X-Men: Days of Future Pastis now theaters, bringing with it the promise of a (semi-)rebooted X-Men Movie Universe where
the missteps of past films will be course-corrected (or outright wiped
away) in favor of providing the franchise with a clean slate on which to
build toward a bigger, better, “fewcha” (future).
Of course, throughout the marketing campaign for Days of Future Past,
hardcore fans of both the X-Men comic books and/or films have remained
wary of the lingering issue of continuity errors. The six films in the
preceding X-Men movie saga (X-Men, X2, X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, X-Men: First Class and The Wolverine)
have nearly choked themselves to death with inconsistencies and
contradictions in shared universe storytelling. It was an annoyance in
the past, but it is a downright deal-breaking flaw in the era of shared
universe franchises.
the film does a lot of good things for the franchise – but that doesn’t
mean it is able to completely clean up the messy continuity. Granted, Days of Future Past manages to negate the other X-Men movies (with the exception of First Class) in favor of a much-needed mulligan; but how well it earned that second chance at better continuity is up for debate.
We selected some of the biggest and most glaring continuity issues in Days of Future Past -
and some additional ones that meticulous viewers will no doubt notice
and likely criticize, even as the franchise tries to leave its ugly
blemishes behind.
Prof X. Lives
Professor X was vaporized by Dark Phoenix/Jean Grey – only to achieve
resurrection by transferring his consciousness into the body of a
comatose patient who was under the care of Moira MacTaggert (as seen in a
post-credits scene):
Now, if you read around the Interwebs, you’ll hear all kinds of
justifications for how Xavier’s resurrection could result in what we see
in DoFP - and also the post-credits scene of The Wolverine, which serves as a direct lead-in to DoFP. The
most popular theory is that when Xavier transferred his consciousness,
he did so into the body of a twin brother. This familial relation is
never specified in X3, but it isn’t impossible (just soap opera-style cheesy).
At the end of The Wolverine, the explanation is left to
vague references, as Wolverine asks “How is this possible?” upon seeing
Xavier, and Xavier answers “You’re not the only one with gifts,”
suggesting that some aspect of his powers has allowed him to cheat
death. A lot of fans hoped that Days of Future Past would detail exactly how Xavier made it back, but alas, that explanation is nowhere to be found. And since DoFP insists that X3 is official canon, that unanswered question is certainly a big one.
Future Wolverine’s Adamantium Claws
when last we saw Logan onscreen, his Adamantium claws had been
destroyed in a battle with the “Silver Samurai.” From early marketing
of Days of Future Past, the question of how Future Wolverine
got his claw repaired was nagging the minds of fans everywhere. In the
actual film, we get zero explanation of how this particular restoration
occurs.
Director Bryan Singer promised all would be revealed; but really all
we get is implication. The easy answer seemed to be having Ian
McKellen’s future Magneto be the source of Wolverine’s re-attachment to
his famed metal; all it would take is a throwaway line of dialogue and
the whole thing could be settled.
The most we get from the film is implication: In the 1970s, young
Magneto (Michael Fassbender) reveals the imaginative vision for endowing
Wolvie with a metallic upgrade, as the pair are on a jet flight to
Paris. You could call that an implied explanation, but most fans would,
in turn, call B.S.
Future Sentinel Origin Story
trilogy of films (and a Wolverine Origin movie) by redefining a lot of
the core character relationships within the X-Men family. The main
alteration was the re-positioning of Mystique as the woman between
Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr – and subsequently their opposing
philosophies on mutantkind’s destiny. It was certainly a departure from
X-Men comic book lore (though the characters do share a lot of history),
but general opinion was that it also created a compelling character
drama that provided a strong core to the film. The plot of Days of Future Past also
hinges on the Mystique/Charles/Erik triangle – the only problem is:
that little love story has no connection to the Original X-Men Trilogy.
