Happy Halloween!
In case you missed it, the above is the international trailer for X-Men: Days of Future Past. Once again, this looks like an amazing trailer for what should prove to be an actually great movie, given Mr. Singer’s track record with X-Men movies.
So we evidently have a post-apocalyptic future setting (X-Men’s favorite) where everyone wears battle armor and ethnic minorities wear war paint. Whatever, I’m just glad to finally see Bishop. (Interesting tidbit, the Asian female you see playing Blink is actually Fan Bingbing, a major Chinese movie star who also had a bit role in Iron Man 3 – at least, the Chinese release of Iron Man 3). Wonder if we’ll see a Cable cameo. I believe we can safely assume that the aforementioned apocalypse is caused by the Sentinel program of Bolivar Trask, which is what I imagine they must go back in time in order to prevent from coming to fruition.
We have heard that Logan is chosen to go back in time (instead of Kitty Pryde who did so in the original comic) because the process would likely kill anyone else. OK, fair enough, they had to make Wolverine a main character somehow, because of course they do, and besides, I like Hugh Jackman, he deserves it. But, and here’s the good part; while this movie will definitely feature Wolverine, it doesn’t look like the bulk of the story will deal with his development, thank the cinema gods!
After First Class, we heard James McAvoy talk about the plot ideas for the next X-Men movie and how much his character had been affected by the events of the first, and that this movie would explore some of Charles’ struggles. Now we know what those appear to be: Eric has left and formed his mutant terrorist group, while Charles has both been betrayed by the U.S. government, and has lost his ability to walk. When future Xavier is looking him in the eye at the very end, he says, “We need you to hope again.” It would appear that Charles has lost his faith in humanity, which is kind of the defining distinction between him and Eric, and become apathetic.
I actually really like that angle – it actually explains why he wiped Moira’s memory at the end of the first one, which kind of upset me when I saw it. If Xavier felt he could trust any human alive, it was her, and yet he still wiped her memory. Now we know why; he may not have really trusted her anymore. And Wolverine is the only one who has a chance of getting him to come out of it. I guess we’ll see how that goes.
Also of note, is that there appears to be at least one point of tension between Magneto and Mystique. Their relationship always seems…well, unusual, let’s say, I wonder what’s happening now?
Anything else you noticed, or liked, or didn’t like?
Matters of Critical Insignificance 