When we’re at an event like Comic-Con, there isn’t always time to post a complete news story on every single thing you see or encounter. That’s one reason it’s good to also follow my Twitter feed during an event like that. For example, at one point, I was on my way to the main convention center and passed the spot where 20th Century Fox had a Sentinel head on display, and I snapped a quick picture of it and sent it out.
Almost immediately, I started getting asked questions about scale, which is fair. I didn’t have anything else in the shot to give you an idea of how big the head was. I got a real sense of excitement from many of you about the idea of finally seeing Sentinels in the “X-Men” films. I agree. I know that when I first fell in love with the X-Men titles in print, part of what fascinated me was the image of these giant mutant-killing robots that were deployed by the government.
One of the guys who appeared on the “X-Men: Days Of Future Past” panel was Hutch Parker, one of the producers on the film. During Tom Rothman’s time at the studio, Parker was one of the executives who worked closely with him, which makes me wonder how a conversation between the two of them would go today. Rothman, keep in mind, was the studio head who said “No ‘X-Men’ movie is ever going to feature stupid giant robots as long as I’m running Fox,” and now we’ve reached a moment where not only are there giant robots, but Bryan Singer, who Rothman felt betrayed the studio and the franchise, is the one who is responsible for finally introducing them.
Today, Singer released an image via his Twitter feed that answers the questions about scale completely, but now begins the debate about the way the Sentinels have been designed.
Here’s an image of the classic design of the Sentinels as they’ve appeared in the X-Men comics over the years:
And now here’s the image that Bryan released today:
I think the ultimate test is going to be seeing how they work onscreen and how that design pays off in functional ways. They need to be terrifying, and we need to believe that these things could conceivably destroy every mutant on the planet.
I honestly think the future of Fox’s franchise depends on “X-Men: Days Of Future Past.” I don’t think there’s been a film as important to the overall series since the first one. Fox is feeling some goodwill right now thanks to Matthew Vaughn’s “X-Men: First Class” and James Mangold’s “The Wolverine,” and I pray that this next film more than delivers on the promise of those last two movies.
One thing’s sure: they’re throwing a lot at this movie. Let’s see how it all pays off.
“X-Men: Days Of Future Past” will be in theaters May 23, 2014.