Hey there Comic Nation?! I’ve seen the new X-Men film Days of Future Past and realy liked it! Check out my review over here! For fun, I thought it would be cool to compare the three different mediums that this story has been told especially since I have Uncanny X-Men #141 and 142. I (carefully) read these issues and watched the two-part story arc episodes from the 90’s animated series just to see what easter eggs and inspirations, if any, were present in the film. Here’s my look and loose comparisons to them. WARNING! This may contain light spoilers.

The Comic: In the original comic story, Rachel Grey (future daughter of Scott Summers and Jean Grey) sends the mind of Kitty Pride back to her younger body to warn the X-Men of the terrible future. Mystique and her Brotherhood of Evil Mutants (Avalanche, Pyro, Blob, and Destiny) mean to set an example by killing Senator Robert Kelly, Professor Charles Xavier, and Doctor Moira McTaggart. In the end, they stop the assassination attempt and it is unclear as to if it made any difference to the future. The story does end with the President, Senator Kelly, and Sebastian Shaw talking about handling the mutant problem moving forward. The President then introduces Henry Peter Gyrich, the man who is to move forward with a new Sentinel program. The future X-Men involves Wolverine, Kitty, Colosus, Storm, and Franklin Richards (son of Reed Richards). The line-up for the past X-Men are led by team member Storm, Nightcrawler, Wolverine, Colosus, Kitty, and Angel. Magneto is barely in this story. Gambit and Bishop is not part of this story.

Animated Series: Fox’s hit series had two episodes dedicated to the story that was a bit different. Inventor Forge sends Bishop back in time to stop an assassination attempt on the life of not Senator, but President Kelly. Apparently, Gambit and the X-Men are to blame for the horrible future. It turns out that Mystique and her brotherhood (Avalanche, Pyro, and Blob) had similar plans in the comics with one difference, she shape-shifts into Gambit before making her move. The real Gambit shows up and thwarts her plans. Bishop returns to his time to find out that nothing has changed. The episode ends in the present with the mysterious kidnapping of President Kelly by Magneto (his only involvement in the story). The future X-Men were Wolverine, Storm, Bishop, and Forge. The present line-up consisted of Beast, Storm, Wolverine, Rogue, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Gambit, and Jubilee. No Destiny or Kitty Pride.

T he Film: The film itself did draw upon both of these in a bit. The main thing to remember is that they are adapting the concept, story, and ideas into the story that they are already telling. Some things will be different. The main difference is that Kitty is sending Wolverine back in into his younger body. It’s the 70’s. Wolverine doesn’t have his adamantium skeleton just yet. He must use his knowledge of the future to bring together two people, Charles Xavier and Magneto, to stop Mystique from setting into motion the events that will lead to the dystopian future he has come from. Without spoiling anything we do get an idea of how things pan out in the future. The future X-Men line-up consist of Storm, Colosus, Iceman, Blink, Bishop, Kitty, Wolverine, Warpath, Sunspot, Magneto, and Professor X. The past X-Men are pretty thin with only Beast, Wolverine, Professor X, an assist from a young Quicksilver, and an uneasy alliance with Magneto. Mystique really doesn’t have a brotherhood just yet, but we see the likes of Toad and Havok in a cool sequence. Destiny is not a part of this film’s brotherhood. Gambit has not been part of the X-men in the films but did play a part in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. His future is in the hands of Channing Tatum, who has been cast as the Cajun thief for future films.

There you have it folks! I realize that there are many other subtle differences that I left out, these were the main and most important ones to me. I mainly did this because I read lots of stories, articles, and comments about comic book films. People get really hyped up when things aren’t like they remember them in the comics. Some people even feel a sense of self entitlement, like you are ruining something if they don’t do what YOU want. Point being, above you have three different mediums that tell the same story and each one of them works with the stories being told by each medium. At least that’s my take. What do you think? Sound off in the comments below!