Whats it like to not just consider one movie in isolation, but also spin-offs likeThe Wolverineor the forthcomingGambit?
Because you have so many characters, such a big ensemble.
Whats the writing process like?
Is it a case of shifting lots of index cards around?
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Theres a lot of index cards.
I mean, Ive gotten used to it, right?
In this, at least, there was one version of each character.
Usually you just have a hero and a villain in any movie, not just a superhero movie.
But in these movies youre 10 characters deep, sometimes 15 characters that you really need to service.
Or devolve, depending on the character.
When it comes to the action sequences, where do they come in the writing process?
Do you write around them, or are they integral to your story?
No, I write them.
Part of the fun for me is writing the action sequences.
Im like a geek that grew up playing withStar Warstoys and creating action sequences, essentially, with toys.
But theres a lot of people who are involved in actually crafting and manifesting those sequences.
What the character story is within the action sequence.
So theres a tonne of people.
Youre talking about hundreds of people who are involved in creating and completing an action sequence in a movie.
But it does start on the page.
I dont write around it.
Some writers do some writers will say, you know, then they fight and this person wins.
But I like it.
I get so immersed when Im writing that it would be hard for me to cheat anywhere.
I really write the movie that Im imagining in my head.
Thats something relatively new in cinema, isnt it?
Thats possibly, what, 10, 15 years at the most?
Like how this movie impactsDeadpoolor it will impactGambitorNew Mutants,things like that.
He even called the first film, obviously,Episode IV.
We became quite close, and remain quite close.
Deadpoolwas a really big hit earlier this year.
What was the impact of that success like on Fox and their plans for future comic book movies?
AndDays Of Future Pastmade, I dont know, $750m, $775m, something like that.
I mean, we made Deadpool for a fraction of what theseX-Menmovies cost.
Quite literally, like a fifth of anX-Menmovie.
And not every movie should be.
I dont think that the mainX-Menmovies should be R-rated; I dont think theyre R-rated stories.
But if we were to make anX-Forcemovie, that probably should be R-rated.
And what were doing with theWolverinemovie… that wasnt impacted byDeadpool.
Wed made the decision for Wolverine to be R-rated before Deadpool came out.
Can you talk a little bit about the theme of this movie, which I thought was really interesting.
Its kind of survival-of-the-fittest versus the collectivism of theX-Men.That theyre stronger together.
The one that was personal was the idea that families form in different ways.
Families are more complicated, divorce is more common.
Its a different time.
The other part of it is is what you say.
Which is, we live in a very divided time.
In a time when some of our leaders want to divide us even more.
You know, to me thats whats most interesting about science fiction.
Superhero movies are just one genre of science fiction.
And yet it is a metaphor.
So its easier to watch for an audience.
You get a broader audience.
I grew up on Star Wars and on science fiction literature.
We want to make another Fantastic Four movie.
I love the comic, I mean I love it almost as much asX-Men.
We didnt make a good movie, and the world voted, and I think they probably voted correctly.
And you cant make a good movie every time out not everybody does.
We actually have a pretty good batting average, all things considered.
Were working really hard on figuring that out.
Nothing would make me happier than the world embracing aFantastic Fourmovie.
Simon Kinberg, thank you very much.
X-Men: Apocalypseis out in UK cinemas on the 19th May.
