Comic Book References in X-Men: Days of Future Past

So here we are again. Another comic book movie, another list of references. This time, it's X-Men: Days of Future Past. Days of Future Past is itself is the name of a famous X-Men arc that loosely follows the same plot. Is that a reference? No! That's why it's here instead of in the list. ANYWAY, weirdly enough, there weren't a huge amount of references. If I had to guess, I'd say it's because Fox now has a fraction of the universe to work with whereas Marvel has thousands of characters to pull from. So, admittedly, this'll be a short list. ABANDON ALL EXPECTATIONS, YE WHO ENTER HERE FOR THERE BE SPOILERS BELOW! [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="316"] Major Spoiler: Wolverine is in it[/caption]

Quicksilver's Father

Quicksilver -- here more of a jovial Barry Allen than a dickish Pietro Maximoff -- has just sprung Magneto out of a supermax prison underneath the Pentagon. On the elevator ride up he makes idle chat, uttering the line "So you can control metal? Huh. My mom knew a guy who could do that." [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="544"] "He got that hair... from me?"[/caption] In the comics Quicksilver, along with his sister Wanda Maximoff a.k.a The Scarlet Witch, are the offspring of the magnetic mass murderer/Nazi-to-stop-Nazis Magneto. And speaking of...

The Whole Family's Here

Later in the movie, when Magneto is about to gun down most of the US government (thus proving those he's fighting against right) he makes an impassioned speech about mutant superiority on national television. We then see mutants all over the country watching, most of whom will one day join The Brotherhood (... *cough*ofEvilMutants*cough*). Also watching: Yep, that's Pietro and his sister Wanda who, as we've said before, grows up to be the Scarlet Witch. Here's my problem, I mean, I get fathering Pietro. It could have happened one crazy night while Eric was out hunting Nazis, but Wanda's like what? 9? 10? He was locked up or, at least, in the middle of hunting down and murdering mutant-haters. So best case is that she met the guy who got her pregnant once and disappeared, someone she must have known was killing people, and somehow got pregnant by him again. And never mentioned it to Magneto or her kids. That's the most irresponsible parent in the world. But, hey, at least they aren't Ultimate Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch, right? [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="293"] Gross.[/caption]

Ink!

There were a few mutants in Vietnam waiting to be shipped off to Trask Industries, but we've seen them before (Toad, Havoc, Spike, etc). However there was one young mutant covered in tattoos that we saw at the beginning, here in Vietnam, and then again at the end during Magneto's speech. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="638"] This guy[/caption] That's Ink. Each of his tattoos hold a different power, the one shown in the film being his palm's biohazard sign that makes people instantly, grievously sick. In the comics, it's revealed that Ink isn't actually a mutant, it was in reality the tattoo artist who gave him the tattoos exercising him mutant gifts that granted him the powers. For the film, however, it seems Ink is just a tried and true mutant.

The 'M' Scars

Early in the movie, we see a procession of humans and mutants walking into some kind of camp. The mutants, regardless of age, bare 'M's over their eyes. This is, of course, a reference to Bishop and his back story. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="357"] This ray of sunshine[/caption] In the comics, the time traveling Bishop was born in a future where the X-Men were merely legends and due to the catastrophic birth of Hope Summers, most mutants were branded -- or should I say tattooed -- with an M over their eye. Here, the "brands" seem to be scars or, you know, actual branding.

Nimrod... maybe?

This could just be me, but I think the future "dark timeline" Sentinels were vaguely modeled after the character Nimrod. Future Sentinels: Nimrod: [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="324"] There in the back... not the almost naked ladies...[/caption] I mean, Nimrod is a Sentinel from the future and they both have the abilities of shapeshifting and laser, um, blast... deals from their face. Again, maybe it's just me, but it seems like a pretty good nod.

An Apocalyptic Teaser

Yes. We all know now. The after-the-credits scene shows the character Apocalypse. You may have been clued in by the million articles talking about it or the fact that the already planned sequel is called X-Men: Apocalypse. Anywho, we see a crowd of presumably ancient Egyptians chanting "En Sabah Nur" -- the name of the ancient Egyptian mutant that would later become the villain Apocalypse. Here, though, he's blue, weirdly thin, and without his iconic lip... lines? [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Lip tubing?[/caption] BUT THERE'S MORE. We see four men on horseback, which is itself another reference to Apocalypse's Four Horsemen. The Horsemen are usually four people -- mutant and non-mutant alike -- that deal with their respective "themes" (Death, War, Famine, Pestilence) that are recruited by Apocalypse and altered to better do his bidding. More memorable Horsemen include Hulk, Gambit, and Angel (who he took, made blue and equipped with wicked edgy metal wings). Who were the horsemen featured? Not sure. Probably not important. Not until Apocalypse possibly resurfaces in the 80s anyway. What is important is that Cyclops is back in the movies! Eat it Bret Ratner.