With the X-Men making their way toward the Marvel Cinematic Universe throughDeadpool & Wolverine, looking back at the old FoxX-Menuniverse is interesting. These movies have tremendous rewatch value (for the most part), but some aspects have undeniably aged poorly, from storylines to visual effects. This is especially true when one thinks about how many large and gaping plot holes there are within this cinematic universe.
It’s been a well-known fact for quite some time that this film universe is littered with so many plot holes that someone with trypophobia would be frightened just looking at them. Whether it be the original trilogy contradicting itself orthe prequel filmscontradicting the original trilogy, there are so many examples of inconsistencies in this chaotic series.These plot holes seemingly destroy the X-Men saga’s continuityand, honestly, arepretty hilarious at this point.
10The Members of The First Class
‘X-Men: First Class’ (2011)
Although the first true prequel film in the franchise,X-Men: First Class, is commonly known as the best in the entire franchise. The film is wonderfully directed and written byMatthew Vaughn, and the performances within it are among the best of the entire prequel franchise cast. But, when bringing this wonderful film to life, Vaughn unfortunately also brought out some big plot holes.
See, the original trilogyfirmly established thatCyclops (James Marsden), Jean Grey (Famke Janssen) and Storm (Halle Berry)were on the First Class team. Not to mention, this plot hole is made worse by the fact that these three would have been awesome additions to this team in the story. Sowhere were Charles' priced students during his first major mission? It doesn’t matter much, though, because this film rocks.
X-Men: First Class
9Mystique’s Time As Stryker
‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ (2014)
X-Men: Days of Future Past, while being one of the betterX-Menfilms, created confusing plot holes when establishing William Stryker’s (Josh Helman) involvement inthe creation of Wolverine (Hugh Jackman). At the end of the film, it seems to pretty well-established his origins but one small decision changed absolutely everything.
InX-Men Origins: Wolverine, it’s established that the real William Stryker (Danny Huston) eventually did end up with Logan. But at the end ofX-Men: Days of Future Past, it’s shown that Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) had actually been Stryker. So, how did Wolverine end up with the real deal? It’s still unknown, asthe “plot twist” is completely ignored afterward. Stryker is such a crucial figure in Logan’s past, so to play so fast and loose with his role in the mutant’s date is odd and misguided.
X-Men: Days of Future Past
8Victor Creed’s Sabretooth Transformation
‘X-Men Origins: Wolverine’ (2009)
Wolverine’s past includes a brother who would eventually become one of his greatest enemies. Of all the characters across theX-Menfranchise, Sabretooth suffers from the biggest transformation that doesn’t make sense. He is okay in 2000’sX-Men, but his inclusion inX-Men Origins: Wolverine, where he comes to life courtesy ofLiev Schreiber, opens a whole can of worms.
In the original trilogy, Sabretooth is portrayed byTyler Maneas more beast than man. But when he came onto the scene inX-Men Origins: Wolverine, he was more man than beast, confusing many. In the prequel, he was changed to simply be a man with fangs and claws, but in the original trilogy,it was always alluded to that he’d always had this beast-like look from the start. So,how did he become this monstrous man? No one knows, and it’s never explained.
X-Men Origins: Wolverine
The early years of James Logan, featuring his rivalry with his brother Victor Creed, his service in the special forces team Weapon X, and his experimentation into the metal-lined mutant Wolverine.
7Cerebro’s Origins
It’s funny how much can change through one simple and small line that was never meant to mean too much. In one quick line, Beast (Nicholas Hoult) is actually given credit for the creation ofCharles Xavier’s (James McAvoy)telepathic device, Cerebro. This reveal causes some problems for future films in the franchise, though.
While it may seem like the origins of the device are not a big deal, that’s less true than some may think. Originally, Magneto (Ian McKellen) was credited for helping with the creation, and Beast was never mentioned.The rewrite takes away a ton ofMagneto’s importancein the X-Men’s origins.It also poses the question of how Magneto could create his helmet with material he knows can block Charles' telepathic rays.
6Charles' Time Before the Wheelchair
One of the most iconic aspects of Xavier’s character is his legendary wheelchair. InX-Men: First Class, Matthew Vaughn wrote an explanation for his paralyzation, but it contradicts the original trilogy’s depiction of Charles' time in which he could walk.
