserved 60 year old...



7 - In X2, Beast shows up on TV, and it's clear he hasn't gone through his secondary mutation (blue fur). However, in FC he underwent a secondary mutation? We're talking about 30 years at least before X2. And please, don't tell me it's an Image Inducer. That may exist in the comics, but in X3 when Leech temporarily deactivates Beast's mutation he (Beast) chokes up saying it's been a long time since he saw his own skin.



8 - Let's assume at the end of X3, Xavier transferred his consciousness to his identical twin brother in a coma (codenamed Deus Ex Machina - aka copout). In DOFP he's in a wheelchair again?



But ok, in Fox's universe maybe lightning does strike twice...

9 - In FC Xavier knew that Sebastian Shaw's helmet (later to become Magneto's) blocked his telepathy. In X1, he had no idea how Magneto was blocking his thoughts.



10 - Kitty Pryde's power is phasing through solid objects. If she phases through anything electrical in nature, she short circuits it. However, in Days of Future Past, her power allows her to phase Wolverine through time? Seriously? Wouldn't it make more sense to create a mutant specifically for that?



11 - In X1 both Xavier and Magneto had no idea who Wolverine was. But in First Class they try to recruit him....



12 - In Wolverine Origins you see Emma Frost in diamond form but no apparent telepathic powers. Quite young as well. In First Class, supposedly about 10 years before, Emma Frost is older and telepathic. And for the naysayers, that is Emma Frost in Origins. Her character's name shows in the credits.



I'm not even going to mention Xavier walking after FC as he was paralysed. Getting shot in the back will do that to you. Maybe Fox decided to follow on TDKR's footsteps and someone punched Xavier's back to fix him up. And he'll get paralysed again (maybe for good this time) in DOFP...

The X-Men have enough continuity problems as it is. It's not a matter of not being faithful to the comics anymore. It's simply that the movies contradict themselves. There is no continuity. There are vague distorted reflections of it, but ultimately it all falls apart when you look closely.

THAT is the problem most people have with Fux-Men.

Please feel free to use the comments section to try and explain some of these issues (if at all possible), as well as raise others that may not be covered in this list.


This is my first article, so apologies for any formatting errors. Thanks for reading.

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Tainted87
Tainted87 - 1/30/2014, 7:45 PM
Continuity is irrelevant. I'm not talking about the schematics of the X-Men series changing with Days of Future Past, but rather, the fact that most people don't care what's going on with X-Men.

Because it's on FX, it might not get a whole lot of love, and you might not have had the chance to see it, but American Horror Story is a FANTASTIC horror series.

Each season recycles cast members, but they play completely different characters, in a different time period, completely unrelated to the past roles.
The first series depicts an upper-middle class family moving into a house full of urban legends in present-day Los Angeles, and it turns out to be haunted by all the people who have died since the original owner somehow cursed it.
The second series is all about a bat-shit crazy asylum in Massachusetts, sheltering/torturing/employing a former nazi, a few psychotic nuns, serial killers, and quite a few innocent parties during the 60s and 70s.
The third series centers on a Salem coven near modern-day New Orleans who are threatened not just by the rival voodoo queen or witch hunters, but their own unwavering ambition to be the most powerful of them all.

X-Men could happen like that, without the audiences understanding or not. Sure it clearly follows it's own story line with some muddled continuity issues, but that's not what's the biggest problem.

The trouble with X-Men is that they are holding themselves back. These characters aren't just a persecuted minority, but SUPERHEROES, yet in the movies, they are depicted as stylized refugees with superpowers. I'm not saying take away the persecution, because that's a staple of X-Men, but at least allow them to do something heroic. Save a burning building, foil a bank robbery... let them actually BE all they can be. Let's cheer for them instead of just feeling sorry for them.
feedonatreefrog
feedonatreefrog - 1/30/2014, 7:52 PM
I'm not the biggest fan of the xmen movies, but continuity has nothing to do with it.
BANE5000
BANE5000 - 1/30/2014, 7:55 PM
Kind of stating old continuity facts/theories here
WYLEEJAY
WYLEEJAY - 1/30/2014, 7:58 PM
I have ideas for the Two Sabretooth looks and Wolvie getting his claws coated again after the Wolverine. Gonna write a article. Haven't done one in a while.
Gunslinger
Gunslinger - 1/30/2014, 8:02 PM
@tainted87 - I see what you mean in regards to American Horror Story but like you said it goes through different time periods in unrelated scenarios - another example would be the massively underrated Cloud Atlas. The point is they make sense.If the X-Men movies were one offs, each of them a different take on the same characters, things would be different. DC has done in comics with their Elseworlds line and I loved it when it was a kid.

