Warning: Spoilers for "X-Men: Apocalypse" ahead.
If you read the "X-Men: Apocalypse" reviews, you'd think journalists' worlds were ending.
Various outlets seem to be regurgitating the same negative rhetoric, saying the movie is "mediocre" and "runs out of ideas."
Sure, "Apocalypse" is no "Days of Future Past," and Jennifer Lawrence seems like she's still filming "Hunger Games" propos with a few too many rally-the-troops speeches, but this is an "X-Men" movie. It's not "Citizen Kane."
(Thank gosh for that. "Citizen Kane" is boring as heck.)
Still, as much as we'd love to, we can't defend one big criticism about "Apocalypse," and it seems to be a fairly substantial plot hole:
How did Wolverine end up as Weapon X? Is "X-Men: Apocalypse" totally ignoring the end of the last movie?
The last time we see Wolverine in "Days of Future Past," he appeared to be captured by Major Stryker. (Oh, no, right?) Stryker is the bad dude in "X-Men Origins: Wolverine" who puts Wolverine in the Weapon X program. There, he goes through painful surgery which adds adamantium to his skeleton, giving him the metal claws.
Just when you think it's bad news for Wolverine in "Days of Future Past," it's revealed that the Stryker who captured him was actually Mystique in disguise. (Yay!)
But "X-Men: Apocalypse" seems to ignore all of that.
In Wolverine's cameo in "X-Men: Apocalypse," it turns out -- oh, wait -- everyone's favorite clawed hero was, in fact, captured by Stryker, and now he's seemingly in the Weapon X program. And now we're all like, "Uh, what?"
How did this happen? Is "X-Men: Apocalypse" blatantly giving a middle finger to the end of "Days of Future Past"? Don't they remember Mystique posed as Stryker?
This appears to be a plot hole big enough to fly the X-Jet through, but thankfully there may be a solution.
The Hollywood Reporter speculates that "Days of Future Past" actually takes place during "X-Men Origins: Wolverine":
The answer could be that the entirety of the 1970s sequences of "X-Men: Days of Future Past" take place in the middle of "X-Men Origins: Wolverine," in the six-year gap referenced between Wolverine's leaving Team X and being approached by Stryker while living off the radar in Canada.
That could be a solution. Or, more simply, "Days of Future Past" just changed the timeline and Wolverine is captured sometime after being saved by Mystique. "X-Men: Apocalypse" does take place 10 years after "Days of Future Past," after all.
We asked Wolverine's former co-Weapon X subject, Scott Adkins, for his opinion. Adkins, who is now starring in "Jarhead 3: The Siege," played Deadpool/Weapon XI, along with Ryan Reynolds, in "X-Men Origins."
The actor agreed that "Days of Future Past" changed the timeline, saying, "I think that’s the idea. They sent Wolverine back into the past into his younger self, and then there’s a separate timeline."
Adkins added, "He should’ve avoided Stryker and kept the bone claws on." Though the actor could see why Wolverine would want the adamantium upgrade.
"Bone claws are not as cool," he said.
Whether this is a plot hole or not, it's still more fun than watching some dying rich dude regret not playing with his childhood sled more or something. We're looking at you, "Citizen Kane."
"X-Men: Apocalypse" is in theaters now.
"Jarhead 3: The Siege" comes to Blu-ray combo pack and DVD Tuesday, June 7.
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