8 Burning Questions We Have After Watching X-Men: Apocalypse

X-Men: Apocalypse has now mutated into cinemas and has unfortunately received decidedly mixed reviews. While some are calling it the best movie in the franchise yet, others are singing a completely opposite tune and calling it one of the worst. One thing I think we can all agree on though is that the film does leave a lot of questions unanswered by the time the credits start to roll. Some of these are questions the film is intending to open up, as it does a lot of heavy lifting and setting up of future instalments. Others, however, are due to things not being explained well enough. Even the fans surely have to admit that, in its quest to up the scale and scope of the movie, things like clarity of plot and character motivations fall by the wayside. So, without further ado, let’s have a look at eight burning questions that we're eager to know the answer to after watching X-Men: Apocalypse. 8) Why Do They Never Get Any Older? Let’s start with a question that is surely at the forefront of all our minds: just why don’t the characters seem to age? The prequel trilogy have taken a novel approach to the franchise by setting each movie a decade after the last one. That’s all well and good, but it does mean that no one in this universe seems to get any older. Like, at all. For instance, Professor X and Magneto should both be in their fifties by now yet instead still look like they're in their thirties. Mystique has an inbuilt reason for still resembling the 25-year-old Jennifer Lawrence, as she can change her shape, but this reasoning doesn’t work for anyone else. It might seem like nerdy nitpicking, but it has to be mentioned as the lack of sense it makes can prove to be very distracting when watching. 7) Why Does Apocalypse Choose These Four Horsemen? As Moira MacTaggert explains, whenever Apocalypse gets bored and decides to do a bit of global cleansing he always allies himself with four other mutants whom he imbues with extra powers. These lackeys naturally become his Four Horsemen. In this movie, he chooses Angel, Psylocke, Storm and Magneto. But why exactly does he pick these four out of every single mutant in the world? Storm perhaps makes sense as she is the first person En Sabah Nur finds upon awakening - and she does have an awesome skillset, to be fair. Likewise, Magneto is his primary weapon in his plan to destroy the world. But what exactly do Angel and Psylocke have to offer him? Director Bryan Singer has said he wanted to liken Apocalypse to a cult leader, with him indoctrinating the young and impressionable like Storm and Angel. That's an interesting angle, though in the film itself there is no suitable explanation as for why these 4 are chosen. 6) How Did Stryker Get Wolverine? X-Men: Days of Future Past ended on an intriguing cliffhanger in which Wolverine was not captured by William Stryker, as per the established timeline, but by Mystique in disguise. This suggested several interesting avenues for the next film to explore. Instead, X-Men: Apocalypse ignores the cliffhanger and sticks to original continuity. We know this because Cylops, Jean and Nightcrawler find Wolverine at Alkali Lake, having been captured by Stryker and given his adamantium skeleton. So when did this happen, and what did Mystique do with Wolverine once she got hold of him? Was she in league with Stryker? Did she simply let him go and Logan later ran into the colonel himself? Maybe the Mystique in disguise as Stryker at the end of Future Past was actually Stryker in disguise as Mystique in disguise as Stryker? Ugh, my head hurts just thinking about it. 5) Is Nightcrawler Mystique’s Son? After a fun reference in Days of Future Past, Apocalypse properly confirmed that Quicksilver is indeed the son of Magneto (not that Peter actually tells Erik this – even though, given that he suffers a personal tragedy in the film, he probably could have used the news). Another familiar relation that isn't confirmed is that between Mystique and Nightcrawler. In the comics, Kurt Wagner is the son of Mystique, with Azazel (the red demon mutant from X-Men: First Class played by Jason Flemyng) as his father. This would completely make sense for the films as well, seeing as Raven and Azazel knew each other in the 60s – which would make Nightcrawler a teen in 1983. Still, this is not confirmed or even hinted at in the movie. Perhaps they thought things would get a bit silly if there were three (there's also Cyclops and his brother Havok) family reunion plotlines rolling around? 4) What Is The Essex Corporation Up To? The post-credits scene for Apocalypse has made a lot of X-Men fans very happy as it teases the introduction of a major character from the comics that many have been wanting to turn up in the movies for a while – Mr. Sinister. Real name Nathaniel Essex, he’s a geneticist obsessed with creating his own clone mutant army. Here, we see a representative of the Essex Corporation extract some of Wolverine’s blood from Alkali Lake, which begs the question: what could Mr. Sinister be up to? Screenwriter and producer Simon Kinberg has suggested that this post-credits scene will have ramifications for a number of different upcoming movies in the franchise, including Wolverine 3 and Gambit. No concrete details have been givne just yet, but already theories are swirling as to what sinister plan the villain is concocting behind the scenes. 3) Is Magneto A Good Guy Now? Michael Fassbender’s younger, more volatile version of Magneto has repeatedly crossed the line between being on the good side and the bad side. Apocalypse alone sees him go from one extreme – aiding the destruction of the Earth – to the other – saving our heroes and helping save the world. While Mystique ends the film as a member of the X-Men, Magneto parts with his old friend on good terms. Likewise, he is now basically vindicated in the eyes of the world and seen as a hero. So, how will this affect his role in future films? Will he team up with the X-Men the next time we see him, or will he turn back into an antagonist? Let’s hope not, as it would be fun to see him eventually take on the role the character does in the comics – actually leading the X-Men. 2) When Will They Do The Dark Phoenix Saga? It's one of the greatest failures of the X-Men franchise that The Last Stand totally bungled the most iconic storyline in the characters’ history - the Dark Phoenix Saga. Jean Grey even lamp-shaded the travesty in Apocalypse by commenting that the “third ones are always the worst.” The end of the film, however, suggests these wrongs may be about to be righted. Jean’s eventual transformation into the Phoenix is heavily hinted at when she defeats Apocalypse with a fiery, bird-shaped display of her powers. Given this scene and the fact that Singer has said how he would like to have another stab at the storyline, it seems certain that we will see the Dark Phoenix again soon. The question is: will it form the crux of the next X-Men movie? It would seem so, given the rumours that the next instalment will take the characters into space. 1) Who Will Return Next Time? Despite these questions of what will happen to the characters in future, it isn’t a given that any of the main cast will actually come back for the next film. While the younger players introduced here – like Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner and Kodi Smit-McPhee – will surely return, which of the now older guard will be back? Previously, it was assumed that this would be the last X-Men film to star James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender and, in particular, Jennifer Lawrence. However, Lawrence has recently said that she's is up for more movies, as long as her co-stars return with her. And what other characters who were stuck in smaller roles this time around will get bigger parts in the next movie? For instance, great characters like Psylocke and Jubilee were severely underused here. Let’s hope they return for whatever form the next X-Men movie takes.