Every now and then, the Hollywood marketing machine hits a home run with its clever promos for upcoming films. And somebody at 20th Century Fox deserves a raise for the latest X-Men: Apocalypse promo, which brilliantly sets up the movie with a very appropriate parody of a separate classic bit of nerd culture.
To fully appreciate this, you have to know that during the late ’70s and early ’80s, Star Trek legend Leonard Nimoy hosted a TV series called In Search of…, which profiled myths, legends, and paranormal activity. Fox’s new video uses a very similar style to that show, and it sounds like they even recruited Nimoy’s fellow Star Trek original cast member, George Takei, to provide the voice over!
In The Footsteps of… En Sabah Nur uses some stock footage of Egypt as well as the post-credits scene from X-Men: Days of Future Past to build up the legend of Apocalypse as if he really existed in that world. En Sabah Nur is the true name of Apocalypse, and it means “The First One.†That name refers to Apocalypse’s status as the first mutant in recorded history.
The video also alludes to the incident from Days of Future Past, which exposed the existence of mutants to the general public far earlier than it occurred in the original X-Men movie timeline. That may actually play into the plot of X-Men: Apocalypse, and explain why the titular villain has awakened in 1983.
As noted in the video, X-Men: Apocalypse will arrive in theaters on May 27.
What did you think about the In The Footsteps of… En Sabah Nur video? Let us know in the comment section below!
Image: 20th Century Fox/Marvel