At the beginning of DoFP, Prof. X (Patrick Stewart) recounts
to future Wolverine how and when the future went so wrong. His story –
Mystique’s assassination of Bolivar Trask (Peter Dinklage), and her
capture resulting in the creation of adaptable Sentinels – is one set
within the First Class continuity, which doesn’t make sense at all. The original X-Men
films indicated a close relationship between Magneto and Mystique, but
the Professor X/Raven connection was never telegraphed at all. How
Stewart’s version of Professor X (who supposedly exists in the Original
Trilogy continuity) has memory of First Class continuity is a definite problem.
indications of Xavier’s story it’s debatable whether or not Mystique
dies while being dissected by Trask industries. Even if she survived,
that experience is reflected nowhere in the Original Trilogy, where
Bolivar Trask just so happens to also exist. UPDATE: For those who debate whether the X3 version of Trask played by African-American actor Bill Duke is actually “Bolivar Trask,” it has been confirmed by Bryan Singer that are two versions of the character, and that it is a continuity problem (read HERE).
The whole Trask/Mystique encounter is a good premise to drive the action of DoFP, but as a method to unify all of the films, it’s got holes.
Wolverine’s Xavier Origin Story
Wolverine reciting a story to young Charles Xavier about how he
[Charles] first discovered his mutant powers (thought he was crazy at
age 9, figured out he had telepathy at age 12). However, looking at
continuity, that story doesn’t quite add up.
In X-Men: First Class, the opening scene depicts Xavier (12)
and Mystique (10) meeting for the first time – a meeting in which
Xavier demonstrates clear mastery of his telepathic abilities. The ages
may sync, however Wolverine’s version of the origin story seemed to
describe a twelve-year-old Charles Xavier who hadn’t gained as much
control or confidenceas the one shown at the beginning of First Class. A small, petty but noticeable issue when watching the movies back-to-back.
Xavier’s Wolverine Quote
Charles endeavors to give Logan the same advice that Logan had given to
him a decade ago. And yet, the Professor manages to get the message
wrong.
In First Class, Wolverine tells Xavier and Erik to “Go f*ck yourself.”; in Days of Future Past,
Xavier tells Wolverine to “F*ck Off.” It’s not a big deal, and we know
Xavier was in the midst of a drug binge – but still, it’s an easy thing
to get right.
Possible Explanation: Alternate Timelines
considers all of the previous X-Men films as part of its canon – the
future we witness in the film CANNOT be a direct extension of the
Original Trilogy continuity. There are simply too many errors.
One possible explanation for what we DO see may be found in the film
itself: Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult) at one point describes time as a
river: you can throw a stone into it, cause ripples and upset the flow –
but eventually, somehow, the river course-corrects itself. Going with
that time-travel logic, one could argue that the future we see in DoFP is a variation on the Original Trilogy; major events of the first three films that were directly referenced in DoFP (like Stryker’s appearance in X2 or the Dark Phoenix saga of X3) still happened, only they happened within the First Class continuity
line, which would allow for variant outcomes than the exact
developments we saw in the Original Trilogy films, while still arriving
in the future of DoFP.
Wolverine’s metal claws; Professor X’s return; the end credits of The Wolverine;
a Bolivar Trask who his Peter Dinklage and not Bill Duke; the Sentinel
origin story – all of it is free to exist without issue, if one simply
rationalizes that Days of Future Past holds First Class as
its official continuity, and that the future X-Men are only similar to
the ones from the Original Trilogy, not exact representations.
its makers) in NO WAY provide an official, irrefutable, explanation –
and maybe that’s the biggest issue of all. However, if you’ve read our review or listened to our X-Men episode of the Screen Rant Underground podcast, you know that we liked the film! A lot!
We hope that fans don’t get so hung up on the little details and
inconsistencies that they don’t remember to sit back and just enjoy the
movie. At the end of the day, this is all supposed to be fun – and
really, by the end of the film, Days of Future Past manages to
negate all of these issues in favor of a bigger, better, more cohesive
future. Hopefully the term “X-Men Movie Continuity Errors” are on their
way to being a thing of the past…
No comments:
Post a Comment