The First Trailer For X-Men: Apocalypse

[Mitch Henessey]

[YOUTUBE]COvnHv42T-A[/YOUTUBE]​

Following the critically acclaimed global smash hit X-Men: Days of Future Past, director Bryan Singer returns with X-MEN: APOCALYPSE. Since the dawn of civilization, he was worshipped as a god. Apocalypse, the first and most powerful mutant from Marvel’s X-Men universe, amassed the powers of many other mutants, becoming immortal and invincible. Upon awakening after thousands of years, he is disillusioned with the world as he finds it and recruits a team of powerful mutants, including a disheartened Magneto (Michael Fassbender), to cleanse mankind and create a new world order, over which he will reign. As the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance, Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) with the help of Professor X (James McAvoy) must lead a team of young X-Men to stop their greatest nemesis and save mankind from complete destruction.

With all the hype and buzz surrounding Barman VS Superman, I almost forgot about another big name superhero film in 2016.

I can't put my finger on it, but something is off in this trailer. It's kind of underwhelming, and nothing really stands out to grab my attention. Michael Fassbender is the true star in the current set of X-Men films (sorry Jennifer Lawrence), but for obvious reasons, the focus is shifting to Apocalypse.

Apocalypse has been a target for a lot of ridicule and complaints, including comparisons to Ivan Ooze, when pics of the character were released a while ago. Oscar Isaac is a solid actor, but I'm starting to get the feeling he's just not right for this character. Granted, I'm not an expert when it comes to the X-Men or comic books, so maybe I'm missing something. But when I think of Apocalypse, the animated series immediately pops in my head, so I expected someone with a more commanding presence, and a booming or rumbly voice.

 

[Alex]

I agree on Apocalypse needing a guy with presence/deep voice. For some reason someone like Gerard Butler comes to mind. He was basically doing the exact same thing in 300.

I think Apocalypse looks ok in the trailer. Somehow I don't think they wanted to go with his typical look (biomechanical/robot suit look)

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And they wanted something that looked a bit more organic which looks more like his Ancient Egyptian self

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I just hope Fox doesn't cock it up. In their eagerness to pump out movies related to their Marvel products they've let the movies suffer (Fantastic Four) so I hope they don't make this a homogenised mess

 

[JGlass]

I thought the problem with this trailer was that it was too busy. I get that they want one of the selling points of this movie to be the huge roster of mutants featured, but when you try to show them all in a tiny, 2 minute window, it's hard for me to get too psyched to see any of them.

I also hate that they portray Jean Grey as a nervous girl again rather than a strong, bad ass woman. I get that that is Sophie Turner's bread and butter after playing Sansa Stark for years, but I'm sick of Jean Grey not getting her due.

The only real positive I'd attribute to this trailer is they dispelled any fears I had (and admittedly I didn't have many) of Oscar Isaac not being able to pull of Apocalypse. I think he's a phenomenal actor, but there's nothing intimidating about him. I thought he pulled off intimidating in the trailer and I'm very excited to see Apocalypse in action.

I'm a huge X-Men fan, have been since my parents got me some X-Men TAS VHS tapes when I was in pre-school, and I've never been thrilled with an X-Men movie. I don't anticipate that I'll be overly fond of this one. I really just want Marvel to take over the franchise and restart the series, starting with the original 5.

 

[nightmare]

Trailer was the first of many to come & I think they did cram a lot in, but it sold me. Finally we get some Psylocke action in an XMen film & I have been waiting forever for that. With more to be seen I expect a bigger buzz to start soon & hopefully it delivers.

JGlass, I get what you mean about Jean in this, but did you not like how she was in the past films? I though the was great in balancing the badass with the nervous reservation about just hiw strong her powers were.

 

[JGlass]

JGlass, I get what you mean about Jean in this, but did you not like how she was in the past films? I though the was great in balancing the badass with the nervous reservation about just hiw strong her powers were.

You mean Famke Jansen's Jean Grey who was really just there for Wolverine to pine over while she doesn't do shit until the end of the second movie?

Yeah, she gets to do Phoenix shit in X3, but that movie sucks, so it doesn't count.

 

[The Butcher]

It looks good. I was a devotee to the 90's animated series as well (its theme song is easily one of my top five whistlin' tunes), but Bryan Singer's X-Men was such a departure from it and the comics I had read up to that point that I've never held the films up to the standard of either one.

The cartoon's voice performances for Wolverine, Storm, Gambit, Rogue, and Apocalypse in particular will always be what those characters should sound like to me and are what I hear in my head when I read them. That said, even when I first starting getting hyped about that first film 16 years ago, I knew those weren't going to carry over.

As for some of the weaker character portrayals, I guess I just deal with them. I've accepted that some of my favorites are going to get gypped in order to just get the overall X universe on the big screen. Jean Grey, Storm, Colossus, Jubilee, Gambit, and Juggernaut immediately spring to mind, but I mean at least I've seen them in a live action movie.

As long as it delivers on the action I'm sure I'll be satisfied. Days Of Future Past cleaned the slate, so characters that weren't done justice get a second chance. Comic book movies have come far enough during this series' lifespan that yellow spandex is no longer a fashion faux pas, so I'm just happy that Apocalypse is a purple cyborg man. Had he appeared 10 or 15 years ago he would've been heavily implied and then showed up as a damn cloud. Plus if Quicksilver tops himself that alone will justify this movie's existence.

