The “X-Men: Apocalypse” trailer is here, but what is going on?
We were promised the X-Men: Apocalypse trailer and Fox definitely delivered. While the film was catching bit of fire for the first images of Apocalypse it seems like they have corrected this mistake in the trailer. Take a look at the trailer below and then we’ll discuss.
Jean Grey “Dreams” About the Apocalypse
It’s obvious that Jean’s dream is more of a premonition given the nature of the film. But Professor X is still reluctant to believe she has that kind of power given that this Jean Grey is still young and nowhere near her potential of being Phoenix.
“I could feel all this…death.”
This may be clearly speculation but it makes me wonder if her choice of words (“death”) has purpose. Of the four horsemen of Apocalypse (we’ll get to that), one of them was named “Death” so it could be a reference to that. It could also be a reference to Monique Ganderton’s character in the film who also holds the name. Ganderton could be one of Apocalypse’s earlier horsemen or a character all her own.
There is also an image of some ancient symbols that could mean something or be an Easter egg in the film. I’m not going to try and translate…haha.
The Introduction of Caliban and The Morlocks
Who is that bald man in the sewers? Well it seems as though Apocalypse has entered the home of the Morlocks who were a band of mutants that lived underground in the sewers. The bald man we see here is named Caliban and is part of the Morlocks himself. In the comics, Caliban has an interesting power of detecting mutants which could prove to be useful in the film and to achieve Apocalypse’s end goal.
Storm was also once the leader of the Morlocks in the comic books which means that it is likely that she is associated with them in the film as well. But even though she is the key player in this bunch, I wouldn’t exclude other Morlocks from having a more significant role. In addition to Storm and Caliban, Rochelle Okoye is set to play another Morlock known as Plague who was also one of Apocalypse’s horsemen in the comic books. Her powers are pretty apparent from her name. She has the ability to manipulate disease and is also immune to it.
The Introduction of the New X-Men
I wouldn’t necessarily call them “new” but it is the first time seeing Cyclops and Jean Grey in the newly rebooted timeline (excluding the final scene of “X-Men: Days of Future Past”). Here we get to see Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Nightcrawler establishing themselves as true X-Men. We never got a very strong history of these three so we may get some of that story that was missing from the other films.
In addition to these three we also see the brief introduction of Jubilee to the team. Many have praised Lana Condor for being the closest character adaptation to the original comics based on appearance. This will also be her first credited film role as an actress so it will be interesting to see how she does in the film with it being her debut to the big screen.
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The Re-Introduction of Havok and Origin of Apocalypse
The conversation with Moira reveals quite a bit about the film. We see the reintroduction of Havok played by Lucas Till who also confirmed his larger role earlier this year. As the trailer progresses we see Lucas Till popping up quite a bit.
“…an ancient being was born. The world’s first…mutant.”
The more interesting details come in Moira’s conversation with Charles and Alex (aka Havok). She reveals the history and mystery surrounding Apocalypse through research conducted by herself and the CIA. She describes him as being over 10,000 years old and being labeled as “the first mutant.” We see a flash to the pyramids which is a more visual representation of his origination. Then she lays down a book showing profiles of various people which seems to reveal little at this point but there are some notable points of interest in the background.
I ended up flipping this screen capture to look more closely at the text of the book in the lower left hand corner. The book is titled “The Age Of…” maybe Apocalypse? While the last word doesn’t seem to start with an “A” it could be “the Apocalypse.” This is important because it is a reference to a comic book titled “The Age of Apocalypse” which outlines an alternate timeline where Apocalypse rules the world. This would be fitting given that “X-Men: Days of Future Past” did create an alternate timeline from all of the previous X-Men films we have seen thus far.
In addition, if you look above that book you can see an image that looks like Apocalypse or possibly one of his horsemen.
The Four Horsemen of Apocalypse
Moira is also the one to reveal the “Four Horsemen” of Apocalypse. Describing them as mutants that Apocalypse “imbues with more power,” we also get a flash showing who his chosen mutants will be for this film. The quick flashes show Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Archangel (Ben Hardy), Psylocke (Olivia Munn), and Magneto (Michael Fassbender) as Apocalypse’s new followers.
