X-Men: Apocalypse Rumors That Were 100% False

[Warning: this article contains several spoilers about X-Men: Apocalypse.Do not read on unless you’ve either seen the movie or don’t mind knowing what happens in the film.]

As soon as fans saw the post-credit scene for X-Men: Days of Future Past showing a young Apocalypse and his Horsemen, speculation began on what would happen in the next X-Men film.From surprise returns to unexpected villains, it seemed like X-Men: Apocalypse would try to cram in every single Apocalypse related character and storyline into a two hour film.Because of the nature of the Internet, dozens of rumors got passed around and reported on like they were the gospel truth, leading many fans to expect a film far different than the one they saw in theaters last weekend.Since Apocalypse is out in theaters everywhere, here’s some of the biggest rumors that turned out to be total bunk:

Villains

With a title like X-Men: Apocalypse, there weren’t too many wild rumors about whom the X-Men would fight in the film.  However, there were a couple of rumors as to whom would play Apocalypse that were totally off base. Both Tom Hardy and Idris Elba were rumored to play Apocalypse before producers announced that Oscar Isaac had been cast as the ancient supervillain.  There was also speculation who or what Apocalypse’s Four Horsemen would be.  Although fans presumed that Archangel would become one of Apocalypse’s Horsemen, many guessed that X-Men villains like Selene, Holocaust and Exodus would fill out the rest of the cast.  Some sites even reported that Wolverine would become a Horsemen, just like he briefly did in the comics.

A few sites also reported that Mister Sinister would be a major antagonist in the movie, but it turns out his existance was only teased in one of Apocalypse’s post credit scenes.

Deadpool

Due to the popularity of Deadpool, many X-Men fans thought/hoped that the Merc with a Mouth would make a cameo appearance in the movie…despite the obvious timeline/continuity problems.  Some expected Ryan Reynolds to appear as the pre-Weapon X mercenary Wade Wilson, while other sites reported that he would pop up as the deranged assassin Deadpool.  Obviously, neither turned out to be true.  For what it’s worth, we speculated that Fox might try to insert a Deadpool cameo into the movie, but admitted that it was a long shot since Apocalypse was filmed months before anyone realized how successful Deadpool would be in theaters.

The X-Men Roster

X-Men: Apocalypse introduced a “new” generation of mutants with younger versions of Cyclops, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler and Storm, but many sites reported the team would be much larger.  Some sites speculated that either Cable or Nate Grey (Cable’s alternate universe equivalent) would appear in Apocalypse, which turned out to be a load of bunk.  Other sites reported that characters from Days of Future Past like Bishop or Blink would appear, which made no sense as those characters were shown existing like 40 years after the events of Apocalypse.

Another strange set of rumors involved past cast members having cameos in the movie.  Allegedly, Patrick Stewart, Shawn Ashmore, Ian McKellen, and Halle Berry were all set to reprise their roles from past X-Men films, which again made no sense as Apocalypse didn’t involve time travel.  Channing Tatum was also supposed to debut in Apocalypse as Gambit, although Fox might have scrapped those plans after they delayed Tatum’s planned solo Gambit film.

Probably my favorite Apocalypse rumor was that Taylor Swift would cameo in Apocalypse as the mutant singer Dazzler. That rumor got started when several cast/crew members got their photos taken with Swift after a concert and pushed when Sophie Turner tweeted a photo of her character Jean Grey holding a Dazzler record.  Sadly, Taylor could not grace the X-Men franchise with her presence, which was a real shame.

Wolverine’s Role in Apocalypse

One of Apocalypse‘s more memorable moments involved a berserk Wolverine assisting Cyclops, Jean Grey and Nightcrawler free their teammates from the Weapon X facility.  While the Weapon X prison break was arguably more than just a cameo for Hugh Jackman, Wolverine’s role in Apocalypse was limited to that one scene.  However, some sites claimed that Wolverine would have a central role in Apocalypse, possibly as one of the villain’s four Horsemen.  Other sites insisted that Wolverine wouldn’t appear in Apocalypse at all, which made no sense as he’s arguably the franchise’s most popular character. 

Mystique and Nightcrawler’s Relationship

In the X-Men comics, Nightcrawler is Mystique’s biological son whom she abandoned shortly after birth due to his furry blue appearance.  However, Bryan Singer gave no indication that the characters were related in X2, even though they appeared in several scenes together.  Some rumors expected X-Men Apocalypse to give a more definitive answer as to their relationship.  One rumor claimed that Mystique would be confirmed as Kurt’s mother, while another went even further and claimed the movie would show Mystique giving birth to Nightcrawler.  Of course, given that Mystique is shown to be the same age as Xavier, it doesn’t make much sense that the character would have a teenage son in the movie continuity.  While there’s no evidence that Mystique and Nightcrawler are related in Apocalypse, she does rescue Nightcrawler from an underground fighting ring and sends him to Xavier’s, so maybe there is more to their relationship than the movie lets on.