#x men films

[velvet4510]

A Very-Long Untangling Analysis of the Fox X-Men Continuity

Here’s my attempt at making sense of it all. All of my thoughts and ideas about continuity discrepancies and time travel piled up in one big info dump.

Please bear in mind that this interpretation is heavily biased in favor of the Days of Future Past Rogue Cut and against Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix, which hopefully won’t cause too much upset.

It also mentions Cherik as if it’s official canon because duh.

It also will cite links to various other posts I’ve made in the past which support my claims.

It also is gonna get long. Very long. Very very very very long. So proceed at your own risk.

So here’s my thesis:

The series depicts 8 separate timelines within 3 different universes.

UNIVERSE 1

Timeline 1: First Class (Charles & Erik are lovers in 1962; Moira recalls some events) ➡️ Origins: Wolverine ➡️ X-Men ➡️ X2 ➡️ The Last Stand ➡️ The Wolverine ➡️ Days of Future Past Rogue Cut dark future

Timeline 2 (divergence of Timeline 1): First Class (Charles & Erik are lovers in 1962; Moira recalls some events) ➡️ Days of Future Past Rogue Cut 1973 events ➡️ Erik remains true to himself in the aftermath ➡️ Days of Future Past new 2023 with history-teacher Logan

UNIVERSE 2

Timeline 3: Events similar to the OG trilogy ➡️ Deadpool ➡️ Deadpool 2 Original Events (Russell becomes a killer) ➡️ Logan ➡️ The New Mutants ➡️ Cable’s family dies ➡️ Laura gets pruned

Timeline 4 (divergence of Timeline 3): Deadpool ➡️ Deadpool 2 main events (Cable time-travels, Vanessa dies, Wade stops Russell and dies)

Timeline 5 (divergence of Timeline 4): Deadpool ➡️ Deadpool 2 climactic time-travel (Cable saves Wade)

Timeline 6 (divergence of Timeline 3): Deadpool ➡️ Deadpool 2 post-credits scene (Wade saves Vanessa) ➡️ Deadpool & Wolverine

UNIVERSE 3

Timeline 7: First Class (Charles & Erik remain just friends; Moira recalls nothing) ➡️ Events similar to OG trilogy ➡️ DOFP Theatrical Cut dark future

Timeline 8 (divergence of Timeline 7): First Class (Charles & Erik remain just friends; Moira recalls nothing) ➡️ DOFP Theatrical Cut 1973 events ➡️ Erik betrays his values and settles down with Magda ➡️ Apocalypse (part or all dream) ➡️ Dark Phoenix (dream)

Now I will elaborate.

TIMELINES VS UNIVERSES

First off, “timelines” and “universes” are confusing terms in Marvel. Some say they’re the same thing, others say they’re separate things. But I believe the ultimate answer to this question can be found in What If…? Season 1 Episode 4, in which the Ancient One creates a split that forms two timelines (and thus two variants of Dr. Strange) in one universe. Since this is canonically possible, I think it explains many of the X-Men series’ discrepancies.

THEY CANNOT ALL BE IN 1 UNIVERSE

Secondly, I’m sorry to Deadpool & Wolverine, but there is absolutely no way that every film in the Fox series takes place in the same universe. There are way too many inconsistencies for that to be possible. I know such a notion takes away a bit from the impact of Wade and Logan’s efforts to save that universe, and Logan replacing the anchor being, but still. It just doesn’t add up. The film’s events are direct follow-ups to DP 1 and 2, and to Logan. Wade’s universe is dying because of Logan’s death in Logan. OK, so those 4 films happen in the same universe for sure. But none of the other films do.

