Theory about how it'll all fit together (timelines, plotholes, and previous movies)

[FeedOnATreeFrog]

After X3 (and The Wolverine), Mutants rise again, causing humans to turn to the sentinels for protection which lead to a catastrophic global war. Rogue, Iceman, etc all die, etc.

Wolverine (or Kitty Pryde) time travels to change some key event that would prevent all this, but gets sent too far back, to around 1930. He/she lays low (as not to change too much in the timeline) until the time is right to tell Charles Xavier.

As a result of the delicate nature of time-travel, and the resulting butterfly effect, the timeline has been distorted, warped, and dragged back in a sense. Many events are happening differently, and often much sooner than they did in the previous timeline, even births.

This act of time-travelling results in the First Class timeline. (thus the discrepancies regarding Xavier in the chair, emma frost, Beast, Havoc, Emma Frost, etc)

(This is also a cheeky way to account for the actors being different, as genetics are not the exact same with the butterfly effect).

This is why Storm and Cyclops (and Havok, his brother), Emma Frost, etc, are born much earlier.
(it was indeed the young-teen Cyclops and Storm that Xavier saw when using Cerebro for the first time in First Class)

DoFP apparently takes place in 1973. By this time, Cyclops, Jean, and Storm would be in their mid-twenties (new actors), ready to be recruited by the time-traveller to stop the event.

This is the original cast's last movie. We never see the original timeline again (as there's nothing really to see except rubble and dead bodies).

Even though they accomplish the task they believe will prevent an apocalyptic future, they still aren't sure that it won't happen for them, and it's something that looms in the back of Xavier's mind for the rest of the series.

[Asteroid-Man]

So then was Wolverine in the bar in FC future Wolvie or past-wolvie?

[The Guard]

(it was indeed the young-teen Cyclops and Storm that Xavier saw when using Cerebro for the first time in First Class)

If they're doing the whole "psychic mind swap" method of time travel...consider: it's not farfetched that the characters we think are Scott and Ororo in FIRST CLASS could have been Xavier seeing them, but seeing them through time via some sort of loop/kink in the astral/psychic plane.

My guess/hope:

Some event in DAYS OF FUTURE PAST in the 70's, an assassination/ongoing acts of terrorism, make things worse than they would otherwise have been had (Xavier) survived, bringing the mutants into the public consciousness as a perceived threat much earlier than the timeline of the original films, which causes humanity to persecute mutants far earlier and more intensely than what we saw in previous films.

This change in interactions between humans and mutants, and the subsequent earlier registration act and related development of the Sentinel program makes William Stryker's "secret" war on the mutants unneccessary, as well as the approach of finding a cure a whole lot less likely, since mutants are widely persecuted and feared on a much more intense level.

As such, the events of Alkali Lake never happen because Stryker never needs to make them happen with most of humanity already hating mutants, and Jean, who does have power manifesting, never becomes Dark Phoenix (at least not right away), because she never has to die at Alkali Lake. So on a positive note, she, Xavier and Cyclops never died in this altered timeline, but they did have to deal with the not so distant future of Sentinels and heavier mutant persecution. They may well have died there, or they might just have been imprisoned, and could then show up at the end of the film after being liberated, ready for new ongoing adventures in a more familiar, more dangerous and mistrusting X-Men world, complete with sentinels and a world that truly hates and fears and persecutes mutants. If they wanted to make a non FIRST CLASS X-movie, or one more with the original cast, it would set up The Mutant Massacre/Sinister and Apocalypse quite nicely, wouldn't it?

As for Xavier being able to walk in X3...either a wizard did it, or at some point, Magneto uses time travel somehow to alter the event he feels responsible for, crippling Charles.

Anyway, it touches on all the key X-Men films, and X-MEN: FIRST CLASS and the original X-Men franchise would be revealed to be films that ultimately take place in two different timelines, with DAYS OF FUTURE PAST setting up a "possible third timeline/future" (possibly even the ideal end to the franchise in many X-Men fans' minds).

So you'd have, when the dust settled:

1st timeline X-MEN, X2, X3, WOLVERINE, THE WOLVERINE

2nd timeline FIRST CLASS, DAYS OF FUTURE PAST, whatever the third film is

3rd timeline Anything moving past the events of the future in DAYS OF FUTURE PAST.

[FeedOnATreeFrog]

Originally Posted by Asteroid-Man

So then was Wolverine in the bar in FC future Wolvie or past-wolvie?

Either.

Perhaps it's just the oblivious Wolverine of First Class's present day.

Or perhaps it's the time-traveler Wolverine. He didn't think it was time to make himself known, and thus had to deflect their conversation as quickly as possible. Thus the "go f yourself"

All I know is that I don't think we ever need to follow the ignorant pre X-men Wolverine, searching for answers about his past, etc, ever again, as we've had several movies of that.

If the studios insist on putting Wolverine in there, I'd much rather that we were following the time-travelling Wolverine, the same guy we've been watching throughout the series.
Instead of giving us a retread with an alternate Wolverine, just continue the story of the guy we've been watching the entire series, offering him a different dynamic between him and the new recruits-- Scott, Jean, etc. (people who we never got to see join the team in the original movies).

