Okay, the X-Men Movie timeline. One sec-*vomits*-okay, let's talk about this. 20th Century Fox doesn't seem to care about the timeline for their X-Men films. Anytime people go to see an X-Men film, they always have to ask where it fits in. Plenty of fans have tried to debunk the timeline, but I theorize that after all the stupid decisions that were made there can only be one explanation: there's more than one timeline. In fact, I believe there are four (possibly five) different X-Men film timelines.
The Original Timeline
"The Original Timeline" consists of the first three X-Men films, "X-Men Origins: Wolverine", "The Wolverine", and the Bad Future Segments of "X-Men: Days of Future Past". It is important to note that while Charles Xavier remembers what he was doing in the 1970's (the past segment of "DoFP"), the film's events are not what Charles experienced. In "Origins" we see Professor X in the late 1970's already bald and walking, but in "DoFP" he has hair and is walking with the aid of a drug. The latter version of Charles doesn't lose his hair until "Apocalypse" in the 1980's. Clearly Charles' life differs between "The Original Timeline" and "The New Timeline". We'll revisit the differences when we get to "The New Timeline". You'll also find that this Timeline is the base for most of these other Timelines.
The New Original Timeline
This timeline is almost identical to the "Original Timeline", the only difference is that the Bad Future Segments (and whatever events leading up to that situation) never happen. Instead, we get the Good Future Segment at the end of "DoFP" where The X-Men are just as well-off as they once were. The only character to remember the events of "The Original Timeline" and "DoFP" is Wolverine, who's consciousness was carried into this new Timeline's version of Wolverine, replacing this Timeline's Wolverine's memories. Before Wolverine from "The Original Timeline" inhabited this "New Original Timeline" version of himself, it is likely the "New Original Timeline" version of Wolverine did not experience the events of "The Wolverine". That film only happens the way it does because of Jean Grey's death in "X3", but in this timeline she is alive. At the very least, "The Wolverine" still happens, but not the way we saw it. Oh, and "X3" doesn't happen because it sucked.
The New Timeline
The newest and current timeline we are following. This one consists of "X-Men: First Class", "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (the Past Segments), "X-Men: Apocalypse", and the upcoming "X-Men: Supernova". The defining trait of this timeline is that the aforementioned films are roughly ten years apart: 1960's, 1970's, 1980's, and 1990's respectively. Additionally this timeline's events heavily differ from "The Original Timeline". First are the two different versions of Charles' life in the 1970's I mentioned before, second is Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, and Nightcrawler all being recruited way earlier than they were in "The Original Timeline". The inclusion of Quicksilver and the early reintroduction of Angel both prove the differences as well. The biggest indicator of these films not happening in "The Original Timeline" is that the version of Charles in the Future of "DoFP" doesn't remember speaking to his past self. Meaning Xavier (Patrick Stewart) had a different past than Xavier (James McAvoy).
The Extinction Timeline
This timeline is almost identical to both "The Original Timeline" and "The New Original Timeline", but does not include either outcome shown in "DoFP". "Logan" does not take place after the Good Future of "DoFP", contrary to early belief. Piling information from both film's plots, here is our proof. The Good Future at the end of "DoFP" is in 2023. "Logan" takes place in 2029. In "Logan" we learn the X-Men are dead and that no new mutants have been born in a long time. As if a six year extinction process isn't disbelieving enough in this world of winged men and blue people, we learn the mutant population stopped growing twenty-five years prior to "Logan" in 2004. This means the Good Future of "DoFP" can't happen here because there wouldn't be enough mutants to warrant a school. We don't know how long ago The X-Men died, but it is likely The X-Men died before mutants stopped being born because if the mutant population just stopped in it's tracks The X-Men would likely look into it and prevent it from happening. What we must also consider is that "X2" happens in 2003, a year before this timeline's extinction of mutants. Could this mean "X-Men: The Last Stand" never happened? I know people hated that one, but jeez. It would have to happen though, because we see Wolverine's samurai sword in "Logan" and the events of "The Wolverine" only happen because of "X3" which means some variation of the two films happened while mutants were dying off in the background. Possibly, The X-Men were distracted by the events of this timeline's version of "X3" and were too busy to notice the mutant population was dying off.
The Deadpool Timeline??? Maybe???
Okay, this is that "maybe five" timeline I mentioned. "The Deadpool Timeline" could possibly be it's own timeline, but we have to do some digging to find out if it is or if it fits somewhere else. The problem with studying this film's placement is Wade himself. Because Deadpool breaks the 4th wall and references both "The Original Timeline" and "The New Timeline" we don't know which is real to him. On one hand he remembers being part of Weapon X in "Origins", on the other hand he seemingly knows Charles Xavier has been played by two actors. But just because Deadpool is a poor indicator doesn't mean his supporting characters are. Enter Colossus. The Colossus in "Deadpool" is not the same Colossus from previous movies. I don't base this on actors or appearances because the character William Stryker has been played by, like, four different actors throughout multiple movies and I don't want to base my multiple Timeline theory on that. Rather, we can tell they are different by their heritage. In previous films Colossus speaks with an American accent, but the Colossus we see in "Deadpool" has his thick, authentic, and loyal-to-the-books Russian accent. Could this Colossus be "The New Timeline" version of the character? In the viral marketing material for "DoFP" we see Colossus was born with mutant abilities from the get-go due to the effects of the Chernobyl disaster in Russia. The Chernobyl disaster happened in 1986, so if Colossus was born after it he would be thirty in 2016. Old enough to be a veteran X-Men member. That's pretty solid evidence to imply Deadpool inhabits "The New Timeline". Colossus' sidekick Negasonic Teenage Warhead could also have evidence to back this up. She makes a joke about The X-Men school blowing up every other week. A mere joke, yes. But since we first see the school blow up in "Apocalypse" which is in the 1980's that leaves a lot of time for the school to blow up over and over again. And based on how Colossus acts it seems like The X-Men are your traditional superheroes in 2016, and-traditionally-superheroes' homes explode. So maybe "Deadpool" doesn't exist in it's own timeline, maybe it's part of "The New Timeline", just in a time period we haven't gotten to yet. Wade's involvement with Weapon X could happen a little differently, he could still know or have met this world's Wolverine (assuming his Wolverine jokes were not 4th wall breaks) and that Deadpool Toy based on the "Origins" version of the character was just some other character entirely. Hell, we are getting Cable the time-traveling mutant in "Deadpool 2" so there is no telling what will happen. Cable's appearance will either solidify my thoughts or create even more alternate timelines.
Hmm. "Deadpool" had a Deadpool action figure, "Logan" had X-Men comics. I'm not saying this connects the films in anyway, but maybe these newer movies featuring X-Men merchandise means mutants become publicly accepted. Perhaps a sign that these newer timelines won't continue the age-old dilemma of mutants being hated and feared. I mean, if The X-Men and other mutants have toys and comics based off of them, then at some point the general public must feel differently. Maybe we'll see the world change their opinions on mutant-kind as these movies go on.
You know, unless we all live in the "Marvel Gets The X-Men Back Timeline".
Thanks for reading!
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