The post credits scene of “X-Men: Apocalypse” can be very anticlimactic for those who aren’t familiar with the comics. Obviously spoilers for the movie follow so just remember you have been warned.
SPOILERS
After the credits stop we are taken back to the Weapon X facility where during the film Jean Grey, Cyclops and Nightcrawler help Wolverine escape. Just like in the original movies it was here that William Stryker bonded Logan’s skeleton with adamantium. Of course Wolverine leaves a trail of bodies in his wake and that’s the last we see of the facility before the credits.
In the final scene we see an unknown figure stepping over bodies and walking through the facility as others clean up the mess that was left behind. The figure continues until he finds a vial of blood marked “Weapon X” and places it in a briefcase with other vials some of which are different colors. When the briefcase closes we see it’s labeled “ESSEX CORP.” and then fade to black.
The name Essex means nothing to most movie goers but X-Men comic fans will know it most likely means Nathaniel Essex, a.k.a Mister Sinister.
If you never read the comics but you did watch the 90’s X-MEN cartoon than I’m sure Mister Sinister will look familiar to you. He made his comic debut in Uncanny X-Men #221 published in 1987. Essex was a geneticist to was conducting experiments to accelerate evolution through mutation.
It’s fitting that this post credit teaser was in the movie with Apocalypse as the villain because in the comics it’s Apocalypse that turns Essex into Mister Sinister. Because of his genetic alteration Mister Sinister’s powers include mind manipulation, shape shifting, telekinesis and regeneration just to name a few. Mister Sinister is able to isolate the x-gene that gives each mutant his or her own unique power and then pass it on to others or even take it for himself. He is extremely smart and never ages making him one the X-Men’s most powerful villains.
I would assume that we will see him make his movie debut in the next Wolverine movie which will also be the last time we see Hugh Jackman taking on the role. If Mister Sinister is involved it would be very easy to introduce us to X-23, a female clone of Wolverine and also allow Jackman to pass the torch to another in a way that makes sense for the film’s storyline.
So now you know why that one geek in the theater got so excited once that briefcase closed and they saw the name Essex. Go tell your friends.