What Does The Ending Of X-Men: Apocalypse Really Mean?

To the '90s!

X-Men Apocalypse Ending
20th Century Fox

In terms of forward moving stories, the X-Men series is in a rather odd position at the moment. Unlike contemporaries Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice and Captain America: Civil War (two films that, rather curiously, X-Men Apocalypse shares some crossover of ideas, seeing allegiances divided and tackling the place of heroes in their world), the presumed end-point of this series is known; Days Of Future Past's epilogue took us into the far future, confirming the continued survival of the key players.

While this may limit the ability to build tension in some traditional forms (there's no real point pretending certain characters won't make it though), it means the film is able to easily lean into its franchise's lengthy history and draw parallels and create stark contrasts, meaning there's a lot more to unpack than you'd expect when it comes to themes and implications.

After all, while there's some pretty dumb stuff in Apocalypse, there's also big ideas at work too, with interesting subversion of the franchise's traditional status quo that pose major questions for the future. The film itself may be a bust, but as we learnt after The Last Stand, the X-Men will soldier on. So let's take a look at that ending and see what it really means.

As always, MAJOR SPOILERS, from the off.

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Contributor
Contributor

Film Editor (2014-2016). Loves The Usual Suspects. Hates Transformers 2. Everything else lies somewhere in the middle. Once met the Chuckle Brothers.