‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ Post Credits Scene Revealed

This post contains spoilers for X-Men: Apocalypse.

When Bryan Singer’s latest X-Men adventure was screened for critics a few weeks ago, there was no post-credits scene attached to the end of the movie. But now that the movie is out in theaters internationally ahead of its U.S. debut next week, it’s clear that there is a post-credits scene that was held back from early screenings. Sneaky, sneaky. If you can’t wait and want to know what’s in the scene, here are the details.

The sequence, which lasts about 90 seconds, opens in the ruins of Stryker’s Weapon X base. A clean-up crew works to vacuum up bullet shells and mop up blood. Then a man in a suit and tie approaches a wall of X-rays of Wolverine and his adamantium skeleton and claws. He pulls one down, then takes a vial of blood labeled “Weapon X” from a refrigerator, then places it inside a briefcase with several other colored vials. In close-up, the lid of the briefcase slams shut and locks, and on the top of the case there’s a logo that reads “Essex Corp.”

While on the press tour for X-Men: Apocalypse, Bryan Singer said of this scene, “We got a concept that we really wanted and it’s a nice little set up for ... something.” The only thing that scene guarantees is the involvement of Nathaniel Essex, the man better known as X-Men villain Mr. Sinister, an evil scientist obsessed with mutant genetics in general, and Scott Summers (aka Cyclops) in particular. He also has pale white skin, a red diamond on his forehead, and a cape made out of ribbons, because nothing says evil quite like a cape made out of ribbons.

The scene could set up “something” for the next Wolverine movie or the Gambit movie if that happens (Sinister and Gambit have a long and tortured comics history) or the New Mutants or X-Force movies. Swiping Wolverine’s blood could also result in a clone; there’s already been rumors that female Wolverine clone X-23 might pop up in The Wolverine 3. This could absolutely foreshadow that character’s introduction.

You might find some crappy bootleg copies of the scene online, but we recommend just waiting for the finished movie anyway. (Mostly because we do NOT recommend you take out your phone in the middle of a movie and start recording the screen. In fact what’s the opposite of recommending something? Condemning it? We condemn this.)  X-Men: Apocalypse opens in theaters on May 27. In the meantime, here’s a clever faux vintage ad for Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters. It does look like a cool place to go to school, provided you could shoot lasers out of your eyeballs in 1983.