5 Great Highlights In X-Men: Apocalypse. 'Essex Corp' and Quicksilver Standouts of the Film

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SPOILERS AHEAD for X-Men: Apocalypse. Stop reading now, if you haven't seen the film

We're less than a week away from the domestic premiere of X-Men: Apocalypse (2016). However, with the London premiere of the film already past, content from the film has already leaked online, giving us a in-depth look at the new team of X-Men in X-Men: Apocalypse. Although, for those of us fortunate enough to have viewed an early screening of the film, we can begin to dissect all the most fascinating moments within the film. There's no shortage of intense moments, as well as some spectacular exhibition of mutant powers that we've never witnessed before in an X-Men film. X-Men: Apocalypse sets the bar for superhero films this year. With that being said, early reviews of the film indicating a poor reception are becoming increasingly misleading to fans of the X-Men franchise. The critics who have given their opinion on X-Men: Apocalypse have repeatedly noted the failure of the film to meet expectations set early on. But that is clearly untrue in all regards. For fans of the X-Men films and comic-books, X-Men: Apocalypse will absolutely surpass any expectations one could have had before walking into a cinema to view the film. The claims against the film being overstuffed with mutants need to be refuted. None of the supporting cast or new additions were simply crammed into the film . The entire cast included in the film has a purpose. However, the exception can be said of Jubilee (Lana Condor) who really only had a few lines, and didn't display any of her mutant abilities in one instance during the film. The rest of the ensemble cast created plenty of outstanding scenes to compensate for Jubilee's lack of action, which will also be the topic of much interest when X-Men: Apocalypse gets its worldwide premiere later this week. For now, we can explore some of the amazing scenes within the film. These are the five biggest, highlights of X-Men: Apocalypse.

1. Peter Maximoff a.k.a. Quicksilver saves the day at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters.

Towards the beginning of the film, Apocalypse accomplishes his goal of assembling his Four Horsemen by gathering Psylocke, Angel, Storm, and Magneto. Apocalypse does this without breaking a sweat, but he still needs an additional acquisition of power to conquer the Earth once again, through means of communicating with every mutant on the planet. Which is where Charles Xavier steps in. Simultaneously occurring during the film, Charles is tasked by Mystique to find Magneto, whom may be in danger. Charles Xavier uses Cerebro to find Magneto. But in doing so, Charles inadvertently allows Apocalypse into the mansion by giving away his location through Cerebro. Cerebro is the machine that Charles Xavier uses to communicate with other mutants around the world. The machine has more capabilities which Charles Xavier doesn't choose to use. When inside of Cerebro, Charles Xavier has the potential to destroy every living soul on the planet, mutant and human alike.

When Apocalypse arrives, he and his Four Horsemen take Charles Xavier from the mansion. While in Cerebro, Charles Xavier was trapped by Apocalypse's celestial powers; forcing a massive strain on Charles Xavier's psyche. The team of celestially empowered mutants easily capture the weakened Charles Xavier after his ordeal in the Cerebro chamber. Apocalypse instantly transports his team of mutants, along with Charles Xavier, through his transportation matrix.

Apocalypse is capable of transporting his team of mutants anywhere on the planet in an instant. A vast advancement to the capabilities of the teleporting, Nightcrawler. The shell he uses is of a peculiar nature as well. If the transportation matrix which Apocalypse uses stems from the same source of Nightcrawler's power, are Apocalypse and his Four Horsemen walking through a dimensional rift to the their destination? And could there be enough time in between jumps for them to see what's in between the dimensions? Nightcrawler is able to teleport by jumping through a dimensional rift that allows him to travel through the space he's moving through, simply because he's moving within the same space, but on a different dimensional plane.

But before Apocalypse makes his departure from the mansion, Alex Summers a.k.a. Havoc lets off some of his energy blasts in an attempt to stop Apocalypse, accidentally hitting the X-jet, causing the entire mansion to explode as a result. The X-Jet wouldn't seem like it could create such a catastrophic effect on the mansion, but Hank McCoy's newest ventures into nuclear engines has made the X-Jet into a WMD (Weapon of Mass Destruction) if ignited. The image embedded below is Hank McCoy's most recent project at creating the X-Jet, before Havoc blew it up.

The resulting explosion of the X-Jet almost killed the whole family of X-Men at the Xavier Institute for Gifted Youngsters. But of course, the story couldn't end there for the X-Men.

In that very instant, it appears as though the entire X-Men team and students of the Xavier Institute won't make it out alive. However, Peter Maximoff a.k.a. Quicksilver just happened to be in the area, when the explosion began to ignite inside of the Xavier Institute. Without hesitation, Quicksilver runs in through the flames, pulling every member of the Xavier Institute out of the exploding building.

