X-MEN: APOCALYPSE Production Was a "Total Nightmare" After Starting Without a Finished Third Act
When X-Men: Apocalypse hit theaters in 2016, fans were treated to a massive showdown featuring some of Marvel’s most iconic mutants. But according to film editor and composer John Ottman, putting that movie together was far more chaotic than audiences ever realized.
During a recent appearance on the Half the Picture podcast, Ottman opened up about the troubled production of X-Men: Apocalypse and revealed that the film began shooting without a completed third act.
The situation ultimately turned the post-production process into what he described as a “total, total, total nightmare.”
Ottman wasn’t coming into the project blind. He had previously worked with director Bryan Singer on X-Men: Days of Future Past, which remains one of the most highly regarded entries in the franchise.
During that production, Ottman played an active role in identifying story issues while filming was still underway. Writer Simon Kinberg could make adjustments on the fly, helping the team avoid major problems later in the editing room.
That collaborative process paid off, resulting in a smoother production and far fewer headaches in post. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out the same way on Apocalypse.
According to Ottman, some of the lessons learned on Days of Future Past were forgotten after that film’s success. He explained:
“I was given the script, and I had like pages and pages of notes. I see things are going to blow up in my face, and I got to figure out how to solve them.”
Despite his concerns, production moved forward anyway. Ottman then revealed just how incomplete the movie’s finale was when cameras started rolling:
“Then we go into production and we have a film with no third act. It was a beat sheet.”
Rather than a fully developed script, the climactic portion of the movie existed only as a rough outline. Ottman described it as little more than simple notes detailing broad actions and character outcomes.
As filming continued, the creative team found themselves scrambling to construct the movie’s massive final battle sequence.
“We were huddling with the team and the second unit director and just coming up with stuff the last second.”
That kind of last-minute problem solving eventually carried over into the editing room. Ottman explained that they relied heavily on narrative tools such as voiceover and Professor Xavier’s telepathic sequences to help bridge story gaps and make the final cut feel more coherent.
While X-Men: Apocalypse still managed to earn an impressive $543.9 million worldwide, audience and critical reactions were considerably more mixed than those for Days of Future Past. The film currently sits at 47% on Rotten Tomatoes, and many fans pointed to its crowded story and underwhelming climax as major issues.
Hearing Ottman describe the production process certainly helps explain why the movie sucked. Starting a superhero blockbuster without a completed ending is a risky move, especially when the finale is supposed to deliver the biggest action and emotional moments of the entire story.
The problems didn’t end there for the franchise, either. The next installment, Dark Phoenix, struggled even more with critics and audiences and became one of the lowest-performing entries in the long-running X-Men film series.
Looking back now, Ottman’s comments offer an interesting glimpse into the challenges that shaped Apocalypse. For fans who felt something was off about the film’s final act, it turns out there was a very good reason for it.