I haven't been a Marvel fan for very long and have only just started watching the films in the last few weeks. I've become a real fan of Iron Man, Captain America and the rest of the Avengers, and I am currently enjoying the X-Men franchise, but Deadpool looks absolutely terrible. The trailer says it all for me, bad, unfunny jokes, strong language, sexual violence and just too gory. And on top of this all, he's not even a hero! Why would I want to watch a whole movie about this character, a character I really couldn't care about. The whole thing is very un-Marvel! I won't bother watching this one!

I see no difference at all. In my opinion, Deadpool seems to be just like the Disney MCU, only "harder." Either way, I probably won't watch it; which is sad since Deadpool is one of my favorite Marvel characters. I think a lot rides on this movie, though.

If it fails - this is a big hit for superhero films in general. They weren't really able to push Ant Man in theaters, and, now, a second under-preforming flick could make the studios think twice about what to release next.

If it succeeds - I think Disney will take this as a sign that comic fans want darker and more R-rated stories. I can foresee, if this was a very high grossing film, other MCU editions take on an 'R' rating as well (hopefully through Touchstone Pictures) ...

Fingers crossed Deadpool will flop... I'd like to see Disney in particular get more focused on making great experiences again. The MCU didn't start off too shabby, but, I'd love to see it refreshed.

Well, if Marvel decides that they want to make more R-rated movies, I probably won't watch them anymore.

I love the concept of Deadpool, an irresponsible person with super powers who just runs around doing whatever he wants and annoying everyone, but I can't tell yet if I'll like the execution, only time will tell.

I do think this is a pretty good time for it to come out though, with all the super hero movies feeling similar, its nice to see this and Suicide Squad bringing a different dynamic to the table, even if they don't turn out great.

Tony Stark may not be an anti hero, but he has a sense of humour, without being so outrageously bad.

Good, I can put my popcorn box on your seat, then.

Within the fictional universe I think that is exactly what they are implying. I was taken a back when I noticed that in the trailer as well. I think the Fox owed X-Men franchise is trying to explain God in their films in a similar way Disney and Marvel Studios have for Nors mythology. Basically saying that the reason primitive man worshiped these beings is because they couldn't understand their power. But the difference in the two is that Nors mythology is universally considered to be not true and thus it works for most in a fictional setting. Where as taking modern religions like Christianity and trying to explain them the same way doesn't work so well since millions (including myself) still believe in that faith.

One other difference is that Marvel Studious have explicitly stated that Thor and the other "gods" are in fact not gods in the Marvel universe. But I'm still unsure whether Apocalypse is meant to be the same or in fact be God in the film.

For anyone a little confused, in the comics Apocalypse gets a lot of his non-mutant powers (and his funky armour) from the Celestials, a race of space-gods who sort of oversee different aspects of universal progression. Specifically, he gets his power from the Celestial Gardener. However, I believe those rights lie with Marvel Studios, and also it would be quite a step to go from their earth-bound canon to space-gods without an introduction to aliens on a smaller scale in-between. Where I say space-gods, I should also point out that within the comics, there is one true god called the One-Above-All, generally considered to be the Judeo-Christian, monotheistic god worshipped by a vast chunk of Marvel's audience. They're never oblique about it, but the imagery is there; he/she is god, but on an omniversal scale, and so you have a sort of heirachy of belief systems that operate underneath.

Anyhow, I digress. As I was saying, in the comics Apocalypse's backstory is more complicated, however the implication is that he assumed the role of various Kemetic deities (which the post-credits scene from DofP and the new movie's trailer suggest the filmmakers have chosen to keep), and though they never outright connect him to other, more widely-practiced religions, there's a lot of biblical imagery. I'd actually be disappointed if they left out the latter, particularly considering the aspect of the Four Horsemen which is so deeply ingrained in X-Men mythology.

Apocalypse isn't just a mutant either. He's a king, an emperor, and he has a reputation to uphold. So whether he actually is a religious figure or not may irrelevant, because he could be bluffing. He could be appropriating the names of feared, powerful gods, and their imagery, in order to make himself seem more enigmatic, more powerful, and to really give his enemies something to fear (bear in mind that at the time when he was first active, the general population were highly superstitious).

And what's to say that, as the first mutant, and one of great power, he doesn't genuinely believe that he is a god made flesh?

But above all, bear in mind that the filmmakers have the same right to express their beliefs as you do, and they may not be Christian. While in terms of publicity it may not be smart, in terms of story it makes a lot of sense. So far, the X-Men universe is a secular, science fiction universe (I don't mean none of the characters are religious, I mean that the laws of this world are governed by science and not belief, the supernatural, or religious philosophy), so there's no reason for a group of agnostic or atheist filmmakers to not treat Christianity the same way as Kemeticism or folk religion. I have no idea whether the filmmakers are, but bear it in mind that they might be religious, they might not, and either way they're perfectly free to use their personal philosophies to inform the stories they want to tell.

What I'm trying to say is that there are a bunch of reasons why they might be using religious imagery and iconography in X-Men: Apocalypse, and the fact they are doesn't have to be a bad thing depending on the filmmakers' intentions, and on what we as the audience read into it. I wouldn't jump to be offended until you've actually seen the film.

Sorry for the wall.

Side-note, if there's a Foxverse thread, these posts should probably be moved there. Like Smeagol said, the MCU is completely separate.

"Nothing goes down 'less I'm involved. No nuggets. No onion rings. No nothin'. A cheeseburger gets sold in the park, I want in! You got fat while we starved on the streets...now it's my turn!" -Harley Morenstein

I retitled accordingly to make the thread more open.

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