X-Men: Days of Future Past did a great job of resetting the timeline of the X-Men movie universe and clearing out the reams of plot holes and inconsistencies that had accumulated over the franchise to that point. However, it also added one of its own in the final shot.
You might remember that the movie ends with the revelation that Wolverine has not been caught by Colonel Stryker but rather by Mystique. The implication of this reveal – which is subtly done by showing Stryker’s eyes turning to Mystique’s distinctive yellow – was that Logan won’t go on to be given his adamantium skeleton and become Weapon X. This was completely contradicted in the following installment, X-Men: Apocalypse, though. If you’ll recall, that movie features Wolvie once again in Stryker’s captivity. So, how can we square the two up?
Well, Days and Apocalypse director Bryan Singer has now taken to Instagram to attempt to address the continuity glitch. Alongside an image of the cast of the former film, he explained how the Stryker/Mystique reveal was actually a late addition to the movie. He said that it fits in with Raven’s arc, too, as it sets up how she helps mutants around the world in Apocalypse.
“I caught your question on #reddit I have to be honest, the idea to have #stryker ’s eyes turn yellow was added to the film very close to its completion. However I ended up liking it because it showed #mystique ’s path of secretly helping mutants. In that case #wolverine It is a path that continues into #xmenapocalypse.”
It’s true that Mystique rescuing Logan works with her actions in Apocalypse – she’s seen saving Nightcrawler from a cage fight in Germany, for instance. However, this doesn’t explain how Wolverine got back into Stryker’s hands. We can presume, then, that Mystique’s efforts to save him came to naught and the mutant-hating military man got his prize after all.
Maybe writer and producer Simon Kinberg has a better answer to this mystery, though. As Singer has now moved away from the franchise, Kinberg’s set to make his directorial debut with next February’s Dark Phoenix. And though it seems unlikely, maybe it’ll finally clear up what happened after X-Men: Days of Future Past ended.