What The HECK!? Was I SLEEPING!!

OK, by now most of you have figured out I'm a bit of a Fanboy and film nut!  Several times I have raved about the joys of being a Fanboy in today's day and age of high technology for filmmakers and their ability to make anything come alive on the big screen.  With that reality comes a slue of big budgets flicks to the point of me being somewhat unable to keep track.  So a few weeks ago when my son Elijah (an even bigger and better informed movie nut then me!) mentioned in passing that the next X-men movie would have Quicksilver in it (an interesting side note as the same character is purportedly to appear in the next Avengers movie with his sister the Scarlet Witch.  Both of whom are the children of Magneto)   At the time he mentioned it I happened to be watching "West Wing" so shamefully I gave him only partial attention.  But then this morning a I was leafing through the news I caught a blurb about Bryan Singer's Sentinels?!

WAIT A MINUTE!!!
The Sentinels have been an intricate part of the Mutant World at Marvel and a sticky, dangerous thorn in the X-men's side since 1965!  So it was inevitable that they would make it into a X-Men flick.  They did pay homage to these Purple Goliaths in X-Men 3 during the Danger Room simulation, also paying tribute to the Milestone 2 issue story arc from X-men 141-142 way back in 1981! 

 

So it was with a sudden jolt to my heart and a boyish fanboy glee that I absorbed the impact of the movie's title (to be released in 2014) "X-Men: Days of Future Past"!!
Yes folks the original title to the monumental milestone created by the greatest creative team since Lee and Kirby, Chris Claremont and John Byrne!  To the uninitiated this is unimpressive, but believe you me, this storyline is to comics what "Gone With The Wind" is to Movies, what Martin Luther King is to Civil Rights!  You get the picture.  Hard to believe that this had passed my attention unnoticed! 
Brief "comic book" synopsis.  In the near future Mutants are hunted and if not destroyed are incarcerated in internment camps, the Sentinels (robot hunters) are the main adversary.  In an attempt to stave off this dystopian future Kitty Pryde (yes, she was MUCH more of an important character then the first three movies let on!) transfers her future mind into that of her younger self to stop a dramatic event in her past that brings about the genocide of her kind.  Now here's the rub. As this story was steeped in the continuity of the comic book they will obviously have to make changes in the storyline.  For starters, the event that triggers the anti-mutant crusade is the Brotherhood of Mutants assassinating Senator Kelly, a blatantly anti-mutant political figure who happens to have died in X-men 1.  It is with great hope  they do this story justice!  Not like the weak and flaccid interpretation of the Galactus saga that was sadly butchered in Fantastic Four 2; Rise of the Silver Surfer.  Sorry...Galactus was NOT a freaking cloud! 
And after researching the stats on the flick it appears they are headed in the right direction! (although I do have three complaints: No mention of Colossus (how the heck can you have a "Fastball Special" without him! (that's where he picks up and impressively throws Wolverine, claws out) nor Angel (only because I REALLY like that character) and they left out the future furry Beast as played by Kelsey Grammer (he was classic in that role)) Most of the original cast from BOTH X-men movie franchises are reprising their roles! 
Now hold their for a moment.  Absorb the impact of that statement.  12 pretty much MAJOR stars will be returning to ensure the validity of this film.  Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, Anna Paquin, Ian McKellen, Micheal Fassbender, James Marsden to name a few. 
What does that mean?  Well aside from a paycheck and a contract they are ensuring the impact and importance of this film!  I can remember a time when playing an iconic comic book character was considered a career killer.  Most lukewarm films were cast with c-list actors, or unknowns.  When Superman debut, Christopher Reeves was a nobody.  Does anyone remember Dolph Lungren as The Punisher? 
Not to mention that Hollywood has FINALLY come to understand that that which is important to the geek and fanboys of the world deserves respect!  That paying homage to a classic comic storyline is just as important as getting Moby Dick or The Great Gatsby right! Comics have come into their own and the world at large is beginning to realize that this uniquely AMERICAN made art/literary form is not one deserving of scorn and ridicule remanded to the dusty qualification of children's stories! 
It was only a couple of decades ago I was a young man working in the industry and was sitting In a panel discussion at a Boston Comic Book convention.  One of the head honchos of the then as of yet released 1989 flick "The Punisher" starring the aforementioned dolt, was hyping the movie.  On stage with him, amongst other paraphernalia was a large reproduction of the promotional poster featuring the Punisher wielding impressive firepower in front of a motorcycle...

What was missing, blatantly so was the Punishers trade mark Skull uniform....

When a very astute young fan asked the question that apparently was on every ones mind "why isn't he wearing the skull?" to which the suit responded "the producers of the film thought the costume was too "comic booky""
OUCH! 
He had apparently not been informed that that was because the character was FROM a comic book!
Yes, we have come light years from that time, and I thank the Gods of Simon, Kirby, Lee, Ditko, Wood, Byrne, and all the others that the lesser Gods of Hollywood have finally grasped their vision!
Amen.