By According to a recent The Q&A podcast featuring X-Men: Apocalypse screenwriter and producer Simon Kinberg, Apocalypse will take place in 1983. Hopefully we get to see Wolverine and Beast do some coke together before they go off to fight Apocalypse.
What big things happened in 1983 that could be adapted to the X-universe, similar to the Cuban Missile Crisis and JFK assassination? Well, Redditor TakeAMomentOrTwo pointed out that it was a pretty hot and heavy year of the Cold War, and Soviet Air Defence Forces colonel Stanislav Petrov basically proved to be instrumental in preventing global nuclear holocaust. From his Wikipedia entry, and quoted in TakeAMomentOrTwo’s post:
On September 26, 1983, he was the duty officer at the command center for the Oko nuclear early-warning system when the system reported that a missile was being launched from the United States. Petrov judged the report to be a false alarm, and his decision is credited with having prevented an erroneous retaliatory nuclear attack on the United States and its NATO allies that could have resulted in large-scale nuclear war.
Now, correct me if I’m wrong, but nuclear holocausts are usually synonymous with ‘apocalypse.’ Seems like a legit theory!
Also, young Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, and a very sexy Gambit are all due to appear, so that’s cool. X-Men: Apocalypse is due in theaters on May 27th, 2016.