While it's been somewhat assumed since he broke the news, Vulture reports that Bryan Singer will direct X-men: Apocalypse. Singer directed the first two X-men movies, including X-2, which many believe to be the franchise's high point creatively. Singer will wrap up 'Days of Future Past' before jumping into 'Apocalypse', but there's some conflicting info on who might be joining him. Vulture insists the film will follow only the younger crew established in X-men: First Class, while recent reports have claimed both casts will continue to play a part.
However, a story over at FirstShowing drops some major league 'Days of Future Past' info that suggests the 'First Class' era will be the focus. If you don't want to have large chunks of Days of Future Past spoiled, like how Apocalypse fits into it, then best to turn back now....
The villain Apocalypse, also known as the immortal En Sabah Nur, won't be showing up to take on the X-men in his usual form. Instead, he'll be projecting his evil consciousness into the body of a particular X-man. Here's what they say....
"the credits bumper jumps back to the past with a young Erik Lehnsherr (Michael Fassbender)
in a ramshackle house in the desert eating dinner, clearly on the run
from all the authorities who want to bring him down. While using a well
outside to get some water, the young Magneto sees something fall from
the night sky and crash to Earth nearby. Upon inspecting the impact
zone, he encounters what is described as an "alien form" who is "towering, terrifying, with a twisted metal face and dark pits for eyes." It's Apocalypse and he says, "I have crossed rivers of time to find you." Magneto asks, "Who are you?"
The alien responds, "I am your future." Suddenly Apocalypse merges with Magneto, who screams and blasts an insane amount of energy and shockwaves around him. This energy explosion levels everything around him, with a blast radius that goes for miles. As Magneto looks at what he's done, he has a realization of the power he now holds and a villainous grin begins to form before the film cuts to black."
Bear in mind that none of this is confirmed but if it holds up, chances are fans are going to be disappointed by this development. Magneto and Apocalypse are two extremely powerful villains with very specific ideologies that run counter to the dream of Professor Charles Xavier. Merging them dilutes this in a fairly significant way, for the sake of presenting a bad guy that is simply more physically powerful. Chances are Magneto would eventually split from Apocalypse and either go off on his own or join the X-men's fight against him, so perhaps we'll get to see them separately too. It should be worth noting that in the classic X-men storyline Age of Apocalypse, it was Magneto who led the heroes in the fight against Apocalypse.
All in all this is a pretty big deal 20th Century Fox is putting together, which is why they hired Simon Kinberg to help build a cohesive cinematic universe. What do you think? Do you approve of these plans for Apocalypse and Magneto? Do you like Bryan Singer directing or would you prefer some new blood? X-men: Days of Future Past opens May 23rd 2014; X-men: Apocalypse on May 27th 2016.
