A new bit of viral marketing for the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past hints at a very different world from the one we know. In the universe created for the films mutants have been publicly active since at least the 1960s, and that detail changed the course of history.
The website 25moments.com breaks down some of the key moments in mutant and human history. It begins with the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962 (seen in X-Men: First Class), and concludes with the rise of the first militant mutant resistance movement, founded in 2018 by X-Men member Bishop. The steps in between highlight where things went off the rails and explain how mutants became an endangered species.
Although Days of Future Past has yet to hit theaters, attention is already beginning to shift to the next film in the series, which director Bryan Singer has already dubbed X-Men Apocalypse. The follow up is scheduled to be released on May 27, 2016, and Singer recently confirmed that at least four of the major actors are on board thanks to contracts signed for First Class: James McAvoy (Charles Xavier), Michael Fassbender (Magneto), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), and Nicholas Hoult (Beast).
The director went on to say that he’s interested in bringing in more mutants for the sequel, including Gambit and Nightcrawler. Both characters appeared in previous X-Men films – Taylor Kitsch played Gambit in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, while Alan Cumming played Nightcrawler in X2: X-Men United. Singer didn’t say if the production would look to bring back those actors or recast.
Check out the video below for a quick peek at the 25 mutant-fueled moments that changed the world. There are some very minor spoilers, but nothing the studio hasn’t already shown off in trailers.