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With the recent twitter announcement from director Bryan Singer that reveals Hugh Jackman's Wolverine will be in the new film, X-men: Days of Future Past, this has further cemented (following the announcements from Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan) the intention of the filmmakers to place ALL of the x-men films, First Class included, into the same timeline.

I am a fan of the films, but not a FAN in the truest sense, so I have no idea how this will impact the overall arc of the timeline.

As far as I am aware, some quarters are up in arms over this announcement, and my questions are:

  • What are the major issues with having all of these films placed in one universe?

  • Has there been any official explanation as to how the filmmakers intend to integrate the loose threads into this new film?

Addendum: There seems to be some confusion about the Professor X character regarding how he ended up in the wheelchair, also the Emma Frost character arc doesn't appear to work across the timeframe, and there also seem to be issues with Woverine's relationship to Sabretooth. These are just a few of the 'issues' raised that I have seen.

Here are some more:

  • In X-Men, Professor Xavier claims he met Erik Lehnsherr when he was 17, in X-Men: First Class he is considerably older during their first meeting.

  • In X-Men, Prof X seems confused as to how Magneto has found a way to shield himself from Cerebro, but in X-Men: First Class, Xavier sees Magneto's helmet and knows what it can do.

  • In X-Men, Prof X says that he and Magneto collaborated on the construction of Cerebro, but in X-Men: First Class, Cerebro was designed by Hank (Beast). The original was constructed by the CIA, and whichever version ends up at the X Mansion is of unknown origin but was definitely built after the Xavier/Magneto split.

  • In X-Men, we wee a different X Mansion from the one that appears in X-Men: First Class. OK, so they moved. I can relate to that :)

  • In X-Men, Prof X doesn't seem to remember meeting Wolverine before, though they meet briefly in X-Men: First Class.

  • In X-Men: First Class, Emma Frost (White Queen) meets and is an adversary of Charles Xavier. In X-Men Origins: Wolverine, she doesn't seem to know him and follows him onto a helicopter without comment or complaint. This one might have been answered below.

  • In X-Men 3: The Last Stand, Prof X and Magneto are seen visiting the home of Jean Grey to recruit her to the school. This scene presumably takes place many years after the end of X-Men: First Class, where we see the rift between Xavier and Magneto has already taken place.

  • In X-Men: First Class we see Hank turn into the blue furry Beast as a young man in the year 1963. In X2: X-Men United Dr. Hank McCoy appears in a television interview and he is not blue and furry.

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  • I'm a fan of the films, but no little about the x-men universe. Could you edit the question to include examples of what issues people think of loose threads. I'd like to know what those are.
    – Reactgular
    Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 17:15
  • IGN made a short video that highlights the continuity problems.
    – Oliver_C
    Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 17:54
  • I think they'll just let bygones-be-bygones! Creative freedom u knw...... ;)
    – Sayan
    Commented Dec 21, 2012 at 13:58
  • It s become too messy after first class.
    – Ankit Sharma ♦
    Commented Jan 16, 2013 at 9:48
  • Did you know that Fox's upcoming reboot to the Fantastic Four film series will share continuity with the X-Men films, creating a shared universe similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe.....making it more complicated
    – Ankit Sharma ♦
    Commented Jan 16, 2013 at 10:00

2 Answers 2

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I'm not sure how there's any confusion about Professor X being in the wheelchair. He's clearly "shot" (bullet deflected) in the First Class movie, as well as being IN the wheelchair at the end.

As for Emma's story, there was a lot of confusion about the character thanks to the Wolverine: Origins movie. There's a young girl being held captive by Stryker who can turn into diamond. Many believed that she was Emma, yet she's only referred to as "Kayla's sister", even in the credits. It is possible they could make that reference in future movies, or not.

With regards to Sabertooth and Wolverine's "relationship", that will be a bit easier to do. Since Wolverine lost his memory, he has no idea why Sabertooth seems to be hunting him. In the comics, Sabertooth hunts him down every year on his birthday, just to beat him to a pulp. This is to show that he's always going to be the superior mutant. If I recall, to this day, Wolverine has not beaten Sabertooth in a one on one.

