Cyclops and Storm are a couple of the oldest members of the X-Men — two iconic characters who have served as the pillars of Charles Xavier's team of mutant superheroes.
So why are they fighting? That's the question raised by the latest piece of concept art from Bryan Singer's upcoming X-Men: Apocalypse.
The concept art comes from Empire Magazine (via IGN), and depicts Cyclops and what appears to be Storm battling among the rubble of a destroyed city. Cyclops narrowly misses blasting Storm with his optic beams, while Jean Gray can be seen hiding behind a piece of debris.
This wouldn't be the first time Cyclops and Storm have butted heads in the X-Men universe. The two characters once fought a duel to see who would be the leader of the X-Men — a duel that Cyclops lost. The current narrative of the comics has Storm and Cyclops in ideological opposition as Cyclops opens his own, more revolutionary version of Xavier's school for gifted youngsters.
It's possible this concept art could be depicting a duel between the two characters to see who will be the team's leader. In that case, the ruins making up the battleground might actually be the Danger Room — the holodeck the X-Men use to train. The strange shapes in the background suggest this might not be taking place in the real world, but it's hard to say for certain.
Previous pieces of concept art that found their way online have proved to be equally tantalizing. One image (which you can see below) depicting Angel locked in a bird cage seems to imply the character has been imprisoned in some kind of freak show.
Some production art. #XMEN #XmenApocalypse
A photo posted by Bryan Singer (@bryanjaysinger) on Mar 30, 2015 at 10:57am PDT
It will sadly still be a while until we find out the answers to these questions. X-Men: Apocalypse will be released in theaters May 27, 2016. In the meantime — expect plenty more teases along the way.
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