SPOILERS: X-MEN: APOCALYPSE - 10 Awesome Easter Eggs You May Have Missed
Regardless of whether you've already seen X-Men: Apocalypse or are thinking about checking it out this weekend, you definitely need to check out these ten best Easter Eggs and references in the movie...
X-Men: Apocalypse finally reaches US theaters today, and while the critics have been a little harsh on the Bryan Singer helmed release, I'm sure the vast majority of you will want to check out what's next for these characters as soon as possible. However, regardless of whether you've seen the movie or not, you'll no doubt want to know what references and Easter Eggs you should be looking out for here.
Like Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Captain America: Civil War before it, X-Men: Apocalypse features plenty of nods to the comic books, previous instalments in the franchise, and pop culture in general thanks to its many cameos and references. What you'll find here are the ten best examples, many of which are surprisingly easy to miss on a first viewing, so keep on reading for details...
10. "A Great Swell Of Pity..."
X-Men: Apocalypse concludes with Magneto seemingly turning his back on his villainous past and embracing a new path in life, albeit one which isn't going to involve him sticking around the X-Mansion. However, before he bids farewell to his old friend, Erik asks Charles how he manages to sleep at night knowing the humans could come for him and his children at ant time, something which the Professor replies to by stating that he feels a great swell of pity for anyone foolish enough to try.
This is pretty much a word for word recreation of the final scene between these two in the original X-Men movie, and it's hard to escape the feeling that things being brought full circle like this is Bryan Singer's way of bidding farewell to the franchise. It certainly wraps up this trilogy pretty effectively.
9. Stan Lee's Very Serious Cameo
Stan Lee's cameos are always well worth keeping an eye our for, but the rushed production schedules of the past couple of X-Men movies has meant that the co-creator of Marvel's merry mutants has been given the cold shoulder. However, he makes a return in X-Men: Apocalypse, and while the beloved comic book writer's appearances are often used as a source of humour, Bryan Singer takes things in a slightly different direction here.
After En Sabah Nur unleashes the world's nuclear arsenal, "The Man" can be seen holding on to his real-life wife, while those terrifying looking missiles are reflected in his glasses. It's a haunting piece of imagery, and as great as it is to see the scribe have fun in his big screen appearances, this is definitely one of his most memorable cameo appearances to date.
8. Sentinels And X-Jet
X-Men: Apocalypse pays homage to the comic books and previous movies in a couple of fun ways, with the first being Beast working on the Blackbird. While it's not quite finished, he mentions to Mystique that he's built an exit for the jet in the school's basketball court, something which fans of Singer's original movies will no doubt remember well.
The second comes when the Sentinels from X-Men: Days of Future Past return, this time in a much more basic version of the Danger Room as the young team of mutants put together by Raven look to hone their skills. This scene also homages X-Men: The Last Stand in some ways, and it's going to be very interesting keeping an eye on how this part of the X-Mansion develops over the years, especially after we've seen a fairly advanced version of it.
7. The Blob
The Blob made his big screen debut in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, but with a new timeline now in place, Fred Dukes somehow ended up fighting Angel in Germany rather than serving as a member of William Stryker's Weapon X task force before gaining a bunch of weight and coming to blows with Logan in a boxing ring.
Covered in scars from previous battles, we don't get to see much of The Blob in action here as he's already been defeated by Angel when we meet him, but as you can tell from the image above, Bryan Singer stuck closely to both the comic books and X-Men animated series when it came to translating his look for this movie. It's also worth noting that Nightcrawler is decked out in a circus type costume when we see him for the first time here, a definite not to his comic book origins.
6. A Jab At X-Men: The Last Stand
Bryan Singer and Simon Kinberg no doubt thought they were being pretty clever by having Jean, Scott, Jubilee, and Nightcrawler leave a screening of Return of the Jedi pointing out that the third instalment in a trilogy is always the worst, and while it's an undeniably fun moment, the mixed reaction to X-Men: Apocalypse means this dig at The Last Stand has somewhat backfired on them.
This scene is all that remains of their trip to the mall though, and it's clear a fair bit of material must have ended up on the cutting room floor, especially as Lana Condor has spoken in the past about a scene which saw her using her powers as Jubilee. Whether or not that means this movie is going to get a "Jubilee Cut" somewhere down the line remains to be seen, but she barely speaks and is never once named here.
5. Magneto's Family
When we first catch up with Magneto in X-Men: Apocalypse, he's hiding out in Poland with a new wife (Magda) and a daughter (Nina) with the power to control animals. Her name is Anya in the source material, and rather than being killed at the same time as her mother when an arrow pierces their hearts, the youngster dies in a fire started by a mob of mutant hating humans.
Magda meanwhile flees in terror upon seeing the Master of Magnetism unleash his awesome abilities, later giving birth to two twins who grow up to become Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch. While the way things play out on the big screen may be different to the comics, the end result is the same, and it's pretty obvious that Bryan Singer and Simon Kinberg went out of their way to reference this moment in Magneto's history.
4. Proteus
When Bryan Singer was asked which villain he would like to introduce in the next X-Men movie (assuming he returns to direct it after working on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea), the filmmaker mention Proteus. The deranged and extremely powerful son of Moira MacTaggert, he's a pretty obscure choice, but given Singer's love of the animated series and the fact this character appeared there on numerous occasions, it makes sense.
X-Men: Apocalypse seemingly lays the groundwork for the villain to appear when Moira mentions that she has a son (but is now divorced much to the relief of Charles Xavier), and based on what we see in his photograph, he'll definitely be around the right age for his mutant powers to have manifested by the time this franchise makes the leap to the 90s.
3. Weapon X Unleashed
Quite possibly the coolest Wolverine scene in these movies to date, X-Men: Apocalypse features the Weapon X version of the character finally brought to life in all his helmeted glory. Perfectly paying homage to what Logan went through in the comic books after having his skeleton coated in Adamantium, we also finally get to see a Berserker Rage on the big screen for the first time, something most of us assumed was being saved for his solo outing next year.
Of course, this isn't the only way this movie references the classic looks of the X-Men. The team that assembles at the end (including Mystique) are all wearing uniforms which pay homage to well known comic book costumes, and as a result, it finally feels like Bryan Singer is respecting the source material in a way his earlier films did not.
2. '80s Pop Culture References
It could be argued that X-Men: Apocalypse doesn't take advantage of its 1980s setting anywhere near enough as it should, but there are still a lot of cool nods to that decade that those of you who were around for it are sure to appreciate. Quicksilver's basement set bedroom is full of '80s era goodies, including a Ms. Pac-Man arcade game.
Meanwhile, his t-shirts also reference that time in some very cool ways, and that's particularly the case with a Six Million Dollar Man shirt he can be seen in at one point, especially as Bryan Singer came close to making that movie a few years back. The filmmaker also pays homage to some non-1980s movies and TV shows, including classic Star Trek episode "Who Mourns for Adonais?" and 1955's Land of the Pharaohs (which heavily influences the opening).
1. Mr. Sinister And X-23
However, it's what's written on that briefcase which is particularly exciting: Essex Corp. That's a nod to Nathanial Essex, a character better known to comic book fans as Mr. Sinister. His company being responsible for X-23's creation makes sense, and while it's not clear whether he'll show up in The Wolverine 3, Gambit, or even the next X-Men movie, it seems like he's about to finally get the big screen treatment.
Have you seen X-Men: Apocalypse yet? If so, what was your favourite Easter Egg? Have we missed any good ones? As always, let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.