DIFFERENT TIME TRAVEL RULES

One major reason there are multiple universes at play here is that the series depicts two different kinds of time travel that have two different repercussions:

Kitty Pryde’s consciousness projection, which rewrites history

Cable’s device, which causes timeline branching and universe-hopping (just like MCU quantum time travel)

So Logan’s time travel in DOFP overwrote/erased his original timeline (the events of Origins, the OG trilogy, and The Wolverine) … whereas Cable’s time travel in DP 2 split his universe into multiple timelines. (This is proven by the fact that even though Wade lives in a timeline where Vanessa is alive in DP&W, the universe is still dying because of the events of Logan. So none of Cable’s time traveling in DP 2 overwrote/erased Logan.)

These are two different rules of time travel, which makes it all the more likely that they happen in different universes.

Therefore, any universe in which Logan time-traveled to stop the Sentinels is NOT the same universe as the DP/Logan universe.

OTHER CONTINUITY ISSUES

Wade is in his 30s in Origins, which is set in 1979 … and Wade is in his 30s in the DP films, which is set in the 2010s.

Warren Worthington III is 12 years old in 1996 at the beginning of The Last Stand and a young adult during the main events in the 2000s … and he is a young adult in 1983 in Apocalypse.

Colossus has an American accent in the OG trilogy and a Russian accent in the DP films.

Mutant children are seen thriving in 2023 at the end of DOFP, whereas in the world of Logan, mutants stopped being born in 2004.

Which brings me to one of my most major arguments here:

THE CONSEQUENCES OF LOGAN’S TIME TRAVEL

Logan’s time-travel in DOFP only changed history starting in 1973; everything that came before 1973 stayed exactly the same in that universe. So we cannot possibly say that DOFP caused Wade to be born decades later or Warren to be born decades earlier in its new timeline. That is impossible.

Also, the children at the end of DOFP are irrefutable proof that Logan did not wake up in a world where mutants have been dying out since 2004 and where he and Charles are destined to be killed by X-24. That is impossible.

Therefore, neither Apocalypse nor the DP films nor Logan can possibly take place in Universe 1 (the same universe as the OG trilogy or Origins).

WHAT ABOUT THE DISCREPANCIES IN FIRST CLASS?

DOFP firmly establishes that despite the continuity errors, First Class is absolutely a prequel to the OG trilogy and occurs in the same universe. In this post, I lay out in detail how the few plot holes between these films may be logically explained.

THE X-MEN’S CAMEO IN DEADPOOL 2

All I can say is this is obviously a meta joke created in Wade’s head for the audience. In no possible version of events do the ages of the X-Men in their brief cameo in this movie make any sense.

UNIVERSE 1 vs. UNIVERSE 2

Ok, so now we’ve firmly established that:

Universe 1 consists only of FC, Origins, the OG trilogy, Wolverine, and DOFP. Its history is fully rewritten starting in 1973, so in both versions of history, Wade Wilson is always born in the 1940s and thus in his 30s in 1979 … and Warren Worthington III is always born in the 1980s and thus a child in the 90s and adult in the 2000s. Colossus emigrates from Russia to the U.S. at an early age and grows up with an American accent.

Universe 2 consists only of DP 1, DP 2, Logan, and DP&W. There was no time-travel in this world, and yet no Sentinels were created. Instead, Transigen put mutation-killing poisoning in food, which drove mutants to near-extinction by 2029. This makes 14-year-old Russell in DP 2 one of the last mutants to be born before the poisoning took effect. Cable’s and Wade’s time-traveling created multiple branches, but they all coexist in this universe. Wade Wilson was born in the 1970s, and thus he’s a thirty-something in the 2010s. Colossus grew up in Russia and thus maintained a Russian accent. After escaping the Void, Laura relocated from her original timeline (Timeline 3) to Timeline 6, while staying in the same universe.

THE DIFFERENT CUTS OF DAYS OF FUTURE PAST

But wait, you may say. DOFP and Apocalypse also must exist in the same universe since Apocalypse is a direct sequel to the 1973 events of DOFP. So doesn’t Apocalypse have to happen in Universe 1, as well?

Well, here’s the explanation for that:

Consider the existence of two different cuts of DOFP: the theatrical cut and the Rogue Cut.

