After X-Men: The Last Stand, the much beloved X-franchise was in doubt. Not that Fox would just stop making X-Men movies, that’d be silly, but more on the side of making them good once again. Enter director Matthew Vaughn and producers Bryan Singer and Lauren Shuler Donner, and eventually Simon Kinsberg.
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Singer and Kinsberg were no strangers to the X-movies, but it was this combination that helped jumpstart the franchise with a set of planned prequels, starting with X-Men: First Class. Set in the 1960’s, also around the same time that the actually X-Men comic was first published, it told the story of the origin of Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr’s friendship, as well as their parting of ways.
It was a success, which led to 2014’s Days of Future Past, this time set in the 70’s and involves Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine traveling back in time to help a disenfranchised Xavier find his way, well as stop Mystique from assassinating Boliver Trask. Again, it was a hit and is considered the best X-movie ever made.
Which leads us to next summer’s X-Men: Apocalypse that will retire the “First Class” cast, as well as Kinsberg stepping away from the franchise. The trailer was released this morning to the usual mixed response, but how does Apocalypse‘s trailer compare to the previous two? Today we’re going to rank the first trailers and the impressions they left on fans.
#3 X-Men: Apocalypse
As a first trailer, it doesn’t leave a lot to the imagination.
We see the main villain and yet another bridge get destroyed in an X-Men movie. It’s not saying that’s this doesn’t give a first impression, but not a strong one. The drama that we’ve seen before seems evaporated here, and doesn’t make you wonder what comes next because we’re being shown it right now. We get the set up and some of Apocalypse showcasing his powers, but his reveal doesn’t have any sort of dramatic flair.
It certainly has its cool moments, and we can stop with the Ivan Ooze comparisons with Oscar Isaac’s Apocalypse looking utterly spot-on to his comic book counterpart. However, we’ve seen the big reveal, and less could have been more this time around.
#2 X-Men: First Class
Starting over can be a tricky roll of the dice. It’s happened with franchises before, sure, but Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan had personified Professor X and Magneto for a decade when X-Men: First Class came out.
Casting relative unknowns and neither had headlined a movie before, fans were unsure of what to expect from this new X-Men look. Based loosely off of the X-Men: First Class graphic novel, it showed the origins of Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr in a new light.
Using an assortment of B and C-List X-Men (aside from Beast) also had fans worried on how this movie would work. X-Men: First Class was a fresh revival of the series, but the initial trailer worked for numerous reasons. One being to show off how powerful Magneto could truly be. The shot of Erik lifting the submarine out of the water is truly amazing, especially if you parallel that with shots of him using his powers…not in the most civil of ways.
You get the sense that these men were friends at one point and the line from Erik stating how “Peace was never an option” is pure Magneto. Also, the fact that you don’t see the team’s main opposition, but more of the time setting and how we see this is actually a fresh start to the franchise says more than anything else.
#1: X-Men: Days of Future Past
How could anything else be in the top slot here?
The right mixture of melodrama with a plethora of mutants making their first (and last appearances) in the franchise, alongside Hans Zimmer’s haunting theme from The Thin Red Line is, in a word, uncanny.
The plot is laid out for us, but there’s still elements of mystery to be discovered. How can Logan go back in time? Why has Charles lost hope? What’s the state of Erik and Raven’s alliance? Nothing was revealed, but so much was shown right away and left us wanting to know more. It’s a perfect example of giving your audience what they want, but still leaving room for things to show when you’re actually watching the movie.
