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Where I'd have liked to have balanced that with more origin background of Professor X and Magneto, the addition of what feels like dozens of other characters has overwhelmed the main ones. Professor X, Jean, Wolverine, Magneto, Mystique. Just focus on those and leave the others in the background (or give them a TV show like Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) . I think the series has suffered from too much of a good thing in terms of character count. By contrast, I think other series like Spider-Man, Batman, and the Avengers have done well because they've limited the focus to just a handful of characters.

David Mumpower: I believe that you are all evaluating the state of the franchise without adapting enough to changing circumstances. We oftentimes discuss how the quality of the previous film directly impacts the opening weekend of the following title. X-Men: Days of Future Past is 92% fresh at RottenTomatoes and received an A Cinemascore from the opening day zealots. Each of those totals surpass the ones for X-Men: First Class (89% fresh/B+ Cinemascore), a movie I personally consider vastly superior.

What we witnessed this weekend is that the decision to reboot with a new cast and new storyteller, following the same model as Batman Begins, paid dividends. Just as was the case with Christopher Nolan’s reinvigoration of the Batman franchise, consumers were reluctant at first but eventually discovered a much better X-Men experience than they had received with X-Men: The Last Stand or either of the Wolverine standalone projects.

The result this weekend was a dramatic increase in opening weekend box office for Days of Future Past. Given that the new movie is even better received than the last one, we should expect another spike in box office for the opening weekend of the already announced X-Men: Apocalypse project. In discussing the muddled nature of the X-Men franchise, people overlook the fact that the overcast skies have now cleared. Sunny days are ahead for Fox and their X-Men.

Kim Hollis: I’d say the franchise is in fine shape at this point. We have a film that has audiences buzzing positively, which means that the upcoming Apocalypse has the potential to be a monster. Fortunately, there is no impending Wolverine film prior to Apocalypse’s release, because that could certainly dilute the brand if the quality is similar to the previous two films.

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