Also consider the alternate ending filmed for DOFP, in which Logan is pulled from the river in 1973 by the real Stryker, a perfect lead-in to him being Weapon X in Apocalypse … whereas the actual DOFP ending shows Raven rescuing him that day, which changed his fate and kept him out of Stryker’s hands.

If you go beyond the meta and think about the multiverse, it becomes extremely plausible to assume that there was more than one universe in which Logan time-traveled via Kitty to stop the Sentinels.

In one of these universes (which I’ve labeled Universe 1 out of my preference for the Rogue Cut), within the dark future, Kitty’s wounds forced Erik, Charles, and Bobby to rescue Rogue to replace her, Bobby was killed, the mansion was blown up, Rogue took over Kitty’s job, and Kitty pulled Erik through the wall back into the temple when the Sentinels attacked him. Meanwhile in the past, Raven chose to stop by the mansion, steal a moment with Hank, and break Cerebro on her way to DC. After DC, she went undercover as Stryker, rescued Logan from the river, and most likely sent him to safety at the mansion with Charles and Hank.

In the other universe (which I’ve labeled Universe 3), Kitty kept Logan in the past through to the end, Bobby stayed and died in the temple, and Blink sent Erik back into the temple with a portal. Meanwhile in the past, Raven flew directly from Paris to DC and Charles used Cerebro to deduce her destination. After DC, Raven went her own way, and Stryker himself pulled Logan from the river and turned him into Weapon X.

APOCALYPSE AND DARK PHOENIX AS MERE BAD DREAMS

Now you’ll also notice I wrote the word “dream” next to Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix in my outline of Universe 3. And here’s where the bias comes in. Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix make so little sense that, as I also mentioned in this post, I declare they are no more than bad dreams in Erik’s and Charles’ heads at some point after 1973 in Universe 3.

Dark Phoenix in particular, just unfolds like a dream. None of the characters’ actions make any logical sense based on what we know about them. It all just feels like Charles’ worst nightmare of being suddenly abandoned and betrayed by everyone he loves, via either death or rejection … because IT IS.

Apocalypse is more complicated. It’s not as bad as Dark Phoenix but it’s also pretty darn stupid in many ways.

I laid out in great detail in this post why Erik’s family plotline makes zero sense for his character, Cherik or no Cherik. This is why I wrote that in Universe 1, Erik “remains true to himself in the aftermath of DOFP.” This fic and this fic and this fic (none of which are mine) are examples of in-character behavior for Erik which I imagine resemble his post-DOFP actions in that reality.

I also feel it doesn’t make any sense that Peter isn’t already a student at the school in 1983. There’s literally no reason why Charles wouldn’t have sought him out as his first student when he reopened the school in 1973, after the events of DOFP. It’s totally implausible that it would take 10 years for Peter to get involved with the X-Men again.

The abomination that is the fridging of Magda and Nina speaks for itself.

The abomination that is Peter not telling Erik they’re related at the most opportune moment also speaks for itself.

So this movie might be entirely a dream as well; I’d be fine with that.

APOCALYPSE AS PARTIALLY A DREAM

However, I included Apocalypse in Universe 3 as possibly “part dream” for a few reasons.

Despite the film’s stupidity, I expressed in this post the missed opportunity that is Nina Gurzsky. And in this post and this post, I expressed my fondness for a version of events where Nina survived and grew up thriving at the school with her siblings. Nina’s very existence stems from Erik behaving totally OOC after DOFP … and yet I can’t help but love her as her own character. If the writers were gonna make Erik behave in an OOC way for her to exist, then they should’ve gone all the way in letting her actually be a damn character.

I also expressed in this post how Erik settling down with someone who isn’t Charles makes very little sense if they got together during First Class. It could be somewhat more plausible if this is a version of events where they did NOT get together then.