During the scene, Quicksilver has the task of getting everyone safely out of the building, before the entire building collapses. That may seem like a difficult task even for someone as fast as Peter Maximoff/Quicksilver, but Peter pulls it off, without missing anyone in the mansion. Rushing through the underground corridors of the X-mansion, Quicksilver pulls the team from the exploding building. Then jumping from exploding surfaces, he rescues students not aware of the building exploding from within. Peter was throwing students out the windows, kicking down doors, and throwing out drapes to soften their falls. Everyone appeared safe on the grassy knolls of the Xavier Institute, until General William Stryker showed up. Among those saved by Peter Maximoff, Nathaniel Grey a.k.a. X-Man can be seen in the background in the screenshot below. It's unfortunate that Nathaniel is still too young, Nathaniel Grey a.k.a. X-Man would have put an end to William Stryker in an instant, were he at a more mature age.

Josh Helman's reprisal of William Stryker in X-Men: Apocalypse has been the subject of mass speculation as of late, in regards to his role in the film. Some have concluded that Stryker will be working on the Weapon-X program during the film. Does that mean Stryker will be capturing the mutant students of the Xavier Institute? Similar to the evens of X2: X-Men United (2002), wherein General William Stryker invades the X-Mansion to capture and detain the mutants residing within. There's a possibility of William Stryker (Josh Helman) taking the mutant children captive, but he may already have someone more important to the X-Men universe already locked away in his Alkali Lake facility. But, let's go back to Peter Maximoff's incredible rescue of the X-Men in X-Men: Apocalypse.

Peter did everything he could to save everyone, and he did. But Peter Maximoff was a little too late to save Alex Summers/Havok. Alex Summers expelled the energy bursts which ignited the engines of the X-jet, resulting in the destruction of the mansion. Being the closest to the explosion, there was no time for Peter Maximoff to rush in to save Alex Summers. Even with all his speed, he couldn't foresee the almost, instantaneous death of Alex Summers. (R.I.P. Alex Summers a.k.a. Havoc, we hardly knew ye). Although, we didn't see a death scene take place, there's always a possibility that Alex Summers was caught in the transportation matrix which Apocalypse used to leave the X-Mansion. But those are high hopes when Alex Summers appears to be dead in the X-Men universe. At least Alex got to wreak havoc one last time.

2. Weapon-X Wolverine gets his origin retold

James 'Logan' Howlett a.k.a. The Woverine. The biggest exclamation point on X-Men: Apocalypse had to be Hugh Jackman's return to his iconic character role in the Wolverine. We knew from the tease within the latest trailer for X-Men: Apocalypse, that some form of Wolverine would appear in the film; indicated by the screenshot of Wolverine's three-pronged claw within the trailer for the film. Now, we can confirm Hugh Jackman's full role as the Wolverine in the film. Although we don't know exactly how Logan/Wolverine wound up in the Alkali Lake facility but we do know where he's going now.

We're introduced to Wolverine in a very mysterious manner. He's locked in a cage, and Jean Grey uses her telepathic abilities in order to understand what has been done to Logan/Wolverine, and he isn't entirely human at that point. We can hear Wolverine almost growling within the cage; he's feral at during this time. Has General William Stryker been experimenting on Wolverine? Turning him into the deadly Weapon-X? Wolverine's time as the Weapon-X irreparably damaged Wolverine's psyche, as well as sending him into a violent rage on more than one occasion.

During this scene, Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) accompanied by Nightcrawler and Scott Summers a.k.a. Cyclops, are attempting to find their way out of the Alkali Lake facility, where they've been taken by General William Stryker (Josh Helman). Stryker has had a pivotal role in several films of the X-Men franchise, but it appears as though the plans for X-Men: Apocalypse didn't place a focal point on Stryker, indicated by his minor role in the film. More importantly during this scene, the trio of mutants happened to run into the containment room for Logan/Wolverine, and it is there that we learn of Logan's fate after the events of X-Men: Days of Future Past (2015).

From there, we get our first glimpse of Logan/Wolverine and it's not what you'd expect. In the scene, Jean Grey purposely lets Logan/Wolverine out of his cell, so that he can provide a distraction for the guards of the Alkali Lake facility. But it is when the cage lifts, that we see Wolverine, like we've never seen him before.

Hugh Jackman is in full attire as the Wolverine, and I don't mean his classic, yellow and brown suit, but Wolverine's more famous appearance as Weapon-X. We can see that Weapon-X, Wolverine is fitted with a tech helmet; most likely used to monitor his activities and behavior. As well as some wires and tubing used to monitor the physiological activity within Logan/Wolverine, and a pair of small tube shorts to go with his ensemble. Jackman is also sporting the mutton chops, iconic to his character's appearance in X-Men (2001).

Hugh Jackman's look as the Weapon-X Wolverine will likely be the newest image associated with Hugh Jackman's Wolverine, once X-Men: Apocalypse premieres worldwide. Fans of the X-Men franchise have been waiting since X-Men (2001) for their opportunity to see Logan/Wolverine become who he's destined to be, through the Weapon-X program. And now we have that moment in X-Men: Apocalypse. Apart from Wolverine's introduction, there was also the savagery of the feral Wolverine we haven't witnessed yet in an X-Men film. You might think that Logan/Wolverine was violent before, but you haven't witnessed the pure savagery of Wolverine until you've seen Hugh Jackman's performance as the feral, Weapon-X "Wolverine" in X-Men: Apocalypse.

