On the tenth anniversary of its release, Hasitha Fernando looks at the story behind X-Men: Days of Future Past…
In terms of quality Fox’s X-Men series has had its fair share of ups and downs, but many will agree that X-Men: Days of Future Past combined the best elements of the superhero series into one cohesive, action packed whole and then some. As its 10th anniversary draws near here are some interesting details about the movie for your reading pleasure.
Creative differences were rampant from the very outset
Having produced several Guy Ritchie classics including Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998) and Snatch (2000), Matthew Vaughn tried his hand at directing with the Daniel Craig headlined crime drama Layer Cake (2004). After helming the R-rated superhero actioner Kick-Ass (2010) the filmmaker took over the reins of Fox’s Marvel verse from Bryan Singer with X-Men: First Class (2011). The unexpected success of the new installment featuring an all-new cast, spurned the studio to approach Vaughn to direct its sequel as well. However, negotiations fell through due to creative differences and Vaughn revealed what took place behind-the-scenes during an interview with ComingSoon.net:
“That’s one of the reasons I didn’t continue, because they didn’t listen to me. My plan was ‘First Class,’ then the second film featured a new young Wolverine in the 70’s to continue those characters, my version of the X-Men. So, you’d really get to know all of them, and my finale was gonna be ‘Days of Future Past.’ That was gonna be my number three where you bring them all… because what’s bigger than bringing in McKellen and Michael and Stewart and James and bringing them all together? When I finished the ‘Days of Future Past‘ script with it ready to go I looked at it and said, ‘I really think it would be fun to cast Tom Hardy or someone as the young Wolverine and then bring it all together at the end.’ Fox read ‘Days of Future Past‘ and went ‘Oh, this is too good! We’re doing it now!’” He further added that “Hollywood doesn’t understand pacing. Their executives are driving 100 miles-per-hour looking in the rear-view mirror and not understanding why they crash.”
Bryan Singer had discussions with James Cameron on how to make the time travelling aspect feasible
After Matthew Vaughn’s departure Fox brought back filmmaker Bryan Singer to helm their planned sequel. Apart from being a seasoned veteran in the franchise, Singer has extensive experience directing small-scale character dramas as well but the intricacies of crafting a story with a time travel component was something new to him. So, he reached out to someone who had been involved in such projects before – James Cameron. With Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day under his belt Cameron proved to be the ideal collaborator for X-Men: Days of Future Past and the pair had an exhaustive two-hour discussion about everything ranging from quantum physics to string theory in an effort to make the time-travel concept feasible and doable within the movie. Ultimately Singer decided to base the story’s time-travel shenanigans on the concepts of string theory.
The story was based on an acclaimed Marvel comic storyline
The story featured in X-Men: Days of Future Past was an adaptation of one the most critically acclaimed Marvel comic book storylines of all time. Published in 1981 in the pages of The Uncanny X-Men issues #141 – 142 Days of Future Past deals with a dystopian future in which mutants are incarcerated in internment camps. In this chaotic backdrop an adult Kate Pryde transfers her mind into her younger self, the present-day Kitty Pryde, who brings the X-Men together to prevent a pivotal moment in history that triggers the anti-mutant hysteria.
This particular storyline was crafted during the franchise’s rise to popularity under the writer/artist team of Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin. And it was also during this period that Claremont co-created many of the X-Men’s most memorable characters including Rogue, Gambit, Mystique, Jubilee, Mister Sinister, Phoenix and Moira McTaggart. The Days of Future Past storyline was first adapted in the two-part episode of the same name in X-Men: The Animated Series, and in it, it was Bishop who Kitty sends back first followed by Wolverine. When it came to the movie adaptation, however, screenwriter Simon Kinberg foresaw the problem in making Kitty the would-be time-traveler very early on. Thus, Wolverine was picked for being the ageless immortal character who’d bridge both past and future.
Patrick Stewart & Ian McKellen were shocked to be asked back to the franchise
Sir Patrick Stewart and Sir Ian McKellen are both titans in their industry. The former achieved international stardom for his iconic role as Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek and the latter became world renowned for playing Gandalf the wizard in The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit films. The pair were then cast as Professor Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr in the X-Men movies but following the conclusion of X-Men: The Last Stand (2006) which saw multiple major character unceremoniously killed off and a younger cast put together for X-Men: First Class (2011) the classically trained British actors naturally assumed that they were done with the franchise altogether. So, when Bryan Singer approached the duo while they were touring for Waiting for Godot they were shocked to be asked back to the franchise.
Hugh Jackman preferred to be naked for a particular scene
With the release of Deadpool & Wolverine (2024) Hugh Jackman would have played our favorite anti-hero with anger management issues for over two decades and that’s truly something. During a particular scene in X-Men: Days of Future Past which happens around 18-minute mark we find Wolverine wake up in 1973 next to a gorgeous looking gal – the first scene where the older Wolvie’s mind is sent to his young self. The script called for Jackman’s character to wake up in boxer shorts but Jackman vetoed the idea by saying, “In Australia, if you’re next to a really good-looking girl, you’re not getting out with boxer shorts on, or briefs, or anything!” And that ladies and gents, is why we see Wolverine waking nude as opposed to with clothes.
