X-Men: Days of Future Past (Unmarked Spoilers)

[Darmalus]

He believed a common enemy of all humanity would unite the species and usher in a new era of peace, he didn't seem to have any personal grudge against them. He gave that speech when he was analizing the spilled blood in the lab after the failed assassination.

[TheHammer]

Edit: What I mean to say is it seems like he's more temporal in this than anything. The pong machine also seems significantly sped up too.

I would tend to agree with this. I've seen the term "chronokinetic" bantered about. I believe that its explicitly stated as such in one of the comics that his powers are temporal, although granted this has likely changed over the years.

To be honest, this makes the most sense that he is able not only to push himself, but other objects (even people) into a "time bubble" which would explain why his clothes and other belongings, hell even the air around him don't seem to be adversely affected. If you think about it, if it were purely him moving fast wouldn't he experience a sonic boom every time he broke the sound barrier?

[Elheru Aran]

He believed a common enemy of all humanity would unite the species and usher in a new era of peace, he didn't seem to have any personal grudge against them. He gave that speech when he was analizing the spilled blood in the lab after the failed assassination.

Ah yeah, that does ring a bell. Must've blanked on that. Thanks.

[biostem]

I thought it odd that Trask was so interested in Mystique's abilities, yet all the time they had Magneto in custody, they didn't take all sorts of samples from him.

I'm amazed that Trask didn't try to market a lesser/closer to man-sized sentinel as a generic infantry replacement in '73.

It would have been nice to see the future mutants being a bit more effective vs the sentinels of their time. I suppose the situation wouldn't have been as dire, if they were able to do better.

Even if Magneto was able to kill Mystique, there's no guarantee that her body/cells/DNA wouldn't get into the hands of Trask, so why even pursue that course of action? Wouldn't it have been better to aid in keeping her away from him instead?

Regarding the Magneto as Quicksilver's father thing - in the context of the movie, wouldn't the two have been too close in age to actually be father & son? I mean, how old was each supposed to be, really? Magneto couldn't have been more than late 20's to mid 30's, and Quicksilver looked to be at least in his late teens - I suppose that was more due to the actors who played them vs what their supposed ages were...

I did find the rather ineffective nature of Wolverine's attacks kinda amusing.

It was odd that the serum that Xavier was taking would somehow "undo" the repairs to his spinal cord when it wore off. I suppose we could argue that the serum itself bridged the damaged area, and when the levels of it drooped too low, said bridge no longer existed...

[Coop D'etat]

He believed a common enemy of all humanity would unite the species and usher in a new era of peace, he didn't seem to have any personal grudge against them. He gave that speech when he was analizing the spilled blood in the lab after the failed assassination.

Not just that, but that mutants would inevitably result in the extinction of ordinary humans and that it was preferable to act to prepare for the fight when mutants were a tiny minority rather than later. Preventing your species extinction being such a high positive good that it justifies just about any action.

Which is a mirror of Erik's motivation after his attempt to kill Raven fails, that since her blood has fallen into the hands of the Sentinel creators just like it did in the future timeline, the only thing left to do was to precipitate a mutant/human crisis right now. This being preferable to waiting and letting humanity develop the effective response to mutants he learns happens in the future ("while we still have the upper hand").

[Elheru Aran]

I thought it odd that Trask was so interested in Mystique's abilities, yet all the time they had Magneto in custody, they didn't take all sorts of samples from him.

Trask may not have been aware that Magneto was in captivity; for all he knew, the guy went off the map after the incident in Cuba.

I'm amazed that Trask didn't try to market a lesser/closer to man-sized sentinel as a generic infantry replacement in '73.

The reason the Sentinels were the size they were may have been a lack of capability to miniaturize the engines and equipment powering them. Remember, this is still 1973... cars didn't have air conditioning as standard back then!

Regarding the Magneto as Quicksilver's father thing - in the context of the movie, wouldn't the two have been too close in age to actually be father & son? I mean, how old was each supposed to be, really? Magneto couldn't have been more than late 20's to mid 30's, and Quicksilver looked to be at least in his late teens - I suppose that was more due to the actors who played them vs what their supposed ages were...

Remember that during the Holocaust Magneto was at least a preteen, if not a young teenager, so he would have to have been born in the late 1920s or early 30s. By the 70s, he is easily in his late 40s if not early 50s. He's certainly old enough to be Quicksilver's dad. It's definitely an actor thing; Fassbender just doesn't look that old. In-universe, he's just... well preserved

[Kojiro]

I would tend to agree with this. I've seen the term "chronokinetic" bantered about. I believe that its explicitly stated as such in one of the comics that his powers are temporal, although granted this has likely changed over the years.

