X-Men Apocalypse

Written by Chris Stagg in Words and Sound👁 9,359

Wednesday 22 July 2015, 4.38pm

I’m not happy. Not one, little, bit!

If you know me or follow me on twitter, or indeed have read any of my other blog posts, you will know that I can very fairly be described as a bit of an obsessive fan where some things are concerned. And so it is with Apocalypse.

Let me set my stall out from the start. Apocalypse is my favourite character in the X-Men universe (yes he’s a bad guy so what?) and in my opinion the best villain that Marvel have in their impressive character arsenal. I have been waiting since the 1990’s to see Apocalypse in a Marvel film. Finally we have the technology to really do the character justice. There have been two very excellent rebooted X-Men films in the form of First Class and Days of Future Past and 2016’s X-Men Apocalypse has all the potential to be a phenomenal end to an impressive trilogy.

and yet…. the picture just released of how Apocalypse will look in the new film has left me somewhat shocked!

Lets start with optimism. Warning spoiler alert! Right at the end of Days of Futures Past the post credit scene (now synonymous with Marvel films) is dedicated to Apocalypse. We open onto an ancient Egyptian landscape. Thousands of people appear to be chanting En Sabah Nur (Apocalypse’s real name). We see a hooded figure seemingly manipulating huge blocks of stone with his mind to create a pyramid. As the camera pans round we are shown a very young man with blue skin and grey lips hooded and in complete control being worshipped. In the distance 4 shadowy figures on horseback are seen, which can only be the 4 horseman of the Apocalypse. This is an absolutely perfect set up to the new film and has in a little space of time summed up exactly what Apocalypse is all about.

A very brief history for you. Born in ancient Egypt and abandoned at birth, En Sabah Nur (meaning ‘ The first’) was left in the desert. A tribes man found him and impressed that the infant survived untold days in the wilderness, brought him back to the tribe who follow a doctrine of the strongest must lead the weak. En Sabah Nur quickly rose up the ranks and could best the greatest swordsman before his teens. Incredibly talented his power grew to seemingly unbounded levels. After the death of his ‘father’ at the hands of the Pharaoh, En Sabah Nur revolted and took control of Egypt. At some point he merged with Alien technology and transformed himself into the Apocalypse we know and love. He has been a significant villain in the X-men Universe ever since.

But how should Apocalypse look in the new X-Men film? He has looked slightly different in all versions across media. His powers and abilities changing significantly. Firstly the picture at the top of this post shows Apocalypse from X-Men Evolution. In this programme we see Apocalypse pre transformation (and his telekinetic powers are impressive) and the actual transformation of himself. In this scene he faces Xavier and gives the memorable quote:

Xavier “You must know somehow you will be stopped?”

Apocalypse: “What I know is, It will not be by you…”

Lets take a look at the Apocalypse of the 90s in the original cartoon.

This version of Apocalypse is easily recognisable as a development from the comics, he is near identical. In these episodes, Apocalypse proves himself to be a master strategist, only revealing himself and getting his hands dirty when absolutely necessary. Quote of the series:

“I am the rocks of the eternal shore, crash against me and be broken.”

In this series the X-Men barely hurt him, only beating him (several times) by containing him somehow; within his star ship for example with the help of Beast and the turncoat ship AI (treacherous ship!).

Lastly here’s an example of Apocalypse from the comics subduing the Hulk. Yes, the Hulk!

You will note huge similarities between the media. The colouring and look of Apocalypse. He is vaguely human in a appearance. His skin is ambiguously flesh/technology and he has heavy armour which again could or could not be part of him. Apocalypse also has pipes connecting his elbows to his back and in many versions has a big ‘A’ on his belt (in case he forgets who he is obviously).

In terms of power the common themes are the ability to shape shift to look like anyone, full molecular control of his body to create shields and lasers from his limbs, massive and arguable unlimited energy absorption and projection, and most importantly the ability to increase his size at will. Other incantations give him huge telekinetic abilities as well though this is not constant through all media.

And with all that in mind we come to the picture of Apocalypse on set of the new film:

I’m sorry who is that? Apocalypse? Haha no really who is it? What? Your not joking? It really is Apocalypse?

Enter massive let down. Why does he look so old and wrinkly? Where are the coloured lips that join to his ears? Where are the pipes from his elbows? Why is he so small? I’d even put up with the ‘A’ on his belt if it made him more like Apocalypse! This medieval space Smurf looks far more like Ronan The Accuser as a point of influence.

I’m very very disappointed with this interpretation of Apocalypse, and if you follow these things, amongst fans at least I’m not alone. However, I still look forward to the film next year. We have had 2 very strong outings for the new X-Men and hopefully that momentum will continue. Its possible that this Apocalypse is the ‘human’ version before he merges with the Alien technology and he has simply updated his ancient Egyptian wardrobe. However I’m not convinced. I desperately hope that I am wrong and that Apocalypse will be as amazing as he should be.