X-Men: First Classprimarily takes place in 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis. So, with this continuity,the incredibly named Professor Xwould have lost his legs in 1962. But, two films set in the future,X-Men Origins: WolverineandX-Men: The Last Stand,show scenes of the X-Men’s co-founder walking after 1962. In fact,The Last Standshows Charles walking as far into the future as 1986, long after he stopped taking the drug that suppressed his abilities and helped him walk again, as seen inDays of Future Past. So how could he walk?
5The Once and Future Trask
While in the original trilogy, Bolivar Trask (Bill Duke) didn’t do much,X-Men: Days of Future Pastbrought him into the story and continuity in a big way. While the depiction of Trask (Peter Dinklage) is far better in the 2014 film, the casting of Peter Dinklage caused some trouble for the future version of Trask that had already been adapted.
If it isn’t obvious,they did a complete whitewashof the original trilogy creator of the Sentinels. While many may argue that Dinklage did a better job performing for the character, and he was far better written, it’s stilla super confusing recasting that definitely threw people offwhen the film was released ten years ago.
4The Death of Armando Muñoz
For such an astoundingly good film,X-Men: First Classcauses a lot of issues for the future films in the franchise. However, there is a plot hole within the film that simply doesn’t make sense within the movie’s story alone, and it has to do with the mutant named Armando Muñoz, AKA Darwin (Edi Gathegi). Of course, it’s about the circumstances of his death at the hands of Sebastian Shaw (Kevin Bacon).
Killing the one mutant whose whole thing is not dying is questionable at best and borderline nonsensical at worst.
There’s one major issue with this murder, though. In theory,Armando Muñoz should be borderline unkillable, as his mutant ability is that his body can adapt to literally any sort of attack or environment. His murder at the hands of Shaw comes from an energy blast from within his mouth, burning him from the inside. Except, this should be an attack that Muñoz could have adapted to. His death is very clearly meant to introduce some conflict and inspire the surviving mutants to do better, but they should’ve really gone with another character. Killing the one mutant whose whole thing is not dying is questionable at best and borderline nonsensical at worst.
3Wolverine’s Metal Claws Got a Revival
One of the biggest shocks and reveals at the end ofThe Wolverineis Wolverine sporting bone claws while Charles and Magneto warn him about the creation of the Sentinels, leading directly to the next entry in the franchise. But when that movie finally came around, the ferocious X-Man had his metal claws again in the future scenes with absolutely no explanation as to why or how he got them back.
It’s pretty simply explained that the metal claws made their returnbecause they’re more recognizable and famous to the general audience. WhileX-Men: Days of Future Pastfeatures a Wolverine primarily in his body from the past (when he had bone claws), the inclusion of metal clawsin the dystopian, war-torn futureis pretty confusing and never fully addressed.
2Mystique’s Death
‘X-Men: Dark Phoenix’ (2019)
As a prequel film,X-Men: Dark Phoenixis already pretty nonsensical, especially because it adapts a storyline the X-Men franchise had already tried inX-Men: The Last Stand. But one of the other confusing aspects of the film is Mystique’s death at the hands of the increasingly unhinged Jean Grey (Sophie Turner).
Given how incredibly important Mystique (Rebecca Romijn) is in the laterX-Menfilms,it straight up breaksthe entire X-Men timelinewhen she diesinX-Men: Dark Phoenix. Speculation for Mystique’s unceremonious death in this film has covered every possible explanation, from wanting to increase the stakes to Jennifer Lawrence wanting out of the series. Frankly, any of these theories makes more sense than killing her off and introducing unnecessary chaos into an already uneven series.
1The Entire Ending of ‘Dark Phoenix’
As stated,X-Men: Dark Phoenixexisting at all is a destruction of theX-Mentimeline and the ending cements that statement firmly. Jean Grey dies, and Magneto and Xavier seemingly make peace. This neat conclusion apparently wraps up the prequel franchise in a manner that may as well separate it into a universe of its own.
However, it’s still considered a prequel series to the original trilogy, so this ending is a perfect representation of how Fox most likely felt about the franchise at that point in time. With the MCU rising and Disney completing the Fox acquisition in March 2019, the studio probably wanted to give their series a proper ending, throwing caution to the wind and deliveringa sweet ending at the expense of logic and consistency.
