It's no secret that the inconsistencies across the X-Men movies are numerous and pretty crazy. There are still some great movies to be found within the franchise of course, but it doesn't take long for fans to spot the continuity issues in a movie created by ignoring or disregarding the events of other films in the franchise. Even Logan, as brilliant and as critically acclaimed as it may be, suffers from this issue.
Some inconsistencies aren't immediately noticeable, but others jut out faster than Wolverine's claws to anyone who has kept up with the movies or has gone back to re-watch the classic X-Men movies. Below are some of the most obvious and biggest offenders of the bunch, and may stand as an obvious reason why Disney and Marvel hasn't wanted to incorporate the X-Men franchise right into the MCU after acquiring Fox. A reboot may be warranted.
Professor X's Death And Twin Resurrection (X-Men: The Last Stand)
In X-Men: The Last Stand, Jean Grey vaporizes Charles Xavier and it seems as though Professor X is no more. Through some miracle, however, he transfers his consciousness to his brain dead twin (that's not a joke) and suddenly is back in action in time to make a cameo in The Wolverine and X-Men: Days of Future Past. It's a convenient plot device, but is also rife with issues.
For example, isn't it a little strange that this twin-brother is also restricted to a wheelchair? If anything, P. Xavier may have even more physical limitations than Charles due to his extended status in a coma. Instead Charles is the same person he was before vaporization, and no one is the least bit shocked or surprised by this? It tracks that psychic mutants like the Shadow King can swap bodies and retain their powers. Physical attributes though? Not so much.
Characters Appearing Then Re-appearing With Different Origins (X-Men: First Class And More)
Being a mutant means getting unique abilities via a genetic mutation, and with as many mutants as there are out there, some duplicate powers are bound to happen. With that said, when the X-Men movies introduce a mutant who can turn to diamond by the name of Emma as a teen in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and then re-introduce her in her late thirties in X-Men: First Class, it feels a little fishy.
The same thing has happened with Jubilee, Psylocke, and definitely others throughout the X-Men movies. Essentially, it seemed as though the franchise introduced a lot of mutants as minor characters, but later on realized they wanted to use them for more. Unfortunately, little care was taken to make sure the re-introduction of the character made sense, and instead producers would ignore the former character completely, or allege the character was similar but not the same and thus a different person than the one prior. Not the best look!
Wolverine's Timeline Shift Memories? (X-Men: Days Of Future Past, Logan)
Wolverine makes a huge move in X-Men: Days of Future Past, and creates a timeline shift that effectively splits the franchise between the old and new films. The only person who seems to be aware of it is Logan, who is back on the other side of his timeline with his old friends and a bunch of events he clearly doesn't remember.
Fast-forward to Logan, and Wolverine has apparently remained clueless to the events of the present for decades onward. Did he never bother to ask anyone to bring him up to speed? Did he never forge new different relationships in this revised timeline? It seems as if Logan is holding onto everything that happened before he changed the timeline. As great as Logan is, it was somewhat disappointing the film ignored that key plot point.
Beast's Amazement Of The Mutant Cure (X-Men: The Last Stand, X-Men: Days of Future Past)
In X-Men: The Last Stand a mutant cure has been developed, and Hank McCoy is among the many in the film outright stunned by this advancement. It's kind of weird he'd think such an invention is impossible, especially when he created a cure decades before in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Did he forget he helped Professor X battle his demons with it so long ago?
This mistake is more the fault of the otherwise great X-Men: Days of Future Past of course, as it should've considered the plot of X-Men: The Last Stand beforehand. Even if Wolverine's actions altered the timeline, a young McCoy would've been treating Professor X with this serum regardless, so it doesn't really track he'd be oblivious to how it could be done in X-Men: The Last Stand.
Age Is Relative... (Every X-Men Movie)
Some characters in X-Men age slowly because it's part of their abilities. Others just do for reasons we can't explain. X-Men movies have rarely respected appropriate ages for characters as they've expanded the franchise, which has led to some weird situations. Remember Moira MacTaggart? Even with timeline changes, it's hard to explain how she still looks to be in her 30s in X-Men: The Last Stand when her appearance in X-Men: First Class would make her around the age of 80.
Then there's Charles Xavier and Magneto in X-Men: Dark Phoenix (which is its re-branded name), who are only a decade away from the same time frame (but not timeline) as X-Men. What the hell happened in those 10 years that aged each man so poorly? We'll likely never get that answer considering Kevin Feige has hinted future X-Men movies will happen in the form of reboots within the MCU. Hopefully this next time, writers will pay attention to what age everyone is supposed to be.
If Marvel Retconned X-Men For The MCU, I Wouldn't Shed A Tear
These are just a few of the times the X-Men movies messed up the franchise continuity, so be sure to throw down other instances where that happened in the comments below. As always, be sure to stick with CinemaBlend for all the latest news in the world of movies and television.
