X-Men: Apocalypse announced for May 2016

[Robert Maxwell]

Bryan Singer has said himself he considers the X-Men films to constitute a rather loose continuity.

I'm actually kind of impressed at how cohesive it feels despite that. The discontinuities mainly apply to background characters and easily overlooked details.

Pretty much. I've seen people complain that some unnamed but recognizable character appeared in one of the other X-Men films, therefore they can't have been born yet in this film (or whatever.) Because maintaining strict continuity even with costumed extras who spoke no lines is paramount!

 

[Christopher]

^I was surprised to discover recently that one of the nameless mutants on the bad guys' side in The Last Stand was supposedly Psylocke -- although she was originally meant as a different character and only belatedly renamed in the credits. No reason something like that should preclude a more legitimate debut for Psylocke in the new film.

 

[Pauln6]

^I was surprised to discover recently that one of the nameless mutants on the bad guys' side in The Last Stand was supposedly Psylocke -- although she was originally meant as a different character and only belatedly renamed in the credits. No reason something like that should preclude a more legitimate debut for Psylocke in the new film.

Psylocke was exposed to some sort of ninja magic and had shadow powers for a while but one could argue that it need not even be Psylocke that we saw since she used no psychic powers at all. Technically, Betsy isn't in her original body. We don't know much about what her origin will be in the movie. It's possible that Apocalypse or Sinister may work some juju to turn an English woman into into an asian assassin or they may just skip over that entirely. Even her nationality could be ignored given that Charles has become rather English and Moira isn't particularly Scottish any more.

 

[Pauln6]

Bryan Singer has said himself he considers the X-Men films to constitute a rather loose continuity.

I'm actually kind of impressed at how cohesive it feels despite that. The discontinuities mainly apply to background characters and easily overlooked details.

Pretty much. I've seen people complain that some unnamed but recognizable character appeared in one of the other X-Men films, therefore they can't have been born yet in this film (or whatever.) Because maintaining strict continuity even with costumed extras who spoke no lines is paramount!

I tend to agree - I don't have a major problem with Emma's cameo in Origins (I have other reasons for remving it from my preferred X-men continuity) but Gambit's role in Origins was far more than a cameo. Although Jubilee is barely noticeable and they edited the scene where she uses her powers, she is still firmly established on screen as Jubilee (doesn't Storm give her a name-check at one point?) and a contemporary of Bobby, Kitty, and John. Similarly Angel is established to be about 15 years younger than the first mainstream X-men.

I don't mind the time-frame being a bit elastic but I'd rather they acknowledged the discongruity in a simple way instead of hoping we don't notice or don't care e.g. Charles noticing that Jubilee or Angel should not have been born yet according to Wolverine's memories.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Rose Byrne's return in Apocalypse might cause me some issues but if she's had a mutant child in the interim, she might have given up being a CIA agent and become a scientist. They might end up carting her off to Muir Island where she can... er... develop false accent syndrome or something or maybe be telepathically convinced that she's Scottish. That might smooth it over for me.

The thing that always confused me about Moira was how she looked like Rose Byrne in X-Men: First Class but 40+ years later in X-Men: The Last Stand she looks like Olivia Williams! In terms of aging, that's practically a lateral move! (I wasn't quite as bothered by where she got the British accent. I figured she just somehow stole it from Carol Marcus.) Then I realized, the answer was staring us in the face the entire time. During her scenes in The Last Stand, she & Professor Xavier are talking about the morality of a telepath transferring one person's consciousness into another person's body. I figure that's what happened to Moira. Some time between First Class & The Last Stand, Moira's original body was mortally wounded by some bitchy young mutant girl. Xavier got pissed and so he transferred Moira's consciousness from her dying body into the body of the amoral mutant that killed her.

Although, considering X-Men: Apocalypse is asking us to believe that James McAvoy & Michael Fassbender are 50-year-olds, maybe people just don't age normally in the X-Men movie universe.

Bryan Singer has said himself he considers the X-Men films to constitute a rather loose continuity.

I'm actually kind of impressed at how cohesive it feels despite that. The discontinuities mainly apply to background characters and easily overlooked details.

I'm pretty impressed too. In particular, the stuff in Days of Future Past with the serum fixing Xavier's spine does a brilliant job of reconciling the end of First Class with the later scenes of Xavier walking in The Last Stand & X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It also reconciles Beast's transformation in First Class with the brief appearance of human Beast on the TV in the bar in X2.

