X-Men: Apocalypse Easter eggs you missed
As X-Men: Apocalypse hits theaters worldwide, we've rounded up some of the most spoilerific Easter eggs and hidden secrets you can find in Marvel's latest mutant slugfest. If there's anything to learn from En Sabah Nur taking on Professor X's band of heroes, it's that the 1980s and Apocalypse are both pretty much immortal. Put on your neon-colored parachute pants, because we've brought you a collection of X-Men: Apocalypse Easter eggs so thick you'd need adamantium claws to cut through it. In case you somehow misread the first sentence, there are major spoilers ahead.
Jabs at Star Wars and The Last Stand
One of X-Men: Apocalypse's most awesome/meta Easter eggs comes while Jean Grey, Jubilee, Nightcrawler, and Cyclops pull a Ferris Bueller and hit the mall while ditching a day at the Xavier school. The Dazzler record scene we've seen in pictures prior to the film's release was nowhere to be found, but the group takes a few stinging jabs at both Star Wars and the underwhelming third X-Men film. As the four teens walk out of watching Return of the Jedi at a movie theater, they jest about how sequels always end up being much darker than the first film (such as The Empire Strikes Back, The Dark Knight, and even X2: X-Men United). Sophie Turner's Jean Grey adds that everyone knows that the third movie is almost always the weakest of the bunch, which is a zinger aimed at X-Men: The Last Stand (fortunately, Civil War proved this wrong). In case you were wondering, frequent X-Men director Bryan Singer skipped out on filming The Last Stand in favor of Superman Returns.
Return of The Blob
In a callback to Wolverine's debut in the original X-Men film (and to X-Men Origins: Wolverine), there are some mutant-filled fights going on with bets happening between the brawls. Before we see Angel taking on Nightcrawler in an intense match of a blond-guy-with-wings vs. a blue-guy-who-teleports, we see a familiar face laid out on the ground. This is Fred Dukes, better known as The Blob. Dukes' appearance in this manner is probably a callback to his post-Weapon X role in the first Wolverine film. Good luck to the guys who had to carry him out of the ring.
Star Trek references
Bryan Singer isn't ashamed of being a Trekkie. When we visit Storm's home, her television is playing the original Star Trek series' season two episode, "Who Mourns for Adonais." This episode foreshadows what will go on with Apocalypse, as it focuses on the team encountering Apollo, an uber powerful god-like character who can grow to ginormous heights. Singer also starred as a crew member in Star Trek: Nemesis, taking orders from the original Professor X himself, Patrick Stewart.
Magneto's other mutant daughter
X-Men: Apocalypse shuffles around the order of Magneto's children a bit, as Quicksilver admits that Magneto is his father, which was only hinted at in Days of Future Past. After the events of the last X-Men film, Magneto has gone into hiding on the other side of the world, fallen in love, settled down, and had a daughter named Nina (who is also a mutant, yay!), making her his third offspring in the films so far. What happens to Magneto's family is reminiscent of the comics, where his daughter is named Anya instead of Nina. A fire claims the life of Anya in the comics, and Magneto kills the people who started the fire with his powers. This scares away his wife (who was then pregnant with Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch at the time), who leaves him because of his mutation. Unfortunately, what happens in the movie is even worse. Needless to say, it sends him down an apocalyptic path against humanity.
Stan Lee's cameo co-star
We've seen Stan Lee cameo as a postman, Hugh Hefner, Larry King, an intergalactic ladies' man, and even a strip club DJ. In X-Men: Apocalypse, Lee's role is much simpler: you can see him react to something horrific he's watching (in this case a bunch of nuclear missiles shooting up into the sky). The big difference from his previous cameos is who's with him this time around—alongside Lee during this scene is his real-life wife, Joan.
Reloading Weapon X
The last X-Men: Apocalypse trailer teased Hugh Jackman's return for the we've-lost-counteenth time as Wolverine. The film gives Logan his adamantium skeleton from the Weapon X program, rewriting Origins' story even further, along with a classic Berserker Rage in response to the trauma of what happened. Best of all, Jackman can be seen wearing the iconic Weapon X headgear that he wore in the comics. Don't hold your breath for the character's famous yellow spandex costume, though.
Another Order of the Phoenix
Speaking of Wolverine, the character's longtime love Jean Grey is only in her teens during the film, and she's already struggling to control her powers. Jean Grey has nightmares about what's going to happen, teasing the inevitable fight against Apocalypse's forces. Apocalypse-stuff aside, she alludes to seeing flames and a darkness inside her, foreshadowing her character's eventual possession by the cosmic entity known as the Phoenix. In X-Men: The Last Stand and the source material, Jean struggles with controlling the fiery Phoenix before it takes over her completely, turning her into one of the series' most powerful villains. Towards the end of X-Men: Apocalypse, Jean throws her worries out the window after Xavier tells her to go all out on Apocalypse. Jean turns her powers on full blast, resulting in a flaming bird aura appearing around her, teasing the Phoenix for a future entry of the series. Yes, we got chills from it, and so will you.
That Sinister post-credits scene
Here's the part you were all waiting for: the spoilers of X-Men: Apocalypse's post-credits scene. As usual, it will leave comic/cartoon junkies jumping for joy with the average moviegoer scratching their heads until a fan explains it for them. The scene features a man in a suit exploring the ruins of William Stryker's Weapon X compound. As a cleanup crew tries mopping up the mess of bullets and bodies, the man in the suit collects a sample of what is presumed to be Wolverine's blood (it was labeled "Weapon X"), and stows it in his briefcase alongside other vials. The briefcase snaps shut, showing a logo of a company named "Essex Corp."
For those unfamiliar with the source material, Nathaniel Essex, also known as Mr. Sinister, is a longtime villain of the X-Men. He frequently collaborates with Apocalypse (though he tries to ultimately destroy him). He's also obsessed with Jean Grey and Scott Summers' genetics. He goes as far as creating a clone of Jean Grey, Madelyne Pryor, who Scott Summers marries and has a child with—and that child turns out to be Cable, Deadpool's time-traveling buddy. This could set up Mr. Sinister in a future X-Men film as well as fan favorite character X-23, a young female clone of Wolverine.