The X-Men films were never really meant to mutate into a franchise with six films in the can, the seventh out next week, and at least two more on the way. But, they have, and like any Marvel mutant, there are a few… inconsistencies Bryan Singer is just kinda hoping you’ll ignore.
Just to give you an idea of a few of the continuity problems, some of which we noted in our X-Men timeline, here’s a quick overview of the ones we’re aware of:
- Bolivar Trask is a Black man in the 2000s and a white little person in the 1970s.
- Hank McCoy turns into Kelsey Grammer.
- Emma Frost ages backwards, being January Jones in the ’60s and a teenager in the ’70s.
- Quicksilver also becomes a teenager, although we can write that one off because speed powers are weird.
- Gambit turns into a male stripper.
- Jean Grey either ages well or did a time jump, since she and Xavier first met in pre-1962.
- Sabertooth doesn’t remember Wolverine, and also used to be Liev Schreiber.
- Mystique and Chuck used to be brother and sister.
- Come to think of it, you’d think Magneto would recognize Wolverine as well.
And the new movie will introduce even more, like the fact there are no longer any depowered mutants and Professor X is back in his old body for some reason. Bryan Singer’s response? It pretty much boils down to “Ah, the hell with it,” according to SciFiNow:
“Some things you let go,” Singer admits. “Some of these I hope the audience will forget about but for the bulk of it I pay attention to the universe.”
Honestly… yeah. One can’t really blame Singer for picking and choosing, here, though. X-Men: The Last Stand and X-Men Origins: Wolverine are hardly what you call beloved, and most people are showing up to the movie for the superhero/robot fights. Now, Mr. Singer, what about destroying all copies of those two movies, and erasing them from the minds of humanity? Workable?