X-Men again; and this time Days of Future Past? You can’t deny the effect the Children of the Atom have on pop culture. And after refreshing history through Disney+ now’s a good time as any to analyze the impact. Now this isn’t about the best adaptation, this post is about which leaves the best lasting legacy.

Days of Future Past: The Original

To little surprise this title comes from the mind of Chris Claremont, one of the de facto X-Men scribes. Claremont’s work defines the X-Men for generations to come by showing the very human struggle of acceptance. With mutants becoming a substitute for marginalized people, there’s no better way to show that struggle because you exist than through concentration camps. Which is where Days of Future Past comes in. The Sentinels from the Stan Lee and Jack Kirby era represent how bigotry can become a weapon against its users. Days of Future Past uses that premise to a post-apocalyptic level.

In the series, the Sentinels have conquered the future by not only targeting mutants but all superhumans. Naturally with no other protectors, the only enforcement exist with the Omega Sentinels and Nimrod. Yet it seems normal humans don’t have much of a life. Which is all the more worse when the Sentinels are ready to start nuclear holocaust. Because for them it’s easier to prevent more mutants from showing up by killing everybody. So Wolverine sends Kate Pryde back into the past through the body of Kate’s past self Kitty. All to stop the assassination of Senator Robert Kelly, Professor X, and Moira MacTaggert by the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. Kate ends up succeeding to save another time from going down her world’s path.

Legacy Of Cross-Time

Not a bad series, just a bad conclusion

However as some comic fans will notice, nothing in the DoFP timeline changes. Because this story is John Byrne‘s idea and is merely retrofitted into a post-Dark Phoenix world. As such there are a number of anomalies that continue to plague X-Men like cross-time travel. Which is only there to justify the existence of Rachel Summers, who does not exist in the main timeline. Her mother Jean was already dead at this time. Don’t go into retcon details, that’s another thing to bring up. Several creators that come afterwards like Brian Michael Bendis continue to have time travel come up. The purposes are meant to be retrospective but mean next to nothing in the long run.

The idea of cross time travel might sound good to a physicist in order to prevent the grandfather paradox. But that begs the question on whether the initial acts of time travel were even worth it. Sure it’s altruistic but it doesn’t make any practical sense. In fact the stakes feel even lower on the future’s side. That as well as the Sentinels have become a crutch for X-Men stories as much anti-mutant attitudes.

The Fox’s Day of a New Future

In fact that’s a topic of the live action movie adaptation of this story. In it, mutants aren’t really a subject of hate as much as they are subjects of exploitation. Their abilities are a means to drive technological progress in a vain attempt to unite humanity. Or in the case of FOX, a means to start anew after a number of failures. With every other good X-Man gone in X-Men: The Last Stand, resetting the timeline is just a means of wiping the slate clean. Not to mention get away with what little time FOX has left with Hugh Jackman. It’s the whole reason his Wolverine is the POV character instead of Kitty.

Getting out of a famous actor’s shadow is very hard work.

But if anyone’s familiar with X-Men: Apocalypse or Dark Phoenix, this did not turn out well. Due in no small part of Disney acquiring the numerous rights surrounding the franchise. Dark Phoenix wanted to use the Skrulls but Disney pulled the pants down on FOX as development almost finished. Company politics don’t just affect comics.

Wolverine’s Days Past for the Future

Some of those company politics even affect a notable adaptation. Wolverine and the X-Men‘s entire season bases itself around Days of Future Past. This time it goes into greater lengths about the process of the Sentinels and the effects of its buildup. Rather than sending someone back into the past, it’s a back and forth take of how the past and future affect each other. This allows the future Prof. X to share intel with the present X-Men like with the AI Master Mold. It’s cross time travel at its best.

Since the early episodes, people see the effect the Sentinels have on the populace. They can be more terrifying than the already present anti-mutant militias who unlawfully take people from their homes. The only reason the Sentinels pass at all is because some mutants like Magneto want a war. In short both sides end up fulfilling their own prophecies because they believe there’s something to gain. But the greater evil comes from a loss of resources.

It’s all well and good to make promises if they can lead to something big. Both in the show and out of it though, it might’ve been best to keep expectations low. For Senator Kelly it’s when Worthington Enterprises folds their funding for his anti-mutant campaign. Because with all the damage Warren does to Angel, it’s just not worth it in the long run. As for the folding financial backers of the show, it’s not about who owns the rights like FOX’s predicament. If some YouTube analysts are any indication, action animation is too expensive to keep up without merchandise.

The Past Days Do Justice For The Future

Face it, Bishop is the real reason people love this.

That’s one of the only reasons the 90s X-Men could thrive. With Saban’s flexible merch backing this series, the show runners could do what they want. For Days of Future Past, it’s arguably the best depiction of how the Sentinels can go wrong. As it turns out, even with mutants out of the way, the Sentinels could still be weapons for anything else including as means to forcibly win debates. Because once one obstacle is done with, who knows when the next one will show up? I know X-Men likes looking into the future; but who knew it could predict the future?

But more importantly this iteration features real consequences. Even when the assassination attempt is prevented, there are still threats to deal with. Because conflicts like that are a symptom not the disease. The X-Men dedicate themselves to fighting against these artificial barriers between them and others. Yet it’s that will to fight that cause some of their opponents to reflect on their actions. It’s what allows Senator Kelly to back away from his anti-mutant agenda after all.

The Best Legacy

In the end much like X-Men and what conflicts they face, it’s all a matter of chance on what you leave behind. More often than not people are going to get challenges that are next to impossible to overcome. For creatives that means circumstances that are beyond their control. The best thing to do is try to make the most of things while committing to the premise. The 90s X-Men series fits this perfectly. In case people don’t know, Kitty/Kate Pryde isn’t around due to a failed X-Men pilot. So while a central piece of the original canon is missing, the creators refuse to slow down. In doing so they expand upon the original ideas into something people can get behind.

That’s not to say that the other series are worse. It depends on the creators and the circumstances behind them. Everybody has their own story to tell, it’s just a matter of using the material you’ve got on you.

Thanks for coming and as always, remember to look between the panels.

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