The problem is that Fox is trying to force a continuity that is damaged. They are deliberately trying to connect all the movies. They had a chance to start from scratch with First Class but now they are connecting it to the original movies.


As for X-Men as heroes, I agree, that is something Joss Whedon focused on during his X-Men run and worked out very well. It was going back to basics in a way after Grant Morrison's self-centered mutants run. You can have the superheroes team AND the mutant persecution.
.
TheAmazingCaptainHulk
TheAmazingCaptainHulk - 1/30/2014, 8:08 PM
First class is an alternate timeline.
Gunslinger
Gunslinger - 1/30/2014, 8:19 PM
@MexicanSuperman

1 - Could be, Cerebro 1.0/2.0/3.0... but creating a new improved version, even over a prototype isn't the same as inventing it. Besides, in X1 Xavier explains that Magneto was able to make a telepathy dampening helmet due to his hand in creating Cerebro.

2 - the issue here wouldn't be Xavier's School for the Gifted, but the first X-Men. However, that's a valid point, we'll see how it turns out in the movie.

3 = by the same principle as their mutation is similar and they are in fact blood related, shouldn't the same happen to Wolverine? Even more so since the adamantium would take atoll on his healing factor.

4 - It would have to be something really, really bad. Still, at the end of X3 when Mystique is injected with the cure, she turns human and doesn't look a day over 35... in continuity she should be aroung 50 at least?

5 - lol, could be.

6 - Possible, but in the X-Men movies. we already have two William Strykers.

7 - That would make sense if it wasn't for what he said to Leech in TLS, that he hadn't seen his skin in a long time.

8 - Muscular atrophy can be reverted initially with electrical stimulation followed by incremental exercise. But supposing it wasn't, wouldn't he be tetraplegic? He shouldn't be able to move his arms.

9 - or maybe his telepathic attack ricocheted from the helmet causing him to screw up his memory, lol

10 - Could be secondary mutation although with her power set it would make more sense to phase the whole body through time. But it may be explained.

11 - Astral projection doesn't work like that.In the Astral plane Xavier isn't paralysed as it's a psychic manifestation of his person. But it wouldn't affect the physical world. As for Beast building something for him, why not have it by X1 and later, as technology will have evolved?
Pedrito
Pedrito - 1/30/2014, 8:36 PM
The film makers have made zero attempt to reconcile the contradictions. It's clear there no good way of explaining them away. And if there are ways, it's really not that interesting to devote time in a new movie to justify screw-ups in past movies.

Just relax and enjoy the movies. These Fox movies are not supposed to make sense.

They'll probably bring back the FF in continuity with the previous movies and say Johnny got a serious tan in Tahiti or whatever. Don't fight it.
Pedrito
Pedrito - 1/30/2014, 8:39 PM
I meant "make sense" continuity-wise. Other than that they've been good (the last two).
BenjiWest
BenjiWest - 1/30/2014, 8:44 PM
The simplest answer is.....they don't give a phuq. If something seems cool, comical, or perhaps to be winking at the comic book readers, they throw it in there.
Ace101
Ace101 - 1/30/2014, 9:13 PM
@Batmaniac i would have to disagree. if they cant change anything in the original timeline what makes you think hopping into another alternate reality's timeline that is remotely identical (first class timeline) will do anything to change the reality of the original timeline, and also what would give them the idea that they would have gone through the same stuff.

To me the timelines don't even sit in the same Attractor Field. -Steins gate reference
Gunslinger
Gunslinger - 1/30/2014, 9:24 PM
@ dethpillow - Thanks man, appreciate it. I see what tou mean in regards to continuity not beimg the major problem with the X-movies, I think they could be more faithful to the source material, but I tend to think of them as a losely based movie adaptation. Similar themes to the source, characters et al but a different version. I actually thought Girst Class was solid. It's not my X-Men but as a movie it was quite entertaining.

@ MexicanSuperman - Have to check the credits to be fair, I follwed IMDB in regards to the cast and what roles they played. It says Kayla's sister/Emma Frost

1 - Pretty surre of that one, check it out yourself. It was also mentioned that due to his input in creating Cerebro, Magneto knew how to make the helmet impervious to telepathy.

2 - they did call themsleves X-Men by the third act, and Xavier helped them to control their powers (Beast, Havoc, Banshee).

