The first trailer for Bryan Singer’s much-anticipated follow-up to X-Men: Days of Future Past – X-Men: Apocalypse – has arrived! And…well, it looks pretty good, I suppose. X-Men has never been my favourite movie series, but considering it’s only had a handful of missteps, and its success is responsible for the Marvel Cinematic Universe, I’d say that it’s done well for it in the 15 years of its existence. Sheesh, has it really been that long? Anyway, looking at this trailer, one thing stands out to me, and it’s not James McAvoy’s rogue eyebrow hair in that final shot. This is shaping up to be the biggest battle that the X-Men have ever fought. They’re going up against Apocalypse, the original mutant who has every superpower, and to me, that says that this should be the last X-Men film before they try another reboot. See, X-Men: First Class was only sort of a reboot, because it then crossed over with the original Bryan Singer X-Men continuity. If they truly want us to believe that this is the ultimate battle, then they’re going to have to give it some stakes. Kill a beloved character or two, have it end on a bittersweet note (“We won, but at what cost?”), and then retire the series. Then they can pick it up again in like five or six years with a new cast. But much like the films of the MCU, the X-Men movies need to prove that there are stakes, otherwise we will cease to be thrilled when our heroes are in danger.
X-Men: Apocalypse comes out May 27, 2016.