ApocalypseUncanny X-Men was my first comic I fell in love with in the 80’s. I appreciated the diversity of the team and its villains created by Stan Lee and artist Jack Kirby. In the 90’s when the X-Men cartoon came out, it heavily pulled from the comics and its continuity. It was amazing seeing my favorite characters, parts of their comic origins and story arcs on the small screen. So you can imagine my enthusiasm when the first X-Men movie came out in 2000. This was the beginning of the super-hero franchise wave that has dominated box offices ever since.

Back then and much like today, most X-Men movie goers didn’t know the comic source material. They just knew that Wolverine had metal claws and Xavier was a handicapped bald guy. On the other hand, many X-Men comic fans from the 80’s and 90’s loath the X-Men movie franchise because they know the history and rich back stories. Not to begin a rant about how bad the films are, I will say that these films have turned many complex characters into CGI jokes while promoting and pushing to the forefront a few token celebrities (Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen and the newest token Jennifer Lawrence) and their poorly haphazardly developed on screen personas. These films don’t have a problem saying “fuck you and the Chris Claremont (where many of the films attempt to pull from) source material” while appealing to a PG-13 family friendly audience. I get it…Hollywood. To solidify, the X-Men films suck with the exception of Days of Future Past narrowly dodging the bullet.

Now almost 16 years later we have X-men: Apocalypse. Being that I somewhat enjoyed DOFP, I was hoping the trailer would give me something to be excited about. Coming on the heels of the really strong trailers for Captain America Civil War and Batman v Superman, the X-men: Apocalypse trailer disappoints. Early set and costume pics already had viewers comparing Apocalypse to a Mighty Morphin Power Rangers character…not a good look. From the trailer we see rubbery looking costumes very reminiscent of past X films. This is now 16 years in, with multiple directors and rarely have we seen individual X-Men costumes (not the villains or one off characters) that properly match the style or power of the individual mutants…really?

As far as the “look at me I’m on the screen” shots featuring Angel, Storm and Apocalypse (I’m sure these are for the 3D experience), they eerily remind me of the fuckeries that was X-Men III: The Last Stand. Where characters were present on screen simply to show off CGI while marginalizing comic A-List characters such as Storm.

Apocalypse easily sits atop the throne (along with the Dark Phoenix) as one of the X-Men Universe’s baddest and most powerful villains, I’m hoping this newest installment will give him and this story arc the respect it deserves.

Check out the trailer for X-Men: Apocalypse Trailer below.