James McAvoy Says ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ Started the Superhero Mashup Craze

These days, superhero movies routinely lean on multiverses, time travel and returning legacy casts, with ‘Spider-Man: No Way Home’ and ‘Deadpool & Wolverine’ both built on the idea. Yet one franchise got there years earlier, and ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past‘ still comes up whenever the conversation turns to crossover movies.

Released in 2014, the film was directed by Bryan Singer and brought together the casts of ‘X-Men: First Class’ and the original trilogy. It sent Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine back in time to prevent a mutant genocide, adapting a classic 1981 comic storyline by Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin. Producer Simon Kinberg has said time travel was the device that let the movie bridge both casts while each kept its own timeline.

For James McAvoy, it was a rare chance to share a story with the actor whose shoes he had stepped into. He took over Charles Xavier in ‘First Class’ after Patrick Stewart’s turn in the original trilogy, and ‘Days of Future Past’ put both versions in the same film. Aside from Jackman, McAvoy was the only ‘First Class’ actor to share screen time with someone from the original cast.

Now McAvoy is looking back at the film’s place in comic book movie history. Appearing on Josh Horowitz’s ‘Happy Sad Confused’ podcast, he said the movie felt like it arrived “right at the beginning of all these mashups” and that the filmmakers pulled the approach off brilliantly.

He admitted, however, that he wasn’t always convinced. According to ComicBook.com, McAvoy said he was nervous going in, since ‘First Class’ had taken such a different direction. The sequel’s return to the tone of Singer’s earlier X-Men films felt like a misstep to him at the time. He now says he was wrong and calls the finished movie incredible.

It isn’t the first time he has made the point. At a New York Comic Con panel last year, McAvoy said the film was one of the first to dive into timeline and cross-universe storytelling. He was careful not to claim credit, since he neither wrote nor directed it, and he called it a toss-up between this film and ‘First Class’ for his favorite.

That view has plenty of support. Screen Rant noted that the franchise explored alternate timelines and legacy cast returns years before the MCU did. ComicBook.com, meanwhile, framed the film as a pioneer of later crossover blockbusters like ‘Avengers: Infinity War’.

McAvoy’s experience on set was also unusual. He previously said his time with Stewart overlapped for just one day, though the two still shared a scene. He spent far more of the shoot working with Jackman and Nicholas Hoult.

The comments land as the MCU leans on that same X-Men history. Marvel has confirmed Stewart as Professor X, Ian McKellen as Magneto, James Marsden as Cyclops, Kelsey Grammer as Beast, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler and Channing Tatum as Gambit for ‘Avengers: Doomsday’. The Russo brothers’ film is scheduled for Dec. 18.

McAvoy isn’t among those confirmed X-Men names. Marvel insider Alex Perez said he heavily doubts the ‘First Class’ cast will return, adding that nothing has been mentioned on that front. SuperHeroHype noted that would make a comeback for McAvoy’s Professor X unlikely, though it remains an unverified rumor.

For fans, the irony is hard to miss. An actor who once thought the sequel was a misstep now points to it as an early blueprint for the mashup era. ComicBook.com also argued that the steep drop in acclaim and box office for ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ and ‘Dark Phoenix’ makes ‘Days of Future Past’ look even stronger by comparison.

Whether or not McAvoy ever returns to the MCU, his comments are a reminder of how much of today’s multiverse playbook traces back to that 2014 film.

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