‘X-Men: First Class’ Sequel Titled ‘Days of Future Past’?

[007]

http://screenrant.com/x-men-first-cl...t-kofi-177114/

There is word circulating that 20th Century Fox has reached out to the MPAA to secure a title for the studio’s forthcoming sequel to X-Men: First Class - and if reported accurately, that title is going to send a tidal wave of geek freak-outs across the Interwebs. The title in question is “Days of Future Past” – which remains one of the most famous and celebrated X-Men storylines of all time.

More interestingly, however: “Days of Future Past” was also a X-Men story that dealt with time travel and multiple timelines – meaning that director Matthew Vaughn and Fox could be (finally) trying to organize the convoluted continuity of the X-Men film franchise, using a tactic similar to what J.J. Abrams did with his Star Trek reboot.

Here is the quote from AICN reporter “The Kidd,” which first kicked off this rumor:

One of my little birds Weapon X recently dropped me some information that 20th Century Fox had recently registered the title DAYS OF FUTURE PAST with the MPAA Title Registration Bureau. The Bureau exists for studios and productions companies to stake their claims on certain titles that they intend to release and distribute, so that others can stray from using a similar title.

The title “Days of Future Past” is taken from the two-issue Uncanny X-Men comic book storyline written in 1981 by legendary X-Men writer/artist team Chris Claremont and John Byrne. In the story, the X-Men are trying to stop the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (led by Mystique) from killing an anti-mutant political figure named Senator Robert Kelly. This pivotal event creates a separate timeline in which the X-Men fail to stop the Kelly assassination, and as a result, mutants are hunted, imprisoned and exterminated by humanity. One X-Man from that future dystopia manages to travel back in time and warn the present day X-Men, who ultimately stop the assassination (though the two timelines both remain in existence).


The X-Men Battle Sentinels in 'Days of Future Past'

Given where X-Men: First Class left things, it’s easy to see how “Days of Future Past” could be reconfigured to focus on Magneto (Michael Fassbender) and his Brotherhood going after a key political figure, and the X-Men team being visited by a dimension-hopping mutant to be forewarned of what happens if they don’t stop the assassins. “Days of Future Past” also had the mutant-killing Sentinel robots, an older version of Wolverine, etc. – all of which would be awesome to see onscreen (not to mention a Terminator-style future dystopia). A “DoFP” plot could also open the door for the franchise to introduce time-hopping X-Men like Bishop or Cable to the mix.

In terms of the movies: “Days of Future Past” would give Vaughn and company a way to end all this continuity madness once and for all. If time travel and alternate timelines are successfully introduced into the X-Men movie universe, then that would be a perfect explanation for why the original X-Men trilogy (and Wolverine) have plot points that contradict First Class, while allowing all of the films to remain valid (unlike the ‘forget the past’ approach of the Spider-Man movie reboot).



“Days of Future Past” is an awesome story on its own – and I for one would welcome anything that could straighten out the movie continuity in satisfactory fashion. First Class was tormented all through development for not being a clear prequel OR reboot, but instead some weird amalgamation of both. I think a lot of X-Men fans would agree with the sentiment that it’s time to clean house. J.J. Abrams successfully cleared away decades of Star Trek continuity when he spun-off a new timeline for his 2009 reboot, which allowed him the freedom to tell his own stories using familiar characters.

Finally, introducing alternate timelines would give Fox many new options for how they approach their other upcoming X-Men films: including already-in-production sequel The Wolverine, and the already-planned X-Men 4. In fact, “First Class Continuity (FCC)” and/or “Original Trilogy Continuity (OTC)” could be terms we all start throwing around pretty soon. Comic book geekery at its best.

X-Men: Days of Future Past - if that is indeed the title – will be in theaters on July 18th, 2014.

Header Image by Deviant Art User “Wobblyone“.

Source: AICN

[Valiant]

I agree on Rogue though, her character was horrible in the movies. I mean, the actor did a better Rogue voice for trueblood as Sookie then she did for Rogue.

[Rausch]

Originally Posted by Valiant

I agree on Rogue though, her character was horrible in the movies. I mean, the actor did a better Rogue voice for trueblood as Sookie then she did for Rogue.

I never really thought about it but that's 100% spot on.

How did I never notice that?...

[Aries Walker]

I just got back. The good news is that they

Spoiler!

completely Star Trek-ed the X-Men franchise. Azazel, Angel Salvadore, Banshee, Darwin, and Emma Frost would all still be dead (although with Emma's mind control/illusion capabilities, they could explain her return if they had to), but otherwise, everyone that was dead/depowered/made worthless is back to fighting shape, steering the whole franchise much closer to comic book continuity.

On the other hand . . .

Spoiler!

The questionable (and now expensive) casting from the first two movies is back. So, Kitty still looks bored, Colossus still can't act, and Storm is still Halle Berry. Ugh.

So the upshot is . . .

Spoiler!

Now they can tell any X-Men story they want. Cable, Starjammers, Cassandra Nova, Reavers, Shi'ar, Mr. Sinister, Legacy Virus, Weapon X, Genosha, New Mutants, Alpha Flight - it's all on the table, and it could stick pretty closely to the comics. Characters like Angel, Psylocke, Juggernaut, Deadpool, and Gambit can be portrayed well, for a change. Atrocities like Origins Wolverine and X-Men 3 - and even the problematic parts of X-Men 1 and 2, and The Wolverine - can be completely ignored. This is all good news.

