# X-Men: Days of Future Past **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 5, 2012, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-days-of-future-past/630531 "2012-08-05T18:07:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-days-of-future-past/630531/21 "2012-08-07T00:04:40Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > But what do you mean by screw up? Not follow the original comic book storyline? Or not make an enjoyable movie? I think the studios have given up on pleasing the fanboys (for want of a better term) simply because there is no pleasing them. They pick apart any inconsistancy between the movie and the source material. I was a big fan of the X-Men in my youth. But quite frankly thats far enough in the past that I just vaguely remember some of the story arcs. They make movies for those who go to see movies. The number of people that remember exactly what happened in a comic book in 1983 is a much smaller number. I’m hoping they do a good job with what was well written source material (in my 15 year old mind). I don’t care if they don’t follow the story exactly. In fact I don’t see how they can. The movies aren’t even consistent _with each other_. _DoFP_ worked well because it had a solid foundation to build on. I don’t care if the movie version follows the comic version exactly, so you can drop that angle entirely-what matters is that such a story line has to have a solid foundation to work from. In anyone’s opinion, is _X-Men: First Class_ a strong enough foundation to build this type of story on? Did people watch it and say, “This movie is so much better than the last three. To me, _this_ says _X-Men_”? ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-days-of-future-past/630531/22 "2012-08-07T00:20:52Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The movies aren’t even consistent _with each other_. _DoFP_ worked well because it had a solid foundation to build on. I don’t care if the movie version follows the comic version exactly, so you can drop that angle entirely-what matters is that such a story line has to have a solid foundation to work from. In anyone’s opinion, is _X-Men: First Class_ a strong enough foundation to build this type of story on? Did people watch it and say, “This movie is so much better than the last three. To me, _this_ says _X-Men_”? To me I think all of the movies could have be written much better but were rescued by a good (for the most part) cast. ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-days-of-future-past/630531/23 "2012-08-07T01:55:39Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > In anyone’s opinion, is _X-Men: First Class_ a strong enough foundation to build this type of story on? Did people watch it and say, “This movie is so much better than the last three. To me, _this_ says _X-Men_”? I certainly felt that First Class was an excellent reboot and enough to make me forget the first few X-Men films. Of course, it’s primarily a Xavier/Magneto story, and most everyone else is just window dressing. They still would need to introduce guys like Cyclops, Jean, Storm, etc. (Wolverine is probably well-known enough to not need much of an introduction). Days of Future Past seems like a weird place to start a new trilogy without establishing the core characters… but I can see it working, if handled carefully. Personally though, I just really want to see a Cable and Deadpool vs. Apocalypse movie. Of course, I’m sure they’d horribly screw up all the characters. Just look at how badly they handled Deadpool in the Wolverine Origins movie (though thankfully there’s talk about a reboot on him too). ---
**Author:** ![G0sp3l](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c68b51/32.png) [@G0sp3l](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G0sp3l)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-days-of-future-past/630531/24 "2012-08-07T02:12:18Z")
I can’t see how this can be a success. “Days of Future Past” basically became the X-bible. Everything X-related for ~20 years was touched by it. Either leading to it or trying to prevent it. The fanboys (including myself) will probably torch it no matter what. I don’t think XMFC was any great shakes either. I don’t think any of the X-movies touched on what made the characters themselves. To much focus on the powers, not enough on the persons (my opinion, I know a lot of people would think the opposite). I did like the first X-Men birth of Magneto though. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 6:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-days-of-future-past/630531/25 "2012-08-07T06:20:18Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Keep in mind that the majority of the movie viewers haven’t read the comic books. They only know the Sentinels from what they’ve seen on screen. …not to be short but.. So? Why are the Sentinels any different than any other movie antagonist or villain? I don’t see any possible reason why DoFP as the skeleton plot can’t work within the frame work of the First Class continuity. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-days-of-future-past/630531/26 "2012-08-07T06:31:18Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > …not to be short but.. So? > > Why are the Sentinels any different than any other movie antagonist or villain? > > I don’t see any possible reason why DoFP as the skeleton plot can’t work within the frame work of the First Class continuity. Because the point of _Days of Future Past_ is that it shows an alternative future where the Sentinels are triumphant. This isn’t going to mean a lot if people don’t know who the Sentinels are. People who didn’t experience the original war aren’t going to connect with the outcome of that war. It would be like trying to sell a SF story about “What if China had won World War III?” ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-days-of-future-past/630531/27 "2012-08-07T07:15:04Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Because the point of _Days of Future Past_ is that it shows an alternative future where the Sentinels are triumphant. This isn’t going to mean a lot if people don’t know who the Sentinels are. People who didn’t experience the original war aren’t going to connect with the outcome of that war. It would be like trying to sell a SF story about “What if China had won World War III?” …That’s shockingly narrow view. It’s not really"What if the Sentinels won" It’s what if the X-men lose. It’s like arguing that the original Terminator movie doesn’t work because we didnt get a movie just about Skynet first. ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 7:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-days-of-future-past/630531/28 "2012-08-07T07:15:20Z")
Bah. It’s a comic book movie. Give us some mutants we recognize, some baddies for them to fight, some stunning visuals, some 'splosions, some easter eggs for those that read the comics, and call it a day. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 8:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-days-of-future-past/630531/29 "2012-08-07T08:02:14Z")
