The Flickering Myth writing team discuss Bryan Singer’s announcement of X-Men: Apocalypse…
What a busy few days we’ve had here at Flickering Myth in terms of comic book news. Firstly we had the news that Gal Gadot was playing Wonder Woman in Batman vs. Superman (read our reaction here) and then Thursday saw the debut of the first trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (read our reaction here). So it took us all by surprise that Bryan Singer announced via his Twitter that the Age of Apocalypse could be heading to the X-Men universe in 2016.
But, in a sea of comic book news, what did the Flickering Myth team make of this announcement?
Anthony Donovan Stokes: Sounds interesting, but I hope it centres on the X-Men: First Class team as they are much more fun to watch.
David Bishop: I think it sounds great. X-Men are by far my favourite of the Marvel comics and it’s always better when they’re a team and not just Wolverine.
Martin Deer: Absolutely unbelievable. Honestly, I’m sick of hearing about comic book movies – and I love them. It’s just all getting too much. Sony announce The Amazing Spider-Man will have four or five films and want spin offs; Marvel have phase 69 planned and Warner Bros. are planning a TV show for several characters. They’re just bloody everywhere. We’ve reached the point where they can’t even have just a post-credits scene to tease future films, now they’re just announcing the next films before the latest one has even come out. It’s beyond a joke now.
Ozzy Armstrong: Now, this could be awesome. As a big fan of all things X-Men – and a huge fan of this particular story arc – this could be the mutant extravaganza I’ve been waiting for (not ignoring X-Men: Days of Future Past, as I’m still very stoked about that).
An X-Men movie every may be too much for some, but it’s perfect for me
Gary Collinson: This news has taken me by surprise. I thought they’d do X-Force next (unless they try and squeeze that or The Wolverine sequel in for 2015, although I imagine The Fantastic Four is the studio’s superhero release for that year). X-Men: Apocalypse has bags of potential. However, more time travel and alternate timelines… could all start to becoming a little confusing for the audience.
Luke Owen: Like Gary, this news took me by surprise. And Martin is right, we’ve been overloaded with comic book news over the last 48 hours and this spreading of comic universes is getting a touch too much. But I have got to admit, out of all three stories, this is the one that made me stand up and take notice.
Like the announcement of X-Men: Days of Future Past, this has gotten me excited for another X-Men movie. I don’t care for another solo Wolverine movie or a sequel to First Class, but a big screen adaptation of Age of Apocalypse (if that’s what they’re doing) is hugely exciting.
Also, hilarious that I’m getting excited about a movie that won’t be out for another THREE YEARS.
Thomas Harris: The X-Men Universe is an intriguing one. Bar The Avengers, it’s the only one that continues to expand with ease. I’m certainly excited if they stick with Singer, but it seems as if they’re saturating the market.
Andrew Naylor: I think this announcement a bit presumptuous. X-Men: Days of Future Past could be an absolute mess yet and bomb. If it is, then no one will want this.
Matthew Spencer-Skeen: This is one of my favourite X-Men stories! I think Anthony is right, it should definitely focus on the X-Men: First Class cast as there are more avenues and options with that group. Plus more Fassbender/McAvoy is a good thing as far as I’m concerned.
Tom Jolliffe: I’m getting tired of all this. There’s only so many comic book films they can do before everything starts feeling too samey. The Marvel films seem to blending into more or less the same film (and as many intertwine it just adds to that) and I’m finding the whole Marvel/DC thing a bit tiresome now.
We’ve got a new incarnation of Batman to come soon, more Avengers, probably another stand alone Batman at some point, Wonder Woman, a new Hulk (Ang Lee’s was only 10 years ago) etc. I won’t be counting down the minutes for another X Men movie, and we’ve still got Days of Future Past to come in the meantime.
Seriously though, is Hugh Jackman not bored out of his arse playing Wolverine yet? I actually loved The Wolverine – it was a solid straight up action flick and, much of the film, it felt non-Marvel. Jackman’s been excellent as Logan, and one of the more interesting comic book characters, but there comes a point where we’ve just had too much of him. But then what if you replace him with another actor? There’s that tough mantle to fill, as well as it being too soon.
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So a very mixed reaction from our writers. It’s almost split down the middle on first impressions, but perhaps the negativity from those not so keen is more from the over-saturation of comic book movies rather than this movie itself.
What did you think of Bryan Singer’s announcement? Should they have waited until after X-Men: Days of Future Past? Do they have enough box office power to warrant all of these spin-offs?
Originally published December 6, 2013. Updated December 13, 2019.