Also - although I wish they hadn't shown so much of it in the trailers - the movie was pretty damn good.

[Silock]

The younger XMen are awesome. McAvoy and Fassbender are really, really good and have amazing chemistry. Love them together on screen.

Not a huge fan of Havok or Banshee. Mystique, Emma Frost, Beast and Quicksilver were great.

[Tribal Warfare]

Originally Posted by Aries Walker

Also - although I wish they hadn't shown so much of it in the trailers - the movie was pretty damn good.

haven't you learned you never watch any footage after the 2nd theatrical trailer and absolutely no TV Spots ( thank god for DVR)

[Aries Walker]

Apparently not.

[bowener]

HB is possibly one of the most boring actresses to grace the silver screen. Except for one film, she is just a dud. I also assume she is a dead fish in bed.

[Aries Walker]

The other wooden, lifeless, check-collector phoning it in for this film? Ellen Page. I suspect that during most of the when she just sat there with her hands held out, she was actually and physically asleep.

Also, I was disappointed in Peter Dinklage. He has so many skills, and he didn't use any of them for this role, probably because it was flatly written. Most of what he did was to deliver speeches, or flatten himself against a wall, looking horrified. I could have played that part.

[Anyong Bluth]

Originally Posted by Aries Walker

The other wooden, lifeless, check-collector phoning it in for this film? Ellen Page. I suspect that during most of the when she just sat there with her hands held out, she was actually and physically asleep.

Also, I was disappointed in Peter Dinklage. He has so many skills, and he didn't use any of them for this role, probably because it was flatly written. Most of what he did was to deliver speeches, or flatten himself against a wall, looking horrified. I could have played that part.

He had limited screen time - no way to do that with such a huge ensemble cast and a plot already so grandiose. Can't fault him or knock anyone else- it's just a byproduct of this film's story and cast and fitting it into a movie run time that's reasonable.

What I am against is studios pressuring directors to cut down on their film length simply so they can squeeze another showing each day - of course that's what they want and in turn get to hype extended cuts when released on br & dvd.

[Fish]

I was thinking to myself, that Ellen Page must have only required 1-2 days tops of filming her part.

[Fish]

Here's another thing that bothered me about the Sentinels:

Spoiler!

Magneto's control of the Sentinels. So he takes shitloads of railroad track and imbeds it into the Sentinels bodies in order to move them. OK. But then we see him "Controlling" the Sentinels. For one, we see the Sentinels chest turbines blowing air, activating targeting systems, weapons, etc. There's a scene where Magneto tells one of the Sentinels to "Do what you're made for". In which the Sentinel attacks Beast because he's a mutant. Why wouldn't the Sentinels target/attack Magneto right then? How could he tell it to go kill another mutant when he's one himself?

That in addition to the "Adaptive" ability from Mystique's DNA, really didn't settle well with me. The movie kicked much ass, but that's a flaw that could have been easily addressed somehow. Mystique is a shapeshifter. If she changes herself to look like Collosus, she doesn't gain Collosus's hard skin, she merely looks like him. But the Sentinels seems to gain abilities from the mutant powers instead. They never really explained it, other than Trask mentioning the "Adaptive" ability very briefly. It made it feel like a cheap and lazy explanation.

[Valiant]

Originally Posted by Fish

Here's another thing that bothered me about the Sentinels:

Spoiler!

Magneto's control of the Sentinels. So he takes shitloads of railroad track and imbeds it into the Sentinels bodies in order to move them. OK. But then we see him "Controlling" the Sentinels. For one, we see the Sentinels chest turbines blowing air, activating targeting systems, weapons, etc. There's a scene where Magneto tells one of the Sentinels to "Do what you're made for". In which the Sentinel attacks Beast because he's a mutant. Why wouldn't the Sentinels target/attack Magneto right then? How could he tell it to go kill another mutant when he's one himself?

That in addition to the "Adaptive" ability from Mystique's DNA, really didn't settle well with me. The movie kicked much ass, but that's a flaw that could have been easily addressed somehow. Mystique is a shapeshifter. If she changes herself to look like Collosus, she doesn't gain Collosus's hard skin, she merely looks like him. But the Sentinels seems to gain abilities from the mutant powers instead. They never really explained it, other than Trask mentioning the "Adaptive" ability very briefly. It made it feel like a cheap and lazy explanation.

I agree on magneto, I mean it is a huge stretch. maybe he reprogrammed from reading the blueprints? Yeah I do not see it either.

On Mystique. They used her mutant dna to achieve the changing and understanding of their power, then with further study the sentinels could use it to copy other mutants they have caught or killed.

And her power is strange on the way they display it. She can somehow shrink down to dinklage size. She can copy wolverines claws, so she can manipulate her size. So why not become a big sentinel? Or a cat to get in close and then stab? That is my only problem with her.

[Aries Walker]

Well, I'd guess that even if her size changed, her mass wouldn't. She could be 6'1", like Wolverine, or 4'6", like the Dink, but she'd still weigh the same - so you'd have either a really heavy cat, or a cotton candy Sentinel. Also, massive changes in size and musculature might be stressful.

Aw, who am I kidding. This whole series if full of hand-wavey pseudo-scientific gobbledygook. Look! Something's exploding!

[Fish]

In the comics, Wolverine is 5'3".

[Aries Walker]

I know. I'm talking about Hugh Jackman.