Warner Bros. and Disney may be the ones dominating the news lately with their superhero film offerings, but it seems that 20th Century Fox isn't planning on letting them take all the limelight as the studio released the latest and darkest "X-Men: Apocalypse" trailer to date.
Director Bryan Singer and company have joined in on the recent trend in superhero action movies by presenting darker and more mature stories. While previous X-Men films have shown that the world of mutants isn't always sunshine and butterflies, "Apocalypse" makes an even grittier take on the lives of these super-powered beings.
The two-and-a-half-minute clip begins at the Xavier Institute with Magneto (Michael Fassbender) talking to his old friend Charles Xavier (James McAvoy), asking the professor if he's afraid that Magneto would one day come for him and his students. Xavier replies by telling Magneto that he has a great deal of pity for the poor soul who would come to his school looking for trouble.
The scene then shifts to Moira MacTaggert (Rose Byrne) discussing the origin of Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac), a mutant that was born thousands of years ago and was considered to be a god by early people. Here the titular villain of the film is shown both in his human-like form in ancient Egypt as well as his armored version where he is covered in some form of energy.
Apocalypse tells his four Horsemen, consisting of Magneto, Storm (Alexandra Shipp), Archangel (Ben Hardy) and Psylocke (Olivia Munn), of his plan to rid the world of the weak so that only the strongest remains.
With the world threatened by the god-like being and his minions, Mystique (Jennifer Lawrence) gathers Xavier's students and other mutants to oppose Apocalypse's plans. She is joined by Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), Jean Grey (Sophie Turner), Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and Havok (Lucas Till as Alex Summers).
Quicksilver (Evan Peters), who was first seen in the previous "X-Men: Days of Future Past" film, also joins Mystique's team.
The trailer also shows scenes where the X-Men battles the Horsemen in a decimated city, likely at the hands of Apocalypse. Viewers also get a glimpse of William Stryker (Josh Helman), one of the villains from "Days of Future Past" who has his own plans on how to solve the mutant problem.
At the end of the clip, Mystique is shown struggling to break free as Apocalypse chokes the life out of her.
"X-Men: Apocalypse" is set to hit theaters in North America on May 27, 2016.