 

[nightmare]

You mean Famke Jansen's Jean Grey who was really just there for Wolverine to pine over while she doesn't do shit until the end of the second movie?

Yeah, she gets to do Phoenix shit in X3, but that movie sucks, so it doesn't count.

I didnt mind the Logan stuff because as solid film introduction to the franchise I really didnt expect her to go all super on anyone till the second one anyway. Having that included in the movies was a good choice instead of not addressing it while all the comic fans knew the deal.

Now while the 3rd was shit compared to the others, she was still pretty badass. Frankly they could have done better with a few of the characters, but she wasnt one I felt let down with.

 

[Jack-Hammer]

I kinda like how it looks, but I'm not totally sold on Apocalypse as a whole. Whenever I see Apocalypse in comics, I always get the impression of someone with not only this impossibly imposing physical appearance, but also with this deeply resonant, powerful voice that just grabs you by the throat.

I get that the X-Men franchise is a good deal further from the true to form comics than most other adaptations but the reason for that is because there were hopes of reviving the comic book film franchise after the disastrous 4th Batman film. So, they kinda went for something a bit more urban, slicker and generally down to earth when you compare them with the various efforts of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. However, this one doesn't seem quite so down to earth when you take into account the storyline.

My biggest problems are the continuity issues that come about during the X-Men films and the fact that this is a prequel to the first three X-Men films. Prequels can be problematic because we already know how things will ultimately turn out and Apocalypse is such a powerful, enigmatic character that a prequel feels pretty anti-climactic. As for the continuity issues, Nightcrawler and Angel/Archangel both appeared in X2 and X3. Jean & Storm had no knowledge of Nightcrawler in X2, and vice versa, upon meeting him and Angel/Archangel was a man in his late teens to early 20s in X3, but these prequels are set a good 25-30 years prior.

I'd love to see the film rights go back to Marvel at some point so the franchise can be rebooted and joined in with the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While I've enjoyed the X-films overall, there's just so much clutter that can only really be fixed with a reboot and I don't have much faith in Fox being able to pull it off without making it feel like some kind of half assed rehash.

 

[nightmare]

Changing who has the rights could be good, but also bad. With how many Marvel characters have stand alone films or will soon, plus Avengers, they are already going to run into a cluttered mess trying to cram too many guys in. Adding the X books cavalcade of characters/villains may add to the clutter or be relegated to random cameo appearances.

Sure a reboot backed by the Marvel crew may be a great change of pace, but could they even fit it into their universe before the bottom falls out? If they do get the rights before then I would hope for a few solid movies, but we may just end up with them focusing on inserting Wolverine or a small handful of guys to whatever movie is currently being planned.

 

[The Butcher]

My biggest problems are the continuity issues that come about during the X-Men films and the fact that this is a prequel to the first three X-Men films. Prequels can be problematic because we already know how things will ultimately turn out and Apocalypse is such a powerful, enigmatic character that a prequel feels pretty anti-climactic. As for the continuity issues, Nightcrawler and Angel/Archangel both appeared in X2 and X3. Jean & Storm had no knowledge of Nightcrawler in X2, and vice versa, upon meeting him and Angel/Archangel was a man in his late teens to early 20s in X3, but these prequels are set a good 25-30 years prior.

Apocalypse is eternal. Says so himself. Even if he's nerfed and gets beaten to death by the X-Men, he'll still be a viable villain for future installments. I get what you're saying about continuity. The creative forces behind Days of Future Past knew the series was a mess in that regard and wisely made that film a soft reboot. Just by the ending of that we can safely assume history has changed significantly. The elder Worthingtons apparently got it on a little earlier in this timeline. Warren Jr. was an older man when Angel was just a kid, so that's not too terribly tough to swallow. Nightcrawler either came stateside sooner or was ID'ed by Xavier sooner and invited in. Wolverine's excursion to the past apparently made some ripples. Seeing what they are could be fun.

I'd love to see the film rights go back to Marvel at some point so the franchise can be rebooted and joined in with the rest of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While I've enjoyed the X-films overall, there's just so much clutter that can only really be fixed with a reboot and I don't have much faith in Fox being able to pull it off without making it feel like some kind of half assed rehash.

I sort of like X-Men as an outlier to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. For one thing the mutant population of the Marvel Universe can barely be contained in movies dedicated to them. Throw them into the MCU, and worst case you get a reboot origin story movie before Wolverine and a couple little buddies join the ensemble films and either get gypped for time or do that to others. I give Marvel more credit than that, but it's a legitimate concern.

For another thing, the films' outlier status sort of fits the whole X-Men allegory. The style of the series and source material adaptation has been divisive among fans just like the mutant issue is divisive among humans. Like the parents of many mutants, Marvel has essentially disowned the X-Men, minimizing their crossovers with MCU characters in the comics and removing them from merch that they should be on. It's sort of meta, but I like the social commentary foundation that the series is built on enough to add that layer.

Don't get me wrong; I wouldn't mind different takes on the material. It works fine for Batman... most of the time. Long-running comics characters have all changed with their writers, artists, and the times, and the same should happen with their film adaptations. Singer and co. have created a franchise that is very successful, though, and the movies have gotten better since bottoming out with Origins and/or The Last Stand. Hopefully Apocalypse follows that trend, but if it doesn't then I'll probably get antsy for the prodigal son to go home too.