I also mentioned in this post the inconsistency of Moira’s memories at the end of First Class and in Apocalypse. This could only be fixed by there being two different versions of events: one where Charles only erased some of her memories, and one where he erased all of them.

Which is why I labeled Universe 3 as containing “First Class (Charles & Erik remain just friends; Moira recalls nothing)” and “Erik betrays his values and settles down with Magda.”

It also could be that in Universe 3, the deleted scenes between Charles and Moira in First Class canonically happened, thus explaining his fixation on her in Apocalypse. In 1962, Charles & Erik remained on a river in Egypt, and Charles was with Moira. Thus in the 1970s, Erik finds himself capable of settling down with a random woman (even though my other reasons for this making no sense still stand, but for the sake of allowing for a world where Nina lives, I’ll let it go just for that).

NINA’S “DEATH”

Therefore, it’s somewhat possible that in Universe 3, the first third of Apocalypse is real, leading up to the moment Erik agrees to surrender himself to the Polish police.

From Nina’s death onward, the rest of the film is a nightmare of Erik’s, in which his mind envisions that he lost his beloved daughter that day and then was coerced by En Sabah Nur into becoming a mass murderer and hurting Charles and he never learned the truth about Peter.

If you think about it, Nina’s death scene in the film actually plays out like a nightmare would. Notice how even though she’s crying and screaming for her dad, she doesn’t move. She doesn’t struggle to pull away from her mom and run toward her dad. When her mom kneels in front of her, she doesn’t resist. No 8-year-old kid would be standing totally still in this situation, without flinching. Also Erik doesn’t make any more efforts to comfort her as she’s crying. He just silently stares at her, watching her scream, then silently stares at the attacking birds. Nor does Magda do anything effective; her words translate to “stop, Nina, stop!” No “we’ll be ok,” “he’s not gonna get hurt,” nothing that would actually calm Nina down. Then of course, the arrow hitting TWO people when the dude ISN’T EVEN LOOKING defies all logic and all reality. The whole thing only makes sense as Erik’s nightmare. We’ve all had those bad dreams where we want to move but we can’t, we’re frozen and unable to do what we want to do as something scary is coming at us. That’s exactly how Erik, Magda, and Nina all behave in this scene.

In reality, when Erik gave himself up in Universe 3, basically, the events of this fic unfolded. This isn’t my own fic, all credit belongs to its author WaxRhapsodic, but it is so unbelievably great that I declare it’s what really happened in this world.

To summarize, Nina was injured but not killed by the arrow that killed Magda, then Erik & Nina moved to the mansion where Peter saved them along with the others from the explosion, Erik joined the mission to rescue Charles, Colossus became the fourth Horseman instead before defecting to the X-Men, En Sabah Nur was killed, Charles’ spine was healed and his powers expanded by his meld with En Sabah Nur, Erik & Nina learned of Peter and Wanda and Lorna’s connections to them, Raven & Kurt learned of their own relationship, Erik & Charles realized for the first time that they were in love, destroying Moira’s chances with Charles, and their enhanced mental bond created David as their son, with Wanda magically creating a body for David.

THE OG TRILOGY AND LOGAN

Lastly, you may notice I also put “events similar to the OG trilogy” in my outline of Universe 2. Why did I do this?

There are many hints in Logan that something similar to the OG trilogy happened in that world.

Charles references the Statue of Liberty incident from X-Men 1, which never happened in a world where Logan time-traveled.

In a deleted scene, Charles claims Logan was married to Jean before he killed her. This could be true or it could be Charles’ confusion in his dementia.

Jean’s absence from the story is glaring: considering her power level, it is quite unlikely that Charles could’ve killed her in the Westchester Incident.

Thus, in this world, the events of the OG trilogy including The Last Stand must have happened. But instead of Sentinels, humans weaponized the anti-mutant food poisoning to wipe out mutants once the cure proved to be a failure. So by the time of the Westchester Incident, Jean was already dead.

