The Ending Of X-Men: Apocalypse Explained

The third installment of the rebooted X-Men arc has concluded, but that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of loose ends left dangling—and hopefully leading to bigger and better things. While the film hasn't been showered with praise by critics, we're willing to bet a lot of true believers weren't disappointed with the way the fight against Apocalypse went down. After the dust settled, we had a lot of questions—and while we don't have Jean Grey-level telepathic powers or access to the producers' minds, here's what we've figured out from the end of X-Men: Apocalypse. Oh, SPOILERS AHEAD.

It's happened once again. Jean Grey tapped into her true potential and unleashed the Phoenix Force in order to help bring down Oscar Isaac's blue-faced Apocalypse, and all the Big Bad could say in response after witnessing her power was, "All is revealed." (That doesn't sound super ominous or anything.) Now that the First Class story arc is complete and the X-Men have officially formed as a team, we can probably expect Jean to tango with the flame and fury known as the Phoenix before too long.

One hint that this could happen is the nightmare she had that shook the mansion, showing her visions of destruction and the world on fire. Sure, she saw Apocalypse's face in the dream, but he wanted to destroy the world with Magneto's power over metal, not raze it to the ground with flames. Could Jean have been seeing her own destructive powers at play? We sure hope so.

Quicksilver might be a shoo-in for funniest, most useful character in the entire trilogy, but that doesn't mean he's free of baggage. He had the opportunity to reveal himself to Magneto as his son during the final battle, but chose not to do so. Storm asks him if he's going to tell the Master of Magnetism the truth while they're rebuilding the mansion, but he's still undecided. We're not sure how this will affect him as a member of the X-Men, but we're hoping he can come to terms with his familial ties to one of the most powerful mutants on the planet.

After her boss is turned into cinders, Psylocke just quietly slips away, still wearing that fierce purple suit and armed with her psychic blade. She's done some bad stuff, but perhaps it can all be forgiven if she joins up with the X-Force in the upcoming movie. Actress Olivia Munn already thinks it's a good idea, so who are we to argue? Just imagine seeing Cable leading the X-Force—a more hardcore version of the X-Men—with Psylocke, Deadpool, and a host of other badass mutants in tow. The future is looking bright. And trust us, Cable would know.

Now that Apocalypse has been downed and we've seen the surviving members of the original X-Men—Professor X, Magneto, Mystique, and Beast—complete their respective arcs, we can now shift the focus to the new core X-Men members. And thanks to the wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey shenanigans of Days of Future Past, we have a new starting roster.

We're excited to see what the future holds, and thrilled that Prof. X got to see his vision realized and can keep growing his home. Mystique has become comfortable in her own skin, both literally and figuratively, as she's now accepted the fact that many younger mutants look to her as a hero. And Magneto, who's had the most turbulent arc in the series, has grown from a power-mad, vengeful jerk to a loyal friend who uses his powers to protect those he cares about, even if he doesn't share their ideologies. Perhaps he'll find peace once more. In this new timeline, anything is possible.

Also, it was pretty cool to hear Charles and Erik exchange the same dialogue Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan did at the end of the original X-Men movie.

So Colonel Stryker got the heck out of Dodge as Wolverine ran around the Weapon X facility, doing Wolverine things (read: slicing, stabbing, and eviscerating). Because he got away without suffering any of the sweet comeuppance that's headed his way, we're fairly certain we'll see Stryker in the final Wolverine movie, just before Hugh Jackman hangs up his claws and retires from playing everyone's favorite berserker. As the person who's responsible for giving Wolverine some of the worst pain of his life—across a number of timelines—Stryker should be prepared for a reckoning.

If you stuck around for the post-credits scene (and who's not doing that by now?), you might have seen a small army of men in suits walking through the Weapon X facility, cleaning up the bullets and gallons of blood left behind after Wolverine's rampage. The last man we see grabs a vial of what looks to be Wolverine's blood, marked "Weapon X," and places it in a briefcase alongside a few other vials. When he closes the briefcase, we see a logo reading "Essex Corp."

This reveal could hint that a future Big Bad in the series will take the form of Nathaniel Essex, otherwise known as Mr. Sinister—a vampire-looking dude with a funky, caped outfit and the ability to drain mutants and copy their powers. This ability might explain why the men in suits grabbed Wolverine's genetic material, as well as those of other mutants. Maybe this means we'll also see X-23 in the future, since she's a female clone of Wolverine—which would be great, since Hugh Jackman is retiring anyway. New female Wolverine? Yes, please.