Film guide · 2014

X-Men: Days of Future PastComplete Guide

The parts that are hard to follow from the film alone, explained with a story summary, a character map and key terms.

Released
2014
Runtime
132 min
Set in
Alternate universe (Fox)

Good to know before watchingNo spoilers

Two timelines

The film cuts between the future (around 2023) and 1973, with both the original and younger casts.

The young trio

Young Charles, Erik and Raven are at the heart of it. They first met in X-Men: First Class (2011).

Changing history

Changing the past erases some of what happened in the original trilogy.

Stay through the credits

A scene sets up the next film.

Character mapSpoilers

Who's who in X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014), with Logan at the center. The future is at the top, 1973 at the bottom.

Because of copyright, we can't use stills, posters or any other images of the characters as they appear in the film. All face photos are freely licensed photos of the actors themselves (non-human characters are original illustrations made for this site; people without a photo are shown with initials).

Drag to move, pinch (or scroll on a computer) to zoom. Tap a person to read about them.

All characters

About the images

Face photos are freely licensed photos of the actors from Wikimedia Commons, cropped to a square and resized. Non-human characters are original illustrations made for this site, and people without a photo are shown with a placeholder (initials).

StorySpoilers

Read the story (spoilers up to the ending)

1. A dying future

Hunted by Sentinels, the last mutants try one final plan.

2. Back to 1973

Kitty sends Logan's mind into his younger body.

3. Young Charles

Logan finds a young Charles who has given up.

4. Breaking out Erik

With the help of a lightning-fast teen, Peter, they free Erik.

5. Paris and Washington

Stopping Raven leads to chaos in two cities.

Read the detailed scene-by-scene story

Key terms

Sentinels
Giant robots built to hunt mutants. In the future, they can adapt to any power.
Bolivar Trask
The scientist who created the Sentinels, convinced mutants are a threat.
The Paris Peace Accords
The 1973 talks to end a war, where one event decides the future.
Cerebro
Professor X's device for reaching minds anywhere in the world.
Hank's serum
A drug that lets young Charles walk, at the cost of his telepathy.

Confusing parts, explainedSpoilers

Contains spoilers about the ending.

Why Logan?

Sending a mind back decades tears it apart. Only Logan, who heals from anything, can survive it.

Why does Raven matter so much?

If she kills Trask, she's captured and studied. Her shape-shifting DNA makes the Sentinels adaptable and unstoppable.

Who rescues Logan at the end?

He looks like Stryker, but his eyes flash yellow: it's Mystique in disguise.

What about the original trilogy?

Because the past changed, Logan wakes up in a future where Jean and Scott are alive. The tragedies of The Last Stand never happened.

Easy-to-miss details

The kitchen scene

Peter, Quicksilver, zipping through frozen bullets while listening to music is one of the film's most famous scenes.

Two Professors

Through Logan's mind, young Charles talks with his older self.

Lifting a stadium

Erik lifts an entire stadium and drops it around the White House.

The ending and post-creditsSpoilers

After the end credits

Post-credits: a powerful mutant (Apocalypse) gathers power in ancient Egypt.

What to watch next

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