This explains Charles’ condition in Logan. His disease is not the result of mere old age. It is a result of 3 things:

The impact of the food poisoning on his mutation as well as his overall health.

His mind struggling to remain in harmony with his twin brother’s body which he inhabited in the post-credits scene of The Last Stand after the Phoenix destroyed his original body. (In Universe 1, the Sentinel apocalypse unfolded before the negative longterm side effects of his consciousness transference could take hold.)

Erik’s absence, which can only be explained by his death prior to the film’s events. In this post and this post, I theorize in more depth that his sudden death was the final straw for Charles’ mental health that triggered the Westchester Incident.

[lolbutjustabit]

why he "💭🏳️‍🌈🚫"

original:

[transmothofaman]

“I really like that one (romantic) movie from 2011 that James McAvoy was in where he mostly just pines for his red-themed counterpart throughout the movie while said love interest is destined to be on the other side of the growing conflict going on that is bigger than the two of them” my guy WHICH ONE?!

[giadin-a]

They robbed me. (I just found out about a deleted scene in 'X-Men Days of Future Past')

[platossoulmates]

one thing i see often about movie cherik specifically is people assuming erik is staunchly anti-telepathy but this is simply not true. there are multiple times when erik tells charles to stay out of his head, yes, but these are all moments when he is exceptionally angry. we know erik likes that charles thinks there’s good in him, and we also know he disagrees. he tells charles to stay out when he believes his anger will make charles see his true nature.

but there are also moments where he welcomes charles inside his mind. when they train in first class, charles asks “may i” and wiggles his fingers, and erik agrees without hesitation despite having no idea what charles plans to do. he trusts him. multiple times throughout the prequel movies, when he is without his helmet, he brings up the fact that charles could make him do whatever he wishes. he is joking, but the fact that he can joke about it at all shows just how deeply he trusts him. he never shows disgust or mistrust towards charles ability- in fact his whole fight is that no one should have to hide their mutation

even when he puts the helmet on the first time, he says “sorry charles, it’s not that i don’t trust you” he simply knows that he is disappointing him- knows that without the helmet, charles would be able to stop him, but also knows he wouldn’t, and is therefore saving them both from the what ifs when he chooses to wear it

tldr; erik never actually had a problem with charles inside his head! and it drives me crazy when that’s the whole basis of fics even though erik trusts charles more than he has ever trusted anyone else from the very moment they meet

[lavender-twilight23]

Emma: “you’re never gonna get anything from me while I’m like this.”

Charles: *IMMEDIATELY terrified of what Erik’s gonna do* “oh god pls don’t kill her, my extremely volatile husband”

CHARLES’ LITTLE SIDELONG GLANCE KILLS ME 😂😂😂😂 he’s read Erik’s mind, he KNOWS how potent and dangerous Erik’s rage is. You can practically hear the “ERIK NO” in his head.

(Also, those fingerless gloves?? 😍)

And then Erik’s over here like:

*plotting immediate murder*

*or at the very least formulating a plan to gravely injure*

I CANT WITH THEM 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 (omg why am I cackling with laughter at my own gif captions- is that weird??)

​Calling attention to my fav details in the xmen films through gifs is now my favorite pastime. Expect lots more gifs soon 😂😂 I have IDEAS

And I love to point out fav details and call attention to them so other people can enjoy and appreciate them, or see them for the first time like other people have done for me 😝

All gifs made by me in Canva! 🎬

[spicyboelives]

Top ten guy that i'll defend with my life.

Again, this art is older and my anatomy/proportions arnt up to par - but i liked the linework and details in his armor so, here he is!

[zombie-vulture]

Something I don’t think gets talked about enough in the x-men movies is how Erik, in first class had to learn to separate his powers and his emotions, learning to be in between rage and serenity. While Charles in DoFP had to learn to feel his pain to make him stronger and re master his powers.

While their powers are so different, the way they learn to be in complete control of them are reflections of each other. Just like their life experiences and how they were raised.

