In The Future, How Is Xavier Not Dead? How Does Magneto Have His Powers? How Does Wolverine Still Have Metal Claws?
Woah, horsey. Let’s start with Xavier and the catastrophic events which befall him in The Last Stand. On a rage-filled rampage with her dark passenger The Phoenix in control, Jean Grey obliterates Xavier in a mind-melding swirl of nastiness. We see his gravestone and are told that he’s dead… until he turns up in an airport with Magneto, attempting to recruit Logan in the post-credits scene for The Wolverine – without so much as a “Well, you’ll never believe what happened to me!” for the notably shocked Wolvie.
His apparent aversion to death is dealt with during the post-credits scene for The Last Stand. If you too possess the power of telepathy (or the equally-difficult ability to access the audio commentary on the DVD), you’d of course know that the chap Moira MacTaggart had hooked up to life support was actually Charles Xavier’s braindead twin brother. Her gasped “Charles?” offering a vague confirmation that Xavier’s spirit had entered his brother’s body.
Yes, it’s a big stretch – so feel free to ignore this and instate your own version of Xavier’s rebirth. After all, he’s prone to faking his death in the comics.
As for Magneto’s powers….during the final showdown in The Last Stand, he is administered the cure that’s designed to rid mutants of their powers. The film’s final moments show Erik dressed like a hobo in a park, sitting in front of a chess game. Seconds before the screen cuts to black, his hand hovers over the board and one of the pieces moves on its own.
From this we can conclude that the mutant cure did not work. Or at the very least, its effects were short-lived, meaning it was only a matter of time before his powers returned.
And lastly, Wolverine’s claws.
In the post-credits scene for The Wolverine, Logan is without new comrade Yukio when confronted by Xavier and Magneto. He’s also without his favourite appendage: his adamantium claws, after their painful removal by Yashida’s robot. As the sequence takes place two years after the events in the film, his claws have regrown, but they’re plain old bone.
So – how did he regain his adamantium-infused bones between the post-credits airport scene and Days Of Future Past? It’s not strictly addressed, but we’d hazard a guess and put our bets on Magneto’s newly-gained powers of metal manipulation. In the comics, he removed the adamantium from Wolvie’s bones, so what’s to say he can’t do the reverse?