3 - It's a possible explanation but honestly I can see no basis for it in the movies. When the audience has to create "excuses" for inconsistencies in movies it means they are doing a poor job. Don't get me wrong, no movie is perfect and inconsistencies aren't anything out of this world, but the sheer number of them you find in the X-movies is ridiculous.

4 - I genuinely think you have a point. Rings a bell.

6 - lol, could be

7 - yeah, it did work, that's my point. He reverted to normal skin and said it had been a long time since he looked at it...

8 - true but... If you put that on top of Xavier comveniently having a twin brother who was braindead, but was born paralysed, in order for Xavier to transfer his consciousness... It's too convenient imho.

11 - why? Ask anyone with paralysis if they wouldn't love being able to walk? It's not a matter of accepting it. It's just another inconsistency they disn't think through.

Personally, when I watch a movie I want to be immersed in it. Suspension of belief is necessary, in particular with this type of movie, but inconsistencies within an established universe that keeps getting more and more convoluted takes me out of the movie. It impairs my enjoyment. But that is just my personal opinion.

If people aren't bothered by it... I honestly envy them
WeaponX93
WeaponX93 - 1/30/2014, 9:36 PM
1. X2, Magneto says he helped build the one at the Mansion.

2. Technically, the group in FC weren't his "students" since he didnt open the school yet.

3. Sabretooth's mutation caused him to grow more animalistic. It didn't happen to Wolverine because he's always fought that side off himself. Or they have different powers, like the location of their claws. I have an uncle that's 5'5" and his brother's 6'2". See what I'm getting at? (No not an affair lol)

4. Clearly they had a falling out. I mean, she did leave him for the guy that crippled him.

5. This Xavier had no rules. He could've easily cheated his way through college, making himself seem like a teen genious and concincing people he's old enough to drink.

6. She ages gracefully? A relative of some kind?

7. Image inducer. In X3 he said its been awhile since he saw his skin. He meant his real skin, not holographic. If you lose an arm, you're not gonna be happy with a hologram, and if you got a real back, you'd choke up too. (A little extreme but you guys get it)

8. Muscular atrophy?

9. Maybe he gives the helmet up when he and Charles reunite, and Charles is unaware he has it back.

10. The movie isn't out yet so we won't know til May.

11. Do you remember everyone who ever told you to go f**k yourself? Anyway, I had the impression that both Charles and Erik knew about Logan. Look at the way Erik reacts to the dog tags.

12. Origins' Emma was Silverfox's sister who happened to have diamond skin.

As for Xavier walking, again, we'll have to wait.
Gunslinger
Gunslinger - 1/30/2014, 10:39 PM
@ weaponx93 - a couple of fair pints, I'll try to adress them when I come back from work, 6:35 here in the UK.

@dethpillow - believe me, I would love to see a more faithful adaptation but that's not going to happen anytime soon. Grew up on Claremont's X-Men, still the definitive run imho
X2's Nightcrawler sequence at the start was excellent. They capture him well. First Class was pretty good too if you take it for what it is. As for Origins... Hated it but that's probably because I read Weapon X by Windsor-Smith when I was a kid. Difficult to adapt that story to movie, buy still I think of what it could have been. And Deadpool... Ugh
SauronsBANE
SauronsBANE - 1/30/2014, 10:52 PM
Trust me, I absolutely hear what you're saying in this article man. These types of issues would drive me completely insane if I were more invested in X-Men. Fact of the matter is, they didn't plan a single thing out ahead of X-Men and X-Men 2. Things got screwed up in X3, they made it worse with X-Men Origins, and they genuinely tried to do what they could with First Class.

Personally, I just gloss over the MANY continuity issues stemming from the original trilogy and the next two films after. The filmmakers didn't put enough thought or effort to keep things consistent, so it's ridiculous for the fans to spend hours making up crazy theories to make everything fit. It's just not worth it. Who knows, maybe DOFP will pull a JJ Abrams Star Trek and make it into a new timeline completely. Point is, it's just easier to let it go and hope for the best.

