What X-Men: Days of Future Past Film Could Mean For The Franchise

By Alex McKay / August 3, 2012

What is Days Of Future Past?

First published in 1981, Days Of Future Past was a two issue story in Uncanny X-Men #141-142, written by Chris Claremont and illustrated by the team of John Byrne and Terry Austen. It is one of the most popular of Claremont's stories during his 17 year tenure as the primary X-Men writer and often considered to be one of, if not the best, X-Men stories of all time. Set between the present and a dystopian future, Future Past is a story that mainly follows Wolverine and Kitty Pride. An older version of Kitty from the future transports her consciousness into that of present day Kitty, who warns the X-Men that they must prevent the Brotherhood of Mutants, at this point led by Mystique, assassinating the anti-Mutant US Senator Robert Kelly. Kelly's murder prompts the furthering of the government's stance of all Mutants being a threat to humanity, leading to the creation of X-Men comic mainstays the Sentinels, giant mechanised machines that seek out anyone with Mutant DNA with the intention of destroying them. Wolverine and Kitty end up being transported into the future where both X-Men and the Brotherhood have either been killed or are missing and the remaining and later generations of mutants were rounded up into internment camps and branded with the letter M over their right eye. It is very much a nightmarish world consisting of an army of Sentinels and humans that seek out and either round up or execute Mutants in a seemingly never ending war. Though the assassination is eventually prevented, the future that Wolverine and Kitty saw continues to exist as a timeline and universe parallel to their own.

Chris Claremont, writer of Days Of Future Past

And therein lies the reason this could have permanent and drastic changes to the X-Men cinematic universe. Before Fox and X-Men executive producer Lauren Shuler Donner commissioned the prequel/sort-of reboot First Class, the previous four X-Men films had become tightly wound in a vast sea of continuity without leaving much possibility for future films. By the conclusion of the Brett Ratner directed The Last Stand, several core or fan favourite characters were dead, such as Jean Grey, Scott Summers and Charles Xavier (though it was hinted he would live on in a post-credits scene), the franchises' major villain Magneto was seemingly without his powers, as was the trilogy's other major villain Mystique, and behind the scenes the remaining stars of the franchise felt it was time to move on or that, given that they were all in their forties, they were simply too old to continue playing superheroes. Only Hugh Jackman stayed on, going on to star in the prequel X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which itself introduced fan favourite characters Gambit and Deadpool.

Continuity Issues

Despite being a polarising film for both fans and critics, The Last Stand more or less concluded the story set up by X-Men and X-Men 2: X-Men United. To attempt to continue after that would be a logistical minefield. Whoever would be responsible for the script would have to figure out a X-Men team devoid of its leaders (Professor X and Cyclops) as well as major villains, and create a story following on from Last Stand's promise of a co-existence between man and Mutant. In short, it would be a tall order and most likely meet no audience's members hopes or expectations. But by introducing the concept of time travel and alternate timelines via the First Class continuity, script writer Jane Goldman, as well as franchise architects Signer, Vaughan and Shuler Donner, could potentially create a way to have X-Men, X2, The Last Stand and Origins in a separate existence to that of First Class and its sequel, without erasing any of their stories.

This would also mean that the Adamantium Bullet still happened...

One criticism of First Class was that it differed from continuity established by The Last Stand, specifically the circumstances in which Charles Xavier becomes confined to a wheelchair. In the opening scene of Last Stand we clearly see Xavier, played by Patrick Stewart, walking alongside Ian McKellen's Magneto as they go to meet a young Jean Grey. Similarly, in Wolverine we see a young Emma Frost being held prisoner, using her diamond form to protect fellow prisoners during their escape. Yet when we see Miss Frost again in First Class, a film set some 20 years previous, she is roughly double the age of her Wolverine counterpart. Simple things like these that antagnosied and confused audience members can be explained away with proper care and handling of the time travel and timeline aspects of the story, preventing the need for yet another reboot film.

A tale of two Frosts

But as Singer states, it will not be a direct translation of the book, but contain the vital elements of the story tailored around FirstClass' established status quo. Here are some possibilities.... Click "next" below for part 3...