> [@Push\_You\_Down](#): > > …That’s shockingly narrow view. It’s not really"What if the Sentinels won" It’s what if the X-men lose. > > It’s like arguing that the original Terminator movie doesn’t work because we didnt get a movie just about Skynet first. You’re missing the point. The plot of DoFP is _“What if the X-Men had lost the war?”_ And the audience will be wondering _“What war are they talking about? The X-Men never fought a war with giant robots.”_ You don’t introduce the alternate reality before you’ve introduced the original reality. ---
**Author:** ![Jragon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19b73/32.png) [@Jragon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jragon)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-days-of-future-past/630531/30 "2012-08-07T09:36:48Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You’re missing the point. The plot of DoFP is _“What if the X-Men had lost the war?”_ And the audience will be wondering _“What war are they talking about? The X-Men never fought a war with giant robots.”_ > > You don’t introduce the alternate reality before you’ve introduced the original reality. Sure you do, you just say that that’s the original reality and then make the plot the effort to change it to a better one, like the Android/Cell saga in Dragonball Z (sorry for the many of you who have no idea what I’m talking about, it was the best example I could come up with). It doesn’t **need** to be an alternate history. ---
**Author:** ![Bozuit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/edb3f5/32.png) [@Bozuit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bozuit)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 11:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-days-of-future-past/630531/31 "2012-08-07T11:32:54Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You’re missing the point. The plot of DoFP is _“What if the X-Men had lost the war?”_ And the audience will be wondering _“What war are they talking about? The X-Men never fought a war with giant robots.”_ > > You don’t introduce the alternate reality before you’ve introduced the original reality. Just start the film with Xavier being all “Hey remember when we fought that war with the giant robots? I’m glad we didn’t lose that one, eh Hank?” “Oh yeah, according to these calculations I just did, it would really suck if that changed somehow.” Either that or just do the usual 5 minutes of showing the war at the beginning of the film. ---
**Author:** ![Bakhesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Bakhesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bakhesh)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-days-of-future-past/630531/32 "2012-08-07T11:50:46Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Or are you saying there were plot holes within _First Class_? If so, you’re probably right (most action movies have plot holes) but I don’t recall any particularly glaring ones. The one that sticks in my head is that Xavier made his team wear the x-suits at the end, because “As none of mutated to endure extreme G-force or being riddled by bullets, I suggest we suit up.”, only to be shot through the suit half an hour later. There was a link posted on the other XMFC thread that lists a number of faults in the movie ([http://jabcatmovies.com/2011/06/why-x-men-first-class-sucks/](http://jabcatmovies.com/2011/06/why-x-men-first-class-sucks/)). I don’t agree with all of them, but it does raise some very good points. Things like this are very annoying, as they could have been easily fixed in a quick script rewrite. Unfortunately, Fox was in too much of a hurry to make a quick x-buck, and didn’t bother. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-days-of-future-past/630531/33 "2012-08-07T12:48:43Z")
> [@Bakhesh](#): > > The one that sticks in my head is that Xavier made his team wear the x-suits at the end, because “As none of mutated to endure extreme G-force or being riddled by bullets, I suggest we suit up.”, only to be shot through the suit half an hour later. I’m okay with that one: Hank made the outfits, but his teammates discover 'em – and Xavier makes his suggestion – when Hank is nowhere to be found. (For all we know, Hank would’ve promptly corrected Xavier with a quick _“What? No, they’re not bulletproof; they’re just flame-retardant and insulated against electricity, is all.”_) ---
**Author:** ![Bakhesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Bakhesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bakhesh)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-days-of-future-past/630531/34 "2012-08-07T12:57:56Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > I’m okay with that one: Hank made the outfits, but his teammates discover 'em – and Xavier makes his suggestion – when Hank is nowhere to be found. (For all we know, Hank would’ve promptly corrected Xavier with a quick _“What? No, they’re not bulletproof; they’re just flame-retardant and insulated against electricity, is all.”_) You can fanwank pretty much anything away, but the point is, if Fox had actually taken a bit of care with the script, you wouldn’t have to. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-days-of-future-past/630531/35 "2012-08-07T13:20:29Z")
> [@Bakhesh](#): > > You can fanwank pretty much anything away, but the point is, if Fox had actually taken a bit of care with the script, you wouldn’t have to. Well, sure – but _“he was wrong about something he had no way of knowing”_ doesn’t strike me as needing much of a fanwank in the first place. Xavier repeatedly gets stuff wrong during the movie, because he mouths off about a bunch of things he had no way of knowing; no further explanation is given, and IMHO none is needed. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [August 7, 2012, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-days-of-future-past/630531/36 "2012-08-07T16:29:55Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You’re missing the point. The plot of DoFP is _“What if the X-Men had lost the war?”_ And the audience will be wondering _“What war are they talking about? The X-Men never fought a war with giant robots.”_ > > You don’t introduce the alternate reality before you’ve introduced the original reality. …This is starting to get just bizarre. You should stop looking at it as an alternate reality story-- It’s a time-travel story. I don’t know why you can’t accept that. It only becomes an alternate reality story at the end and only if we follow Kitty back and see that nothing has changed in her timeline. Also… the diverging point in the timeline isn’t the X-men losing the war with the giant robots. It’s the X-men losing the war against bigotry and hatred (by allowing Kelly to get assassinated). The Sentinels are just the tool of oppression. You could COMPLETELY excise the sentinels from the story and replace them with well-armed humans and it changes NOTHING. In fact it makes it less a Terminator rip-off if you do. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/x-men-days-of-future-past/630531.md?page=1)