X-Men: Apocalypse

From leaked footage to official photo releases, Fox’s X-Men: Apocalypse has teetered into the territory of not-so-good public opinion. The first glimpse of the next X-Men installment came from leaked footage from a phone cam. The footage bounced around notable comic book movie sites to give people not in attendance to the conference a glimpse of the titular villain Apocalypse. Not too many people were enthused, and much of his look was compared to Power Rangers’ villain Ivan Ooze. I too was a bit disappointed. Apocalypse has been on everyone’s mind since day one of the first X-Men cinematic release. Because of Marvel’s Thanos being CGI, many assumed Apocalypse would have less practical effects applied to him (actor Oscar Isaac). I will give credit that Oscar Isaac is lost within the makeup. You can’t even tell it’s him.

But, it wasn’t too long before a better quality phone cam leak captured the entire trailer, and with the full 3 minutes available, public opinion wasn’t much swayed. From the new actors playing Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), and Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee), everyone had an opinion, and most of it fell into the lower mixed range. Though, many fans (including myself) noted that Storm’s 80s Mohawk look was a nice touch to the character.

To be fair, this trailer was definitely meant for private viewing, a small treat for fans in attendance at this year’s Comic Con. Production for X-Men: Apocalypse has only been 5 weeks, with two more months of filming, plus the addition of effects. Fans have speculated that Apocalypse will have several different forms, with his last possibly being the menacing figure we’re accustomed to in the comics. Another positive note was a few glimpses of Olivia Munn as Psylocke. The costume is on point, and Psylocke’s look for this film is a far cry from the ho-hum throwaway of X-Men: The Last Stand’s iteration. Official photos from the movie heightened the awareness for the character, and giving points to Munn for looking all badass as Pyslocke, but opinion is still locked on Apocalypse’s look and feel. Hopefully some voice modification and a definitive answer on the rumors about his multiple looks throughout the film will pan out. One last point to make: The X-Men movies always go through this type of ordeal. There’s always an outcry from fans with first glimpses, and then the movie turns out to be great. It happened with the first X-Men. It even happened to the great second installment. First Class. Days of Future’s Past. Heck, the third X-Men film and the two Wolverine movies got great buzz when put on display…but they didn’t pan out when the movies dropped. So if there is indeed a patter, then there is a glimpse of hope in the Apocalypse of it all.

X-Men: Apocalypse tears into theaters May 27, 2016.