SPOILER WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for X-Men: Apocalypse. If you haven't seen the film yet, and don't wish to know important details about the ending, we recommend clicking away to another one of our wonderful articles!
In the world of comic books, it's pretty rare for any character to ever permanently die -- and that's especially true when it comes to major heroes and villains. While they may lose the occasional battle, the sales numbers that these particular protagonists and antagonists bring in are far too appealing to make any significant fatality last forever. The same is most definitely true for superhero stories on the big screen as well, as director Bryan Singer has noted that it's not completely outside the realm of possibility that we could one day see Oscar Isaac's Apocalypse from X-Men: Apocalypse resurrected thanks to his incredible gifts.
The director talks about this potential narrative direction for the X-Men franchise in the commentary track that has been packaged with X-Men: Apocalypse's digital release. Following the dramatic scene where the combined powers of Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), and Storm (Alexandra Shipp) successfully manage to tear Apocalypse apart, Bryan Singer discusses whether or not the villain is actually dead, or if his mutant powers could possibly help him to show up in another chapter of the franchise. Singer explains,
There's also something about the fact that he does move from body-to-body, and though he does need pyramids and all that power and energy. He's particle-ized, and [Psylocke's] left, but there's always that mystery of, 'Is he gone? Is he dead? Where is he?' And that's kind of also interesting. Or has he just gone into the desert sands?
Looking back at Apocalypse as a character in the comics, what Bryan Singer proposes here definitely does hold some weight. In the source material, En Sabah Nur's mutation gives him control over every single molecule in his body -- so when we see him disintegrate at the end of the latest X-Men movie, it's possible that he's not so much dying as just being broken down into much, much smaller parts that will take a while to come back together.
There is another way that Apocalypse could return in another X-Men movie, and given that Bryan Singer is the director of X-Men: Days of Future Past, it's a bit surprising he didn't think of it: time travel. Apocalypse was buried under a pyramid for centuries, and it's entirely possible that someone could go back to any time between Ancient Egypt and 1983 and try and resurrect him -- starting his ascension all over again. Time travel has been key to the return of Apocalypse many times in the comics, and it wouldn't be at all surprising to see the films follow the formula.
Do you think it's possible that Apocalypse could come back in a future X-Men movie... and for that matter, is that something you would want to see? Hit the comments section with your thoughts.
