Many of you seemed to breathe a sigh of relief after hearing the X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST news coming out of Comic Con. But, some of you are still unsure just how this massive film is going to come together. I am still considering myself cautiously optimistic, but after reading Bryan Singer's latest comments to Empire, I think I am just excited now.
Singer seemed aware of the fans commenting that what he was doing was not keeping with the actual DAYS OF FUTURE PAST comic story and addressed that his film was not a straight adaptation:
“It’s its own story, inspired by Days Of Future Past,” insists Singer. Days Of Future Past, the comic, doesn’t feature Professor X or Magneto, but Days Of Future Past, the movie, operates as a follow-up to X-MEN: FIRST CLASS and the original trilogy. “I’d say it’s not a sequel to one of the others,” says Singer. “It’s an inbetwequel — that’s what I call it, for lack of a better word. It takes place about ten years, give or take, after X-MEN: THE LAST STAND; and in the past it takes place about ten years after FIRST CLASS.”
Obviously major story changes are happening in that Ellen Page's Shadowcat is no longer the primary time traveller and is replaced by Hugh Jackman's Wolverine. What remains unknown is whether or not X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST is serving to streamline the original trilogy into continuity to continue the FIRST CLASS franchise or if both are being developed to run independently of one another.
Singer also shared the status of FIRST CLASS Xavier/Magneto as played by Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy: “They’re in a radically different place,” explains Singer of the latter. “Charles is in a very dark hole when we meet him, and Erik has been gathering his power.” He also said to expect a lot of screen time for Jackman with McAvoy and Fassbender: “Watching them on set together is really fun,” Singer says. “There are a few moments of improvisation, when the characters clash, that are really jolting and exciting.”
All in all, I am excited to see if this can be pulled off. It sounds like the original trilogy characters, aside from Wolverine, are supporting roles or cameos and the bulk of what we will see will be FIRST CLASS related. Either way, I am more and more confident that Singer is going to pull this off.
In closing, Singer has also tweeted a new image from filming featuring…Mystique's leg?
X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST opens in theaters on May 23,2014.