There's other stuff that's harder but a lot of it is minor details that we just have to ignore. (I.e. Xavier said he met Magneto when he was 17 in X-Men yet seems to be much older in X-Men: First Class.) I often have to just separate characters. Like, Emma Frost in X-Men: First Class is a totally different person from Kayla's sister in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. And Victor Creed & Sabertooth are not the same person in the movies.

Pretty much. I've seen people complain that some unnamed but recognizable character appeared in one of the other X-Men films, therefore they can't have been born yet in this film (or whatever.) Because maintaining strict continuity even with costumed extras who spoke no lines is paramount!

Everyone needs to chill out about Jubilee. Especially because, knowing her luck, she'll end up getting cut out of this movie too.

 

[Christopher]

In particular, the stuff in Days of Future Past with the serum fixing Xavier's spine does a brilliant job of reconciling the end of First Class with the later scenes of Xavier walking in The Last Stand & X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Well, not really, because the serum also suppressed his telepathy. He could either walk or read minds, not both. But in the prior two movies' flashbacks, he was both ambulatory and telepathic.

Still not a problem, though, since the comics' Xavier has regained and re-lost his ability to walk on multiple occasions.

I often have to just separate characters. Like, Emma Frost in X-Men: First Class is a totally different person from Kayla's sister in X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

I consider that a given. As I already said, the sister was never actually named onscreen, and had a different (and sillier) diamond-related power than Emma Frost did.

And Victor Creed & Sabertooth are not the same person in the movies.

Or else both Logan and Victor lost their memories, so they didn't recognize each other.

 

[Pauln6]

Rose Byrne's return in Apocalypse might cause me some issues but if she's had a mutant child in the interim, she might have given up being a CIA agent and become a scientist. They might end up carting her off to Muir Island where she can... er... develop false accent syndrome or something or maybe be telepathically convinced that she's Scottish. That might smooth it over for me.

The thing that always confused me about Moira was how she looked like Rose Byrne in X-Men: First Class but 40+ years later in X-Men: The Last Stand she looks like Olivia Williams! In terms of aging, that's practically a lateral move! (I wasn't quite as bothered by where she got the British accent. I figured she just somehow stole it from Carol Marcus.) Then I realized, the answer was staring us in the face the entire time. During her scenes in The Last Stand, she & Professor Xavier are talking about the morality of a telepath transferring one person's consciousness into another person's body. I figure that's what happened to Moira. Some time between First Class & The Last Stand, Moira's original body was mortally wounded by some bitchy young mutant girl. Xavier got pissed and so he transferred Moira's consciousness from her dying body into the body of the amoral mutant that killed her.

Genius. I hope they can persuade Olivia Williams to do a cameo ;P

Actually the Proteus story has a lot of elements and set pieces that would make a good quasi-horror movie more akin to the first X-men film. If they need a villain to replace Magneto, he'd certainly do for one movie, especially if they start out small like the comic. X-men 124 was the first X-men comic I ever read and remains one of my favourites.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

In particular, the stuff in Days of Future Past with the serum fixing Xavier's spine does a brilliant job of reconciling the end of First Class with the later scenes of Xavier walking in The Last Stand & X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

Well, not really, because the serum also suppressed his telepathy. He could either walk or read minds, not both. But in the prior two movies' flashbacks, he was both ambulatory and telepathic.

Beast's dialogue in DOFP implies that Xavier has been abusing the serum. It's possible that, in a smaller, milder dose, Xavier could be ambulatory but still possess some weak telepathy.

BTW, does that trade off actually make any sense medically? The serum supposedly affects his DNA, which is why he loses his telepathy, but what does that have to do with repairing spine damage?

Rose Byrne's return in Apocalypse might cause me some issues but if she's had a mutant child in the interim, she might have given up being a CIA agent and become a scientist. They might end up carting her off to Muir Island where she can... er... develop false accent syndrome or something or maybe be telepathically convinced that she's Scottish. That might smooth it over for me.

