Simon Kinberg Explains How X-Men: Days of Future Past Paved the Way for Multiverse Movies

X-Men: Days of Future Past screenwriter Simon Kinberg credits the 2014 blockbuster with priming audiences for the current crop of multiverse films.

X-Men: Days of Future Past laid the groundwork for the multiverse concept going mainstream, according to screenwriter Simon Kinberg.

Kinberg credited the 2014 blockbuster's time-travel story with paving the way for the likes of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse in an interview with Polygon. "[X-Men: Days of Future Past] sort of opened up what we could do," he said. "Because even though it wasn't technically the multiverse thing that, ultimately, I think in some ways spawned it, it was outside the bounds of linear storytelling on Earth. It was other dimensions. There wasn't a lot of pushback from the studio. Although paying all those actors, I don't think they were wild about that, but it was a successful film and one I'm very proud of."

Kinberg isn't the only member of the X-Men: Days of Future Past cast and crew to reflect fondly on the film, either. In a recent career retrospective session, star James McAvoy praised Days of Future Past as "the most challenging [and] the most interesting" experience he had as part of the X-Men franchise. That said, the Scottish actor stopped short of calling Days of Future Past his favorite entry in the series overall, awarding that honor to 2011's X-Men: First Class, instead.

James McAvoy Discusses His Professor X Stint

McAvoy's preference for First Class over Days of Future Past may be at least partly down to how much more time he perched in the makeup chair on the latter compared to the former. In the same career retrospective, McAvoy revealed that he spent almost an entire day having hair extensions applied to reprise the Charles Xavier role in Days of Future Past. "I had such little hair at this point and we ended up doing an 18-hour hair extension session in one sitting… But by the end of it, I looked like Professor X in Days of Future Past," he said.

Marathon hair and makeup sessions notwithstanding, McAvoy maintains that rumors he didn't enjoy his stint as Professor X are false. According to the star, his interactions with former X-Men rightsholder 20th Century Fox were positive, and he considers Days of Future Past "one of the better films" he's ever made. McAvoy also dismissed the idea that he joined the X-franchise solely for financial gain, insisting that he never viewed any of his outings as Charles Xavier as "money gigs."

X-Men: Days of Future Past is currently streaming on Disney+.