“He always had four followers he would imbue with power.”
As Moira is describing the horsemen Havok comments that Apocalypse stole the “Four Horsemen” title from the Christian Bible. Moira counters with her belief that the Bible may have stolen the name from him. This could lead to some interesting religious tie ins as earlier in the trailer we already heard Apocalypse speaking as to how he was seen as God in multiple religions.
The Invasion of the X-Mansion
Professor X mentions that Apocalypse has a massive amount of control over mutants and this scene may prove to be true. Although Magneto and Professor X have scuffled quite a bit, they have always been “frenemies” that shared a mutual respect for one another. In this scene we see Magneto forcefully pull Professor X’s wheelchair towards him and then we get a glimpse of the horsemen all together.
“…he can control all of us.”
On Professor X’s side we see Beast (in human form), Mystique (also in human form), Havok, and Moira. It’s a bit disappointing to see that Beast aka Hank McCoy can switch between human and “beast mode” and it’s also disappointing to see Mystique predominantly in her human form as well. I know the actors like to have their faces more noticeable but as a fan, I would like to see their true form.
On the opposing side we see most of Apocalypse’s followers. Up front we have Magneto and Apocalypse and in the back we can see Storm and Archangel, but no visual confirmation of Psylocke.
While there isn’t much of an outcome shown, I’m sure that we can expect this to be a pivotal moment in the film.
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Archangel in Action!
We see a flash of most of Apocalypse’s horsemen showing off their powers. Storm and Magneto weren’t as intriguing as most of us are familiar with their powers from previous films but Archangel was very exciting to see.
We have seen a previous version of the character in Brett Ratner’s “X-Men: The Last Stand” played by Ben Foster, but not in the capacity we see here. In “The Last Stand” we see Angel before he was Archangel. His wings are composed of feathers and his powers mainly consist of advanced flight abilities through the use of his wings. The “X-Men: Apocalypse” version seen in this trailer is a more manipulated version of the character.
In the comic books Archangel was the product of Apocalypse’s genetic manipulation. He started as this character that we see in “X-Men: The Last Stand” but is mentally and genetically manipulated into becoming a horseman of Apocalypse. In the process Angel is transformed into Archangel with a set of new metallic wings which have the ability to shoot poison tipped darts from them. While his face did have a bluish skin tone in the comics, it does seem that he shares many of the same powers in this film.
Apocalypse Can Grow!!
Many fans were wondering if they would touch on Apocalypse’s ability to change in size and from the scene above, it looks like they at least touched on it. But while it looks promising that we will see this power in the film, I wouldn’t get your hopes up.
In this scene we see Professor X standing and attempting to punch Apocalypse only to be stopped as Apocalypse grows and towers over him. The physical battle between these two leads me to believe that this is either a dream sequence or more likely a metaphorical representation of Professor X trying to invade Apocalypse’s mind. Sure we’ve seen Professor X out of the wheelchair a few times, but the likelihood of these two “duking it out” is low.
“I’ve never felt power like this before.”
To further reinforce this idea, we see Professor X using Cerebro and talking about a power unlike any he’s encountered before. While using Cerebro, we see his eyes go completely black which could be the transition into this scene where we see Apocalypse grow.
Professor X Loses the Hair…Finally!
They’ve been hinting at James McAvoy going bald for his role as Professor X since “X-Men: First Class” but now it’s finally happened! Although we do see him with a full head of hair throughout most of the trailer, the final reveal at the end is what many fans have been waiting to see. In full Charles Xavier attire, we see McAvoy rocking the bald look and it actually looks very good.
The question that many should be asking now is, “How does he lose his hair?” We see him with hair throughout the trailer so it’s easy to come to the conclusion that something happens for him to lose it in this film. I doubt he just decides to shave his head so there has to be some significant event that causes his hair to go.
As this is the point where the trailer ended, Fox has chosen this topic as a moment of speculation for fans. My guess is that this will be one of the surprises they save for the film rather than revealing in another trailer.