After millennia of slumber, Apocalypse will awaken next year in X-Men: Apocalypse to give the titular protagonists their greatest battle yet. In the meantime, we now have our first look at the mutant’s Egyptian resting place, where he’s been chilling as the world changes around him. Check it out!
This EW exclusive concept art shows of individuals breaking into Apocalypse’s tomb, marked by a hieroglyphic-covered pyramid in the center and a bust of a falcon (probably the god Horus) peering overhead. In the comics, Apocalypse has been alive for millennia but periodically puts himself in suspended animation. In X-Men: Apocalypse, I’m guessing that these intruders, whether they’re archaeologists or common grave robbers, inadvertently wake the lead villain up, which will no doubt result in their eradication and kick off the mutant’s sinister plans.
Fans got their first look at teenage Apocalypse in the X-Men: Days of Future Past post-credits scene when he used his powers to construct the Egyptian pyramids. When we see him next, he’ll be portrayed by Star Wars: The Force Awakens actor Oscar Isaac, and thanks to a combination of practical and digital effects, he will look like the monstrous powerhouse comic book fans know well.
Director Bryan Singer didn’t elaborate on what’s happening in the above image, but did mention that X-Men: Apocalypse will see Mystique, Magneto, and Professor X as Apocalypse plots to destroy the world in 1983, calling it the "first true X-Men film." Said Singer:
This is kind of a conclusion of six X-Men films, yet a potential rebirth of younger, newer characters.
In addition to the main First Class trilogy characters, X-Men: Apocalypse features younger versions of X-Men mainstays, like Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, and Nightcrawler, and shows how the official X-Men team ends up being formed in the new timeline. Singer stated several months back that X-Men: Apocalypse and Wolverine 3 will mark the end of the universe created in 2000. It’s unclear exactly how this will happen, but it sounds like the 2016 blockbuster will conclude the story that moviegoers have watched unfold for over 15 years, but for the characters, it’s just the beginning of their time as superheroes protecting both human and mutantkind. Of course, we don’t have to worry about X-Men-related films going away entirely. Deadpool and Gambit are also being released next year, and 20th Century Fox is planning a New Mutants movie.
X-Men: Apocalypse hits theaters on May 27, 2016.
