Where Do the X-Men Go Post-'Apocalypse'? A Look at Potential Future Plots

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The X-Men returned to the multiplex over Memorial Day weekend with X-Men: Apocalypse to the tune of $80 million at the 4-day box office. And now that they’ve taken care of Apocalypse — Oscar Isaac’s ancient, blue-skinned villain who sought to bring about the end of humanity to build a new world order — the relevant question becomes: Where do Marvel’s mutants go from here?

There’s certainly been considerable talk about expanding the X-universe — to include the New Mutants (coming soon from The Fault in Our Stars director Josh Boone); to more fully incorporate Deadpool into the fold; and to possibly even reimagine Wolverine as a woman. However, few concrete details have yet to leak about what a future X-Men film will resemble. Nonetheless, Apocalypse contains some hints about where the series might be going — and, in doing so, suggest that the franchise might finally be embracing its true spirit.

The ‘90s Are Back

The first clue about the direction of Fox’s franchise came recently from Simon Kinberg, the writer-producer behind numerous X-related films (including Apocalypse). The team’s latest outing was set in the ‘80s — a jump forward in time from X-Men: First Class’ ‘60s setting, and Days of Future Past’s ‘70s period. Thus, it’s little surprise that the next installment in the series will be situated in the decade during which the X-Men, both in the comics (courtesy of artists like Jim Lee) and on television (thanks to their hit animated series), enjoyed their greatest success: the ‘90s.

Watch the X-Men: Apocalypse cast sing the theme to the animated show:

The Dark Phoenix Rises

One of the most famous X-Men tales revolves around crimson-haired telepathic Jean Grey (now played by Game of Thrones’ Sophie Turner), who becomes so overwhelmed by her abilities that she transforms into the fiery “Dark Phoenix.” While that storyline was hinted at in 2003’s X2 (with Famke Janssen as Grey) and then mishandled in 2003’s abominable X-Men: The Last Stand, the ending of Apocalypse — in which Turner’s Grey abandons her inhibitions and uses the full force of her powers, which manifest themselves in flaming bird-like form — intimates that the Dark Phoenix saga may be the next film’s focus.

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No More Rebuilding the Team

At the close of Apocalypse, Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) has begun training her new recruits — Jean Grey, Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee), and Storm (Alexandra Shipp) — to be full-fledged X-Men. In doing so, the film implies that the franchise may finally be done with stories about the mutants banding together (or being torn apart) in favor of a future episode in which they’re simply, you know, the X-Men, ready to battle the forces of evil as a cohesive, united squad.

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The End of Time-Travel Origin Story Rebooting

Wolverine’s berserker-rage cameo in Apocalypse serves to reboot his origin story, which was previously recounted in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. It’s merely the latest example of the franchise retconning prior plot points — a process that’s left its cinematic timeline hopelessly convoluted. By moving into the ‘90s (and beyond many key events), upcoming X-Men sagas will likely aim to stop reinventing their own wheel, and carve out an identity free of any past-movie baggage.

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The Emergence of a Soapy Love Triangle

When Jean soothes Wolverine’s (Hugh Jackman) savage mind in Apocalypse, director Bryan Singer cross-cuts between Jean, Wolverine and Cyclops’s faces as a means of establishing the love triangle that’s so central to their relationships (and which has already been dramatized in the earlier films). While it remains unclear how (or even if) Wolverine will factor into future X-Men films, this scene indicates that the franchise may be embracing its sudsier melodramatic roots — which would be great, since part of the X-Men comics’ appeal has always been their more soap opera-ish elements.

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A Fully Formed Cyclops

With all due respect to James Marsden, the X-Men movies have never gotten one of their main characters — visor-wearing, eye beam-blasting Cyclops — totally right. That may be changing because of Apocalypse, which reimagines the character (now played by Tye Sheridan) as a somewhat cocky and angry kid with a severe no-nonsense attitude. Going forward, we can hopefully expect a far more clearly drawn Cyclops to take center stage — which is where the iconic hero has always belonged.

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The Marginalization of Mystique

This new cycle of X-Men films (First Class, Days of Future Past, Apocalypse) has been complicated by the casting of Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique — a somewhat peripheral shape-shifting character whose role in the cinematic proceedings has been significantly (some might say awkwardly) amplified to account for the actress’s skyrocketing Hollywood stardom. By the end of Apocalypse, however, her Mystique has settled into a pass-the-baton position, suggesting that Lawrence — who has expressed hesitation about continuing to participate in the franchise — may not be back to reprise the part.

A Pause From Professor X and Magneto’s Debates

After six features films (not counting spinoffs), the central argument between Professor Xavier (James McAvoy), who champions living in harmony with humans, and Magneto (Michael Fassbender), who sees humanity as a persistent enemy, has grown more than a bit dramatically stale. By the conclusion of Apocalypse, the two super-mutants once again agree to disagree, and with any luck, their on-good-terms parting will result in forthcoming storylines that don’t center on their peace-vs.-war quarrels. Although to be fair, for a series rooted in the two characters’ Martin Luther King-Malcolm X dynamic, that may be asking for one evolution too far.

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(Photos: Marvel, 20th Century Fox)

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