Good article though!
Jamesx51
Jamesx51 - 1/30/2014, 11:39 PM
Totally agree - Fox had years to get this right but they don't believe in the characters/stories etc... Avengers made Fox pay attention but they have screwed the X-Men so much that they can't repair it! DOFP will be amazingly confusing... Give it up Fx!
mook
mook - 1/31/2014, 1:20 AM
How 'DAYS OF FUTURE PAST' Is An Inbetwequel & Will Unite All The X-Men Films Before X-MEN: APOCALYPSE

Read more at http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/SuperheroSpeculation/news/?a=92543#m2ZpRFzj7yx2Pitv.99
WeaponX93
WeaponX93 - 1/31/2014, 8:14 AM
@GunSlinger

Didnt mean to sound harsh lol
MrCameron
MrCameron - 1/31/2014, 9:17 AM
Kinda beating a dead horse don't you think?
RobGrizzly
RobGrizzly - 1/31/2014, 9:42 PM
This article made my day. Thank you Gunslinger!

All of this mess comes from the last two X-Men movies both trying to be reboots of sorts. 80% of your list is the sole fault of First Class alone. Terribly overrated movie.

I don't get mad at Days of Future Past. I know Singer will try his best to pull it all together. But I am frustrated at Matthew Vaughn's film which was a complete hurricane of confusion. And those that claim this is somehow acceptable as the best of them all? Mystique and Xavier BFFs? GTFO

First Class: great action movie, terrible X-Men movie.
ColbyBlack
ColbyBlack - 1/31/2014, 10:44 PM
The continuity errors, in all actuality, start even earlier. In X-Men (2000) Wolverine is able to tell Mystique is impersonating Storm by her scent alone and guts her with hi class. In X-2: X-Men United (2003), when Mystique uses her powers to impersonate Jean Grey, Wolverine is unable to tell she's not the real Jean.
ColbyBlack
ColbyBlack - 1/31/2014, 10:46 PM
*Meant to say 'his claws'...
Redx42
Redx42 - 1/31/2014, 10:52 PM
lets talk about the Continuity of marvel comics, and how they've mess up the time streams and made a whole other future possible multiple times. Now with that being said, why can't what they're doing now make some sense. ex. Sabertooth, what if something made him become more animal than man to try and keep up with Wolverine. Now that only covers 1 of many points the author brings up. But many of things don't make sense when it comes to time travel in comics and movies. But with comics we kinda just go with it, at least I do. So my point is, sure what they're doing now doesn't make concrete logical sense. But sholdn't we look at this movie from a side point perspective so see how they pull it off, and then see where they plan to take it. All i know is X-force is going to be made, right? if so who cares. I applaud them for attempting to take the new and the old and move forward. I only care for the overall portaly of the characters. It's hollywood people, these guys arn't all nerds like us, I mean look at QuickSilver. I can only hope that Avengers QS looks better.
CaptainComicBook
CaptainComicBook - 2/1/2014, 12:13 AM
I understand the "multiple time lines" theory. However, The Wolverine showed that Logan killed Jean Grey. The only way that the multiple time lines theory works is if Logan kills Jean Grey in both timelines and Xavier get paralyzed in two different times in his life in both timelines.
deamon
deamon - 2/1/2014, 2:05 AM
Why brainless people always seek a gap where the hedge is whole, when all of those 12 points are easy to explain?
1. Hank created prototype, from FC we don't know who built Cerebro, we will know it in DOFP.
2. Because he didn't start school yet, at end of FC he said he's going to do this. But was in black ... for 11 years, now Charles will change it, he's hope will back, he'll open school, and in 80's Jean and Scott will be one of first students.
3. If you know what's 2nd mutation, you wouldn't even ask.
4. In DOFP we will see how she has changed since 1962, because of death (Azazel) if her child.
5. They're 30 in FC. First meet of Charles and Erik, when Charles was 17, and Erik said he saw Liberty Statue in 1949 first time. Maybe Charles was with school trip at Liberty Island. Just a teenagers talk, nothing happened, and they didn’t talk about being mutants each other. Erik didn’t find what he was looking for and later back to Europe to find Shaw.
6. Moira looks much younger than her real age, more possible it’s her daughter in movie or she had plastic surgeon.
7. Beast uses image inducer (yes it can be) or some kind of temporary cure to look like human.
8. Do you were in school or you're just joking with this point? If someone doesn't use his body for 70 years, he won't walk just like that. Shaking head or using hand to operate joystick at wheelchair is already big thing.
9. It blocked telepathy, not Cerebro in FC.
10. Once again it was lesson about it at University. You should find it in google, and read about this. Also it's her 2nd mutation.
11. Yeah, they have to remember guy, with who they talked for 5 sec in 1962.
12. Kayla and her younger sister Emma are daughters of Emma Frost. Kayla got some kind of telepathic power and young Emma has diamond form power.
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