To be honest, this makes the most sense that he is able not only to push himself, but other objects (even people) into a "time bubble" which would explain why his clothes and other belongings, hell even the air around him don't seem to be adversely affected. If you think about it, if it were purely him moving fast wouldn't he experience a sonic boom every time he broke the sound barrier?

I'm pretty sure I read it somewhere too but movie adaptions often have slight differences from their comic origins. But it's a big difference. A guy running at 20km/h that is temporally accelerated 100x hitting you in the face will deliver the same energy as one not accelerated (hence traditional Quicksilver in the comics will punch someone dozens of times). A guy moving at 2000km/h that slams his fist into your face will leave your head (and his hand) a bloody mess.

The real question regarding Quicksilver in this movie- swept away off screen- is why they just ditched him after the break out. Aside from the fact that Magneto would probably have asked at some point 'who is your mother?' and worked out that there was at least a decent chance this was his son, the kid has just proven that he is fucking awesome for getting an individual out of a given area. If they'd sent him into the room instead of themselves he could have grabbed Mystique and dumped her- bound and gagged- somewhere near by.

I suppose you could argue that Magneto discounted that plan because he intended to kill her all along but Charles and Beast are pretty smart guys and Quickisilver's has literally just demonstrated he's well suited to a bloodless extraction which they would infinitely prefer.

Also I agree Trask's motivations seemed to be lacking. He didn't seem sinister or aggressive enough to justify his experimentation/murder of mutants but it was clearly his goal- the sentinels don't appear to come with tasers, gas or other non lethal armaments. Just a freaking minigun where a .30 cal would probably suffice.

[Darmalus]

My assumption for why they didn't bring him along is simply that they couldn't convince him to travel that far. He seems to have a fast-time bubble around him instead of super speed, so even tho a trip to Vietnam might only take 15 minutes from Wolverine's perspective, he has to deal with a year of subjective hiking across a very boring ocean. That would make long trips just as daunting for him as anyone, especially potentially dangerous ones.

[biostem]

I thought a large part of Quicksilver's abilities were a perception thing - not only can he move really really fast, but he has the perception and reflexes to basically view the world in "slow motion". Another possibility is that he's not just fast - he can actually accelerate his entire existence, for lack of a better term, (along with some close-held belongings, which is why the music wasn't distorted and his clothes don't shred).

[Kojiro]

My assumption for why they didn't bring him along is simply that they couldn't convince him to travel that far. He seems to have a fast-time bubble around him instead of super speed, so even tho a trip to Vietnam might only take 15 minutes from Wolverine's perspective, he has to deal with a year of subjective hiking across a very boring ocean. That would make long trips just as daunting for him as anyone, especially potentially dangerous ones.

Sure... but there's no reason he couldn't have taken the jet over there like the rest of them did. It's just that instead of kicking the door in and having the four of them burst in (how they got in exactly is never determined since there was security and Charles doesn't have his powers back) and try to kidnap her. It could have been- from the perspective of those inside- that she simply vanished from the table she was on. Hell he could have simply kidnapped Trask as well.

Hell even if Magneto's plan was to murder Raven by taking Quicksilver he could have a)gotten her our much cleaner b) spent a bunch of time with this new mutant who has a very real possibility of being his son. We already know this Magneto has parental loss issues so I can easily see him wanting to at least confirm things by oh, I don't know, asking his mothers name? If nothing more this kid has just claimed his mother knows of another mutant just like Magneto. That shit is some info Erik would chase. Instead they ditch him off screen and go in with the plan of forcibly removing her from a public location.

Once they worked out Raven was going to murder Trask at the White House you once again have a perfect opportunity for Quicksilver. It's great that Charles stopper her but what if he hadn't found her? She got so far as reaching for the gun. For Charles that's cutting it pretty close- another couple seconds and it's all over. For Quicksilver that's a laughably easy foil.

I mean I know why it was done- super speed is a stupidly difficult narrative power. How do you stop a character who is can effectively stop time?

[Darmalus]

Nah, what I mean is that if an adventure in the USA goes wrong, he can easily escape then hitchhike home in a few hours. If an adventure goes wrong on the other side of the planet, he can easily escape and then...? He doesn't speak the local language, sneaking on a plane is far more difficult since he'd have to hide for the whole 12+ hour trip after he zipped onboard. How common were trans-pacific flights back then anyway? I wouldn't fault him for hesitating to take that kind of risk with a bunch of people he just met.

From the script writers perspective, yeah his power is a plot breaker.

[Kojiro]

I wouldn't fault him for hesitating to take that kind of risk with a bunch of people he just met.