Now, as for potential issues that could arise, there's one that comes to my mind. If Wolverine does make an appearance in this film, much more than the cameo we saw in First Class, why does Professor X seemingly have no knowledge of him in X-Men? Wolverine's lack of memory is understandable, as we know that Wolverine: Origins takes place quite some time before First Class, and thus he's lost his memory.

Ultimately, though, the sad answer is that they will "try" to address what they think needs addressing and nothing more. The hope is that if there are any glaring holes, they'll fix these. But it's really up to the director and the writers to pay attention and try to make it mesh as seamlessly as possible.

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    The wheelchair confusion comes from the time. In X3, it is shown in 1980 that Xavier was not only still friends with Erik, but that he was walking just fine, recruiting for his school. However in Fist Class, in 1962, during the Missile Crisis, it is shown that is the day Xavier becomes paralyzed and him and Erik go their separate ways.
    – Tablemaker
    Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 18:11
  • Nice answer - thanks. I'll see what else gets written before committing to a super check mark ;)
    – Nobby
    Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 18:11
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    BTW - TylerShads just highlighted the whole professor X conundrum. Perhaps my addendum was misleading. I am about to add some more! Feel free to dig in :)
    – Nobby
    Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 18:12
  • @TylerShads: I agree. That does make things confusing. But as stated, in the end, Hollywood will try to fix what it thinks needs fixing.
    – PiousVenom
    Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 18:23
  • In First Class Xavier and Erik approach Wolverine because they know he is a mutant. So there is no need to wait for the sequel to create a continuity problem. - There is also a problem with the character of Moira MacTaggert. She is played by Rose Byrne in First Class, but in X-Men 3 (played by Olivia Williams) she isn't much older.
    – Oliver_C
    Commented Dec 20, 2012 at 18:32
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As per the movie name says X-Men: Days of Future Past which it sounds similar to Days of Future Past comics storyline and as per the confirmed cast of Hugh Jackman, Ian Mckellen, Patrick Stewart, Anna Paquin, Shawn Ashmore, Ellen Page, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Jennifer Lawrence, and James McAvoy, it is clear that they are making it a midequel between X-Men new class and X-men trilogy. Its very difficult to connect it to Walvoreine

The upcoming The Wolverine(2013) is intended to be a stand-alone film, taking place after the events of X-Men: The Last Stand.

Producer Lauren Shuler Donner reported in August 2006 that renegotiations would be required to continue the main film series. Newer cast members were signed, while the older cast members, including Halle Berry, Rebecca Romijn, Famke Janssen, and Anna Paquin, were not. Donner admitted, "There is forty years worth of stories. I’ve always wanted to do 'Days of Future Past' and there are just really a lot of stories yet to be told." She later pitched Bryan Singer on doing a fourth installment of the previously established X-Men franchise, following the completion of X-Men: First Class. In March 2011, Shuler Donner revealed that the film was in "active development at Fox," saying, "We took the treatment to Fox and they love it... And X4 leads into X5". In October 2012, Donner expressed interest in having the X-Men characters appear in Marvel Studios' independently produced Marvel Cinematic Universe films. Shuler Donner said, "I would love it. I personally have close ties to Marvel because of Kevin Feige, because Kevin worked for me. But to take our characters and mingle them in the way that they were written, yeah, absolutely.(source)

X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)

To be directed by Bryan Singer, the film will feature the cast of X-Men: First Class along with the some of the cast from the original X-Men trilogy. Set in 1973, 10 years after X-Men: First Class, the film features a script from Simon Kinberg and is said to be inspired by Chris Claremont and John Byrne's X-Men comic book storyline, "Days of Future Past". Matthew Vaughn was supposed to direct the film but left the director duties to focus on Mark Millar's The Secret Service film adaptation. Vaughn will still be attached to the film writing alongside Kinberg and producing. Confirmed cast members for the film include James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, Anna Paquin, Ellen Page, and Shawn Ashmore. The film is scheduled to go into production in April 2013, and is scheduled to be released on 18 July 2014.

Even Fox's upcoming reboot of the Fantastic Four film series will share continuity with the X-Men series, creating a shared universe similar to the Marvel Cinematic Universe produced by Marvel Studios.(source)?

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