The thing that always confused me about Moira was how she looked like Rose Byrne in X-Men: First Class but 40+ years later in X-Men: The Last Stand she looks like Olivia Williams! In terms of aging, that's practically a lateral move! (I wasn't quite as bothered by where she got the British accent. I figured she just somehow stole it from Carol Marcus.) Then I realized, the answer was staring us in the face the entire time. During her scenes in The Last Stand, she & Professor Xavier are talking about the morality of a telepath transferring one person's consciousness into another person's body. I figure that's what happened to Moira. Some time between First Class & The Last Stand, Moira's original body was mortally wounded by some bitchy young mutant girl. Xavier got pissed and so he transferred Moira's consciousness from her dying body into the body of the amoral mutant that killed her.

Genius. I hope they can persuade Olivia Williams to do a cameo ;P

Thanks. Although, if we were doing that story during the X-Men: Apocalypse era, then she wouldn't look like Olivia Williams yet. She would only be a teenager. Who could play a teenage Olivia Williams?

 

[Christopher]

BTW, does that trade off actually make any sense medically? The serum supposedly affects his DNA, which is why he loses his telepathy, but what does that have to do with repairing spine damage?

I dunno, but the same thing happened in season 2 of the '90s animated series. When Xavier and Magneto were trapped in the Savage Land for the whole season, the phenomenon that suppressed their mutant powers also somehow restored Charles's ability to walk.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

How did Xavier get crippled in the first place in the 1990s cartoon? I thought I heard once of some iteration of the character where it was his powers that somehow prevented his legs from working correctly.

 

[Christopher]

I don't think the '90s series ever explained specifically how Xavier was paralyzed, but it didn't happen until long after his powers developed. "Sanctuary, Part One" claims that Magneto paralyzed him, but that's inconsistent with what "Enter Magneto" and other flashbacks established about Xavier's backstory.

http://marvelanimated.wikia.com/wiki/Charles_Xavier

 

[Alidar Jarok]

Probably because the comics are inconsistent. Xavier getting paralyzed while battling Magneto is one of the explanations, so someone writing probably used that one.

 

[Christopher]

^Actually there are a lot of inconsistencies between the first season and later seasons of the X-Men cartoons. The first season took more liberties with the continuity, like introducing Cable as a present-day character with no mention of time travel. Later seasons retconned things to be truer to the comics, often without explanation for the changes.

(And then there's the way the first season aggressively avoided using the X-Men's real names while later seasons used them routinely. I always wince when I see the scene in the first-season finale where Scott asks Jean to marry him and she goes, "Ohh, Cyclops!")

 

[Captaindemotion]

^Maybe that was her nickname for his penis.

 

[Unicron]

There was also the relationship between Archangel and Rogue, which I rather liked even though it was a significant deviation from the comics.

 

[Christopher]

^Oh yeah, that was another inconsistency between seasons of the '90s show. In the first season, Angel was introduced (and changed to Archangel) without any evidence that the X-Men had previously known him, or vice-versa. But the later, more comics-faithful seasons portrayed Angel as one of the founding X-Men.

 

[CorporalClegg]

(And then there's the way the first season aggressively avoided using the X-Men's real names while later seasons used them routinely. I always wince when I see the scene in the first-season finale where Scott asks Jean to marry him and she goes, "Ohh, Cyclops!")

Funny. I literally (Like the UPS guy just dropped off the DVDs last night.) just started re-watching this for the first time in many years, and I'd forgotten how routinely they used their alias in--otherwise--normal conversation. It comes off as really awkward, but I think they probably did it this way to not confuse youngsters until they knew the characters well.

 

[Unicron]

^Oh yeah, that was another inconsistency between seasons of the '90s show. In the first season, Angel was introduced (and changed to Archangel) without any evidence that the X-Men had previously known him, or vice-versa. But the later, more comics-faithful seasons portrayed Angel as one of the founding X-Men.

Didn't they have a similar error with Iceman? Or is it just my faulty memory?

 

[Christopher]

Didn't they have a similar error with Iceman? Or is it just my faulty memory?

I'm not sure. I don't recall Iceman being introduced until the episode where he came back as a former X-Man with a lot of baggage between him and Xavier. Though maybe there's some background appearance earlier that I'm forgetting. The show was full of cameos by random mutants, often in inexplicable contexts.

 

[CaptainCanada]

Didn't they have a similar error with Iceman? Or is it just my faulty memory?

Iceman only showed up once, where he was portrayed as an original member. I don't believe there was any mention of him before.