Like his comic book counterpart, Apocalypse is arguably the single most powerful mutant in the X-Men movie, but that isn’t all that distinguishes him from the rest of the pack. He’s also said to be the world’s "First Mutant," originally living in Egypt thousands of years ago, which we saw in the X-Men: Days of Future Past post-credits scene. The X-Men: Apocalypse previews have provided glimpses of how long the eponymous villain has been around, but a new clip from the blockbuster delves into what the U.S government knows about his history.
In this scene, titled "Moira’s Office," we see James McAvoy’s Charles Xavier and Lucas Till’s Alex Summers meeting with CIA agent Moira McTaggert, played by Rose Byrne, who previously appeared in X-Men: First Class. McTaggert explains that after the existence of mutants was made public in 1973 (a.k.a. X-Men: Days of Future Past), various cults have popped up around the world who believe that mutants are a sign of the "Second Coming" or God. One of those cults, Ashir En Sabah Nur, look up to, you guessed it, Apocalypse, who is believed to be the world’s first mutant. Other photos reveal that this being had many abilities, and wherever he went, he was accompanied by four followers he imbued with powers. Alex immediately makes the connection to the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse from the Bible, but Moira suggests the Bible may have gotten it from En Sabah Nur.
Apocalypse was already immensely powerful when we briefly saw him in X-Men: Days of Future Past, and the latest X-Men: Apocalypse trailer showed that he was enchanted by strong technology. With his abilities, he was looked at as a god, and while we know he isn’t a deity, he’s certainly more mighty than each person walking the planet. X-Men: Apocalypse promotional material has also shown that he was responsible for destroying several ancient civilizations, including Atlantis. He did this wet when things started to go bad or they "moved away from evolution."
He’ll repeat this plan when he reawakens in 1983, recruiting, Magneto, Storm, Psylocke and Angel as his Four Horsemen. Rather than focus on just one civilization, this time around, he plans to wipe out the entire world so he can remake it in his own image, with only the strong still surviving. That Ashir En Sabah Nur cult better hope they’re included, otherwise all their worship will have been for nothing. Fortunately, if they do their jobs right, the X-Men can prevent the the world from being anhiliated…again.
X-Men: Apocalypse hits theaters on May 27.