I wouldn't be surprised if this was Jackman's last film.
If so, I think a great ending to his story would be if he was the last person (or one of the few) left on Earth after the catastrophic mutant-sentinel war after X3 (since he's practically indestructible and doesn't age). Make the future an extremely barren and lonely place. Perfectly fitting for Wolverine.

However, through whatever means, he's given the opportunity to travel back in time. The caveat is that the time-travel will slowly cause his mind to decompose, which even Wolverine can't heal from, which would truly kill him. Wolverine decides that there are more important things than survival, so he decides to go back in time (this time sacrificing himself to allow Jean and Scott to be with one another).

[Hawkingbird]

I think it would be too complicated to explain Wolverine going back to the 1940s. However it would make sense that his First Class appearance was the time travelling Wolverine. I'd rather it not be, I think it takes the edge off that particular appearance.

[FeedOnATreeFrog]

Originally Posted by Hawkingbird

I think it would be too complicated to explain Wolverine going back to the 1940s. However it would make sense that his First Class appearance was the time travelling Wolverine. I'd rather it not be, I think it takes the edge off that particular appearance.

The only reason I say 1940 is because the way I understand it, he has to arrive before any changes take place (for any plot-holes to be resolved)

Anybody who's older than they should be in First Class can directly related to the time traveler. (Emma Frost, Havoc, etc)

However, this means that the timetraveler would have had to arrive early enough so that changes could take place that allow Emma Frost to be 30 in First Class instead of being born in the 60's (given her appearance in Origins Wolverine). Thus the timetraveler would have had to arrive at least 30 years prior to First Class, around 1930. Not 1940 actually.

[The Guard]

Wolverine wouldn't need to "go back" to the 1940's. Wolverine wouldn't neccessarily need to go back at all. He was already there.

[FeedOnATreeFrog]

Originally Posted by The Guard

Wolverine wouldn't need to "go back" to the 1940's. Wolverine wouldn't neccessarily need to go back at all. He was already there.

Future Wolverine isn't in the 1940's. He'd have to back.

[The Guard]

Who says they're going to use future Wolverine?

[FeedOnATreeFrog]

They could use past Wolverime. But that'd be a little repetitive given that we already watched several movies of the naive, answers searching, pre xmen Wolverine in the original movies.

I would rather see the Wolvy we already know, instead of seeing Wolvy get introduced to mutants and the xmen again like he did in x1.

[Nave 'Torment']

I'd also rather see Logan coming straight off of The Wolverine in some capacity -- the guy who links this entire odyssey together. It makes sense.

[Lightning Strykez!]

Interesting ideas here. Reading them makes my brain matter ooze from my ears, but...interesting nonetheless.

[Donut]

When it comes to time travel. Just go with the flow

[bhayes]

here's what i think they should do.

something happens in the past...after the events of "the wolverine"

and basically we have a sentinel future..like in the animated series and we get time shock waves.

go see x-men the animated series "one man's worth"






and we have a reunion of the entire cast from the trilogy. even kelsey grammer, alan cumming, halle berry, daniel cudmore, angel...everybody gets cameos.





even stryker (brian cox) is alive because this is an alternate future.





and in this sentinel future it's something similar to terminator salvation.



and wolverine is one of the leaders in the resistance. but is killed on a mission.

and xavier, magneto and the crew realize now that they need to send back a time traveler "ellen page" to the past using cerebro.

and basically she ends up in the past with the FC group.

and essentially she has to convince the 1972 bone claws wolverine to help out. this is the same wolverine who said "go **** yourself" from first class because they don't have the man power to fight the enemy.

and it's a good way to establish continuity with "the wolveine" since we know there will be a highlander-ish like flashback with bone claws.

he initially doesn't want to get involved. but he decides to join the team.
and wears a cool jump suit and looks like a temporary team member.

and this is when we get introduced to a young william stryker and jason stryker when he is first brought to the school.

so they learn that President Nixon is killed by a mutant which starts the sentinel to being created by trask.

so in the final battle wolverine gets his bone claws crushed damaged and stryker recuits wolverine near the end of the film.

and ellen page returns to the future. i hope its something like that.

this way. "x men orgins" can be forgotten about once in for all.

[3X0dus]

Has anyone considered that the final battle will bring both timelines together, kill off the least popular or most unlikely to resign in future movies, and merge what's left into a team of the characters that are most popular, or played by actors easiest to bring back in the future? I can see it happening.

[def28]

Stryker better not be in this film. He gets way too much credit for tis series.

[Angamb]

yeah, the less Wolverine origin/Striker on future "Team" sequels the better

[3X0dus]

I don't know, I kind of preferred Liev Schreiber over Tyler Mane.

[psylockolussus]

At this point, Stryker, Weapon X and origins of Wolverine should be done now. They already gave focus to it for 2 films. FOX is already stepping into another territory with Days of Future Past and Wolverine with the Japan storyline.