A special bodysuit was made for Jennifer Lawrence to play Mystique
The adult Mystique in the original X-Men trilogy was played by actress Rebecca Romijn but X-Men: First Class saw Academy Award winner Jennifer Lawrence take up the mantle from Romijn to play the shape shifting villain. During her first outing as the blue meanie Lawrence wore full body prosthetics, consisting of appliance glued onto her whole body. However, this proved to be a challenging process since it not only caused considerable discomfort but also made her unwell frequently due to inhaling the fine particles of the glued prosthetics. To address this problem, a special body suit was made for her, that was easier and much safer to put on.
Peter Dinklage was chosen as Bolivar Trask because of his height
Peter Dinklage made his film debut in the black comedy Living in Oblivion (1995) but it was with the comedy drama The Station Agent (2003), which won a BAFTA and an Independent Spirit Award for its sharp screenplay, that Dinklage delivered his first breakthrough performance. HBO’s Game of Thrones, however, took his popularity to the proverbial stratosphere, inevitably making his role of Tyrion Lannister one of the most memorable characters of all time. When crafting Bolivar Trask, the primary antagonist of X-Men: Days of Future Past, director Bryan Singer was influenced by multiple sources, and based the role partly on Adolf Hitler:
“As Hitler used the Jews as a scapegoat to bond the darker parts of Europe, he’s doing the same thing with mutants. But he wasn’t a six-foot, perfect blond Aryan. He was a short, funny looking fellow!” Singer also described Trask’s character as something of a peace-lover, in that he feels he united the whole of humanity against a common enemy. During an interview Dinklage revealed that the reason Singer picked him to play Trask was because of his height, “With my Dwarfism, I’m a bit of a mutant. I can’t move metal or anything, but I thought of it as self-loathing. Deep down, Trask is quite sensitive about that aspect of himself.”
That unforgettably mind-blowing Quicksilver sequence
X-Men: Days of Future Past is chock full of multiple memorable moments and unforgettable set pieces, but without a doubt the breathtaking centerpiece of the film is that epic sequence involving the Silver Speedster which transpires in the Pentagon kitchen. Surprisingly, most of that action set piece was filmed using practical visual effects with CGI being used only to depict the objects floating around in slow-motion. To give the impression that Quicksilver was moving faster than an average human his scenes were shot in a special format of 3,600 frames per second. This meant that the superhero character moved 150 times faster than normal! Rising Sun Pictures, the VFX house behind the magic, shot only 29 effects shots for the sequence but the initial preparation that went into it took up nearly seven months of work and involved 70 VFX artists.
An alternative cut of the movie exists
Dubbed “The Rogue Cut” this alternative cut of the theatrical release is an extended version of the film which prominently features a subplot featuring Anna Paquin’s Rogue character. With a length difference of 17 minutes this iteration of the movie tweaks some of the scenes of the theatrical versions while a few other scenes get totally omitted and replaced by Rogue’s subplot. Fans are divided in their opinion of which version is superior but there’s no denying that “The Rogue Cut” is definitely worth seeking out if you are a fan of the character.
Critical & box-office success with unexpected awards glory
Worldwide, X-Men: Days of Future Past earned an impressive $262.8 million during its opening weekend, the highest worldwide opening weekend for an X-Men film at the time. The film grossed $233.9 million in the US and Canada, and $512.1 million in other markets, for a worldwide gross of $747.9 million, on a production budget of $ 200 million making it the highest-grossing entry in the X-Men film series before being surpassed by Deadpool (2016) two years later.
On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, X-Men: Days of Future Past holds an approval rating of 90% based on 334 reviews, with an average rating of 7.5/10. The website’s critical consensus reads, “X-Men: Days of Future Past combines the best elements of the series to produce a satisfyingly fast-paced outing that ranks among the franchise’s finest installments.” Film critic Sean O’Connell of CinemaBlend gave the film four and a half stars out of five, saying it was “the greatest, most complete and staggeringly entertaining [X-Men film] to date” whilst Empire gave it four out of five stars calling it, “The best X-Men film since the second one”.
X-Men: Days of Future Past was also the first movie in the series to receive an Academy Award nomination and that was in the Best Visual Effects category, but like Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy the flick lost out to Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar. The movie also received a BAFTA nomination for its visual effects as well as a SAG Award nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture.
SEE ALSO: The Best & Worst Marvel Movies of the 20th Century Fox Era
What are your thoughts on X-Men: Days of Future Past ten years on from its release? Let us know on our socials @FlickeringMyth…
Hasitha Fernando is a part-time medical practitioner and full-time cinephile. Follow him on Twitter via @DoctorCinephile for regular updates on the world of entertainment.
