Simon Kinberg Teases X-MEN: APOCALYPSE Character Arcs and Comic References
Thanks to producer Simon Kinberg, we have some more details regarding director Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Apocalypse. One piece of information you might be interested in know is that the first trailer for the film will be attached to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, so we won’t have to wait much longer for that.
Singer completed production on X-Men: Apocalypse back in August, and he’s been deep in the post-production process since then. In an interview with Collider, Kinberg offered an update on the film's development, saying that he’s “super happy” with how the editing is going. He also reiterates that this next X-Men film will be the biggest one yet.
X-Men: Apocalypse serves as the finale of a trilogy that began with X-Men: First Class and it will also kick off a new era of X-Men films. Kinberg says:
"I’m super happy with it. We are in the edit working on it, working on the first cut of the film. But it’s really exciting. I’ve said this before and I feel it even more having seen the movie cut together: I do think it will be the biggest of the X-Men films just in terms of the scale and the scope of the movie, and even more the emotional stakes and scope of the film. It has a level of drama and emotion, for all of the characters—I think going into it I assumed this would be the culmination in many ways of this little trilogy we were telling for young Erik, Charles, Mystique, and Beast but I think what was surprising over the span of photography and now into post as well is just how resonant the young Jean, Scott, and Storm stories are too. So I think the movie feels very balanced between—I don’t wanna call them the older generation because they were the younger generation, but the generation of the X-Men from the last few films and the new generation.”
Kinberg went on to say that comic book fans can expect “as much or more references to things from the comics than any X-Men film that’s come before.” The site singles out Quicksilver and his parents. That character is involved in “an arc that’s much more emotionally complex: his relationship with his father.” In the comics, Magneto is Quicksilver’s dad, and Kinberg confirmed that that’s the direction they are taking the film:
“It’s something that we allude to very vaguely in Days of Future Past when he says, ‘My mom knew a guy who could control metal’ and [Michael] Fassbender gives him that look, all of which is meant to indicate that it’s his father. It’s a part of the film and I think it’s a really emotional, really important part of the movie.”
Kinberg then addresses Jennifer Lawrence’s Mystique, who, according to the official synopsis, is helping lead the X-Men. When asked about her leadership role in the story, he says:
“I think the movie explores her struggle, which is sort of the result of Days of Future Past. If you think about the end of Days of Future Past, in front of the entire world she stops Magneto and saves the President and cabinet, and so this movie certainly explores 10 years later what it is to wear the mantle of that responsibility.”
I’m really happy with how the story arc for Mystique has played out over the course of these past two movies, and I’m excited to see how it concludes with Apocalypse.
I loved the footage that was screened at Comic-Con this past summer, and I can't wait to see how this upcoming trailer plays out. I’m sure fans of the franchise are going to freakin’ flip for it. X-Men: Apocalypse will be released on May 27th, 2016. Here's the official synopsis for the film:
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.