I'd be inclined to agree, but he just agreed to extract someone from the Pentagon. Getting home might well be inconvenient but hardly a risk compared with what'll happen to him if he busts into the Pentagon. *Edit* - I mean if he gets caught. IF.

Speaking of which, now I'm wondering how/when Erik did escape from that hole in the previous timeline.

[Coop D'etat]

For me it was sufficient that Quicksilver wasn't really in it for the cause or anything, he just thought raiding the Pentagon would be a lark. Plus they could be thinking they pushed their luck far enough already involving a powerful teenager with a short attention span.

Script-wise, I've heard his role in the plot was originally going to be given to Juggernaut and switching the two was a late change so that's why Quicksilver isn't involved in the rest of the plot (Juggernaut wouldn't be particularly useful for tracking down Raven).

[Kojiro]

Sending the Juggernaught to bust Magneto out of the Pentagon... just write Trask the cheque now.

I'm sure he does have a relatively short attention span but it's such a better plan! Maybe he did think it'd be a lark but there are other avenues open. How about 'Do this for us and I'll give you $50k'? Sure, there's probably reasons that can be manufactured but if they exist they weren't shown. We're simply left wondering why after massively successful extraction 1 they ditch the core component for extraction 2.

[RogueIce]

Speaking of which, now I'm wondering how/when Erik did escape from that hole in the previous timeline.

Mystique broke him out of a plastic prison in X2. Presumably, she managed to do so at some point after offing Trask originally. Especially since that was her "turning point" in being willing to kill, which would have probably been necessary to get him out.

[Kojiro]

Mystique broke him out of a plastic prison in X2. Presumably, she managed to do so at some point after offing Trask originally. Especially since that was her "turning point" in being willing to kill, which would have probably been necessary to get him out.

Well clearly he was released before that. That would be the second plastic prison he was busted from.

[Lagmonster]

Okay, I don't think this has been answered: How the fuck was Charles even alive in the war-torn future timeline? Wasn't he ripped to pieces by Phoenix in Last Stand? I heard he made a brief cameo in Wolverine with a throw-away remark about having 'gifts', but I can't recall anybody offering up an actual, even in-universe explanation for his reincarnation.

[Darmalus]

Okay, I don't think this has been answered: How the fuck was Charles even alive in the war-torn future timeline? Wasn't he ripped to pieces by Phoenix in Last Stand? I heard he made a brief cameo in Wolverine with a throw-away remark about having 'gifts', but I can't recall anybody offering up an actual, even in-universe explanation for his reincarnation.

Beginning of that movie there is a news story playing on the TV in the background that a man (who looks exactly like Charles) suffered an accident and is physically fine but has zero mental activity. In the stinger that same guy wakes up. He just mind jumped into a conveniently empty body with an identical appearance.

[Darth Nostril]

This bit

[Lagmonster]

So he psychically transferred his memories, and also his X-gene? Or was the comatose guy an identical twin or something?

[Darth Nostril]

Apparently in the end credits commentary it's revealed that it is indeed his identical twin brother

[Elheru Aran]

Okay, I don't think this has been answered: How the fuck was Charles even alive in the war-torn future timeline? Wasn't he ripped to pieces by Phoenix in Last Stand? I heard he made a brief cameo in Wolverine with a throw-away remark about having 'gifts', but I can't recall anybody offering up an actual, even in-universe explanation for his reincarnation.

Wolverine Origins was before X-Men 1. I have no idea why Charles was able to walk in that bit, though, and still have his powers. That one's going to take some explaining, if they ever get around to it and don't do some after-the-fact Lucas-style ass-pull digital editing a wheelchair in.

In universe... he just happens to have an identical twin brother. Uh huh. That's terribly fuckin' convenient.

[Darth Nostril]

I don't recall Xavier and Magneto appearing in Wolverine Origins, but Wolverine did have a cameo in First Class when they were recruiting, before Xavier was crippled.

X-3 was fucking awful, looks like even the director had second thoughts about killing off such a major character what with that end credits CYA crap.
I'm inclined to write the whole movie off as food poisoning induced hallucinations after Wolverine ate a bad burrito.

[Lost Soal]

I don't recall Xavier and Magneto appearing in Wolverine Origins, but Wolverine did have a cameo in First Class when they were recruiting, before Xavier was crippled.

Xavier was guiding Scott out of the tunnels and picked up the escaping mutents in a helicopter.

[Darth Nostril]

Well remembered, I had completely forgotten that part.

Hmmm, well any explanation depends on how far you're willing to stretch SoD. (In reverse order of probability) Xavier used his powers to bully his legs into working again if only briefly; another mutant was using TK to make his legs work, or at least support him for that brief scene; an experimental treatment that restored function for only a short time before failing and causing even more damage so that he can't use it again; the director was on drugs.