3. The Phoneix rises in Jean Grey.

It wasn't until towards the final scenes of the film, that Jean Grey finally pushes herself towards her path to becoming the Phoenix. Through most of the film, Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) appears to know how powerful she is, and understands the limit of control she has over her mutant abilities. Jean attempts to restrain herself, for fear of hurting others. But it isn't until Charles Xavier tells Jean to "let go" and "unleash her power" that we witness Jean Grey's first step to becoming the Phoenix. The scene isn't providing the implication of Jean Grey becoming the Phoenix, we truly see Jean Grey step into the shoes of the Phoenix, as her first moments using the power of the Phoenix, gives her the ability to defeat Apocalypse while he's still fighting with Charles Xavier on the astral plane.

That scene in itself was amazing, but the step forward for Jean Grey's character arc to be fully fleshed out, makes the scene that much more interesting. Seeing Jean step into the shoes of the Phoenix, opens the doors for the X-Men universe to venture into space, most notably to the Shi'Ar Empire.

Jean Grey's history in Marvel Comics has required some outside intervention in order to help Jean Grey contain the power of the Phoenix. The X-Men have ventured into space for help from the Shi'Ar empire; the originators of the Phoenix Force. And the potential to venture into space, places the X-men team at the conclusion of X-Men: Apocalypse to take on another entry in the X-Men franchise; possibly set in the '90s, as well as in outer-space. That theory has also been the subject of mass speculation as of late. With new comments from both Bryan Singer and Simon Kinberg suggesting they are currently working on another entry in the X-Men franchise, which is expected to take place in the '90s and in space; outside of the slated, X-Men: The New mutants directed Josh Boone.

4. Magneto and Jean Grey repair the X-Mansion

The conclusion of the film saw the team of X-Men returning home, or rather to the rubble left standing in midst of the destroyed, Xavier Institute. Initially, we'd presumed that an outside force would be responsible for the destruction of the Xavier Institute, but the destruction was a result of Alex Summers wreaking too much havoc on Apocalypse and his Four Horsemen, and inadvertently to the mansion. Despite Alex Summers' accidental destruction of the mansion, the mansion still needs to be repaired when the X-Men return from their mission to defeat Apocalypse. It is then we see Magneto and Jean Grey working side-by-side to repair the destroyed building. They both are harmonious in their movements. And the scene implies that Jean Grey has better control of her mutant abilities at the conclusion of the film. Is it possible that Jean Grey is already undergoing her transformation into the Phoenix?

From the looks of it, Jean Grey has accepted the limitations of her powers, and wants to master them. Accepting her mutant powers is a positive sign that Jean Grey could survive her ordeal of transforming into the Phoneix, but her story arc has ended on a grim note, on more than one occasion within Jean Grey's comic-book history.

During the aforementioned scene, we also get to hear some dialogue between Quicksilver (Evan Peters) and Storm (Alexandra Shipp). Within the dialogue, Quicksilver reveals that he's not going to say anything to Magneto, regarding his relationto his father, Magneto. But that's not truly important, eventually Magneto and Quicksilver are going to have to hash things out. But there may be no on-screen portrayal of that scene if Michael Fassbender doesn't return as Erik Lenscherr a.k.a. Magneto to the X-Men franchise. We don't know which cast members of X-Men: Apocalypse will reprise their roles in future X-Men films, but it's safe to say that a whole team of X-Men preparing to fight a war at the conclusion of Apocalypse is enough evidence to confirm that the X-Men are going on another adventure after their '80s battle with Apocalypse.

5. Mystique leads the new X-Men into training

The last seconds of the film have already been previewed in the promotional trailers and images for X-Men: Apocalypse. Wherein, the new team of X-Men are all lined up in their new uniforms. The new team consisting of Mystique as the leader, Nightcrawler, Cyclops, Storm, Beast, Quicksilver, and Jean Grey.

It was quite a surprise to see that Mystique will be leading the X-Men after she's expressed her disinterest in returning to the Xavier Institute alongside Charles. However, she may be intending to stay at the institute to mend broken bonds with Charles, as well as teach her new students how to defend themselves against the world trying to hurt them.

For now, Mystique is a teacher at the Xavier Institute, but she may not be for long. We also got to see Magneto leave the Xavier Institute for an undetermined purpose. It might be that Magneto has other plans in store for the world, or could it be destiny calling once again; preparing Magneto to assemble his Brotherhood of Evil Mutants against any opposition, including Charles Xavier and the X-Men?

Those were the five biggest highlights of X-Men: Apocalypse. Some fans may leave disappointed with the film. But true fans of the X-Men franchise will be able to appreciate the film, and genuinely enjoy it when they see it. Were there any other scenes that stood out more than the ones I noted on? I forgot to mention Peter Maximoff's bad-ass support in the Apocalypse fight, it's insanely fun to watch; I'll leave that one for you to discover on your own, it's a very satisfying scene.