[marvelsgirl616]

daredevil (2003) // x-men: last stand (2006)

daredevil (2003) // x-men (2000)

-> yes, daredevil (2003) is cringe but it is MY comfort cringe movie <3 || anyways, i love these silly boys in their very early 2000's red sunglasses. (and jen g. is mother. )

[darylsfavoritegirl]

imagining a fem!reader who had met Erik at some point of her life, maybe during the holocoust and she was someone that scientists experiemented on, she was one of shaw's pupils. though most experiements failed, leaving herself damaged than ever on top of being looked down on as a "malfunction"

after the world war II, your path crossed with Erik and from that on your paths kept crossing with one another.

him leaving for the united states was you didn't know, you weren't informed. he didn't see you fit to let you know.

but somehow charles had pegged you for someone who was a mutant. you asked yourself if it could be.

your relationship would start off quickly. there wouldn't be any "what are we?"s or "are we dating?"s. you just happened to find yourself straddled on his laps, his eyes roaming and savoring every inch of you.

that was his thing: worshipping your body. you could never get the words out of his mouth but his eyes would take care of that.

you'd find yourself on his lap quite frequently. it was the early days of division x, while everybody was still figuring things out, everyone was still distressed.

you knew the moments his mind calmed was when he played chess and when he'd have you sit on his lap, on his bed on late nights.

you'd play with his hair with your fingertips, trace his face. his eyes would be locked on your face, being at awe. you could feel his tenses loosing up during these times, his jaw becoming more and more slacked, his eyes becoming more and more droppy. his grip on your waist loosening and tighening now and then.

god did he love your waist. he was a bigger person than you, his hand was bigger than your waist. he loved to lift you up like a kid, he'd lift you up and sit you down on the countertop, he'd carry you to his bed.

whenever you'd be out with the others to have dinner, he'd make sure you were always besides him, his hand resting on your hips the entire night. his fixed gazes to the staff in division x were spine-chilling. yet that didn't take away them shamelessly flirting with you.

a part of you knew the reason why he got this intimate with you was because you were a part of his life before all this. a casuality, something that comes normal and natural to him.

your immune system was the worst. after being experiemented on for years for no good, your body had given up to make you feel better, even the faintest. he could never bring himself to talk about it directly, you couldn't blame him, he had wounds that were yet to heal but he'd make sure to make you feel good about yourself by saying vague things, reading what could be considered "inspirational" quotes from his favorite books to convey a message to you in an undertone.

[chrirgn]

"mb I fucked your professor”

[velvet4510]

It’s actually so significant that Charles is introduced in First Class as a guy who uses his thesis as a pick-up line and seeks out girls with some kind of mutation.

It’s clearly indicating that Charles is trying to find a fellow mutant to connect with romantically. Raven’s off the table, since she’s his sister. But he wants to find and build a romantic bond with someone who has a mutation, who is different like he is, and he’s resigned to searching for things like heterochromia and auburn hair because he doesn’t know for sure if there really are more full mutants out there with actual superpowers.

Literally the only reason he starts flirting with Moira is that she has auburn hair, i.e. a mutation.

Then he meets Erik and all the flirtation with random heterochromia women and with auburn-haired Moira stops. Because Erik is what he’s been looking for.

Charles’ entire setup as a character in that film is constructed in a way that the only resolution that makes any sense is him finally finding a real mutant to connect with romantically. And who does he find? Erik Lehnsherr.

[lolbutjustabit]

shh theyre bonding

[moodboards-aesthetics]

James Logan Howlett aka Wolverine

[phantomhivestims]

⊱ ─────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

Charles Xavier Stimboard

Req by me

Note ; hes so silly I just wanna bite his face

♟️-📚-♟️

🦉-📜-🦉

♟️-📚-♟️

⊱ ─────── {.⋅ ♫ ⋅.} ────── ⊰

[platossoulmates]

they worked it out on the remix (in their conjoined bedrooms)