Summary

• The Rogue Cut made major changes to X-Men: Days of Future Past, adding more action and storylines.
• Rogue gets a bigger role in the movie, adding depth to her character and the plot.
• The extended version also includes other new scenes, such as a memorial for fallen mutants and the introduction of Quicksilver's sister.

Released as an extended version of X-Men: Days of Future Past, The Rogue Cut made several changes to Fox's 2014 blockbuster. After soft-rebooting the X-Men movie franchise with 2011's First Class, Fox's Days of Future Past involved both the old and new cast in a story taking place in two very different time periods. With director Bryan Singer at the helm, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Hugh Jackman - among many others - reprized their X-Men roles in a story that saw Wolverine transported back through time to save the future of both humans and mutants.

X-Men: Days of Future Past was a massive success for Fox, earning around $750 million and garnering a positive response. This led to the development of further X-Men sequels, Logan, and the Deadpool films, now all set within the new rebooted X-Men universe. While X-Men: Days of Future Past did a great job at combining the old and new Fox X-Men timelines, the film was originally intended to include more action, allowing for The Rogue Cut to be released over a year after the film's original release.

What Is X-Men: Days Of Future Past: The Rogue Cut?

Many films' releases have often been followed by extended versions or director's cuts that include several minutes of extra content. In the world of superhero adaptations, Spider-Man: No Way Home's More Fun Stuff Version and Zack Snyder's Justice League are two prime examples, and X-Men: Days of Future Past: The Rogue Cut followed suit. The Rogue Cut added 17 minutes of extra scenes to the theatrical cut of the film, and made several changes to the overall storyline of X-Men: Days of Future Past, allowing viewers to witness two subtly different versions of the film.

X-Men: Days of Future Past introduced audiences to a version of 2023 where Sentinels had waged war on mutants and the humans that protected them, dragging the world into a violent dystopia that the remaining members of the X-Men attempted to undo. To do this, Elliot Page's Kitty Pryde sent Wolverine's consciousness back through time into his body in 1973, trying to thwart the development of the Sentinels. While this plan worked, The Rogue Cut gave Anna Paquin's Marie, a.k.a. Rogue, a much more substantial role, rather than a simple cameo at the end of the 2014 film.

Why Days Of Future Past: The Rogue Cut Got Made

Fox primarily put The Rogue Cut into development as a result of fan demands, following the positive response to X-Men: Days of Future Past. Since Paquin had been featured as a major character in the original X-Men trilogy, many wanted to see her have a more significant role in Days of Future Past, particularly after her role had been cut dramatically prior to the film's release. The Rogue Cut's release on home video in July 2015 marked several differences between the theatrical cut and the new, extended version.

The Rogue Cut affects 16 scenes of the original X-Men: Days Of Future Past.

X-Men Memorial

X-Men: Days of Future Past: The Rogue Cut adds a memorial for fallen mutants early on in the film. Audiences catch a glimpse of a wall plastered with pictures of dead X-Men and their allies, which is first seen when the Sentinels begin to attack the 2023 X-Men team led by Omar Sy's Bishop. The shot only shows the wall for a few seconds, roughly four minutes into the movie, but it does return several minutes later when the X-Men assemble in China. In this version of the future, Bishop's team established a base there and set up the memorial here instead.

The X-Men Debate Saving the World

X-Men: Days of Future Past: The Rogue Cut includes discussion about whether changing the future would actually work. Bishop shows concern, and also isn't fond of the idea of altering the timeline to a point where he and others might not even be born. Blink and Sunspot, played by Fan Bingbing and Adan Canto, respectively, share Bishop's hesitation, but Professor X convinces them to risk it all to save the world. Shortly after, Shawn Ashmore's Iceman and Kitty have a conversation about the risk she is taking by sending Wolverine back in time, knowing this will test the limits of her powers, but she assures him she can handle it.

Wolverine's Arrival In 1973

Once Wolverine wakes up in his body in 1973, X-Men: Days of Future Past: The Rogue Cut also adds several additional moments with the newly awakened X-Man. Wolverine's fight with the generic bad guys lasts slightly longer, and includes alternate angles of a few shots. After the fight concludes, Wolverine is shown sending away the girl he woke up next to, the identity of whom his future persona doesn't even remember, thanks to the events of 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which saw him lose his memories prior to the 1980s.

Young Professor X Questions Wolverine's Plan

Wolverine's mission to recruit Professor X proves to be a bit more difficult in X-Men: Days of Future Past: The Rogue Cut. McAvoy's Charles Xavier laughs at the first mention of time travel, which isn't included in the theatrical cut. He is in such disbelief over this possible explanation that he asks Wolverine to repeat his explanation, but Logan doesn't give him the satisfaction. Charles goes on to refer to Wolverine as a "tall, angry fellow with the contentious hair." There is also an extra comedic beat about how there isn't any internet in 1973.

Wolverine Meets Quicksilver's Sister

When Wolverine, Nicholas Hoult's Beast, and Professor X go to recruit Evan Peters' Quicksilver, The Rogue Cut differs from X-Men: Days of Future Past by including an added scene with the speedster's sister. She tells Logan that she is a princess and asks what he is, and he replies by saying the Wolverine and asks for Pietro Maximoff's location. She is unnamed and there is a reference to another sister at the end of the scene, making it unclear if this child is Wanda Maximoff or if the Scarlet Witch is the unseen sister, though this would have been a fun storyline to follow in subsequent X-Men projects.

Nixon's F-Bomb

Another quick new moment in X-Men: Days of Future Past: The Rogue Cut is President Richard Nixon's response to the public sighting of mutants. Mark Camacho portrayed Nixon in Days of Future Past, and though he doesn't swear in the theatrical cut, The Rogue Cut features him saying "f**k me" when made aware of mutants and the dangers they could pose. The theatrical cut removed this line due to MPAA restrictions that almost always restrict one f-bomb in a PG-13 movie, and young Professor X already says it earlier on in both versions of the film.

Iceman Reveals Rogue's Location

More than halfway through X-Men: Days of Future Past: The Rogue Cut, it starts to become clear that Rogue will have a larger role in the storyline. Due to the injuries Kitty sustained when Wolverine began to lose control, Iceman proposes a plan to replace her, suggesting finding Rogue, who can absorb other mutants' abilities through touch. Iceman reveals that Rogue is being held captive in the heavily guarded Cerebro room in the X-Mansion. While he expresses doubt at being able to rescue her, Professor X tells him that there are secrets to the house that the enemy won't know, so they leave with Magneto to find Rogue.

Beast Asks Wolverine About His Future

The theatrical cut of X-Men: Days of Future Past features Hank McCoy, a.k.a. Beast, asking Logan about his future, but The Rogue Cut changes when and how this conversation occurs. In the theatrical release, this conversation pops up towards the end of the film, but in The Rogue Cut, Hank stops by Logan's room to ask him the question. Wolverine gives a similar response each time, noting that Beast isn't alive anymore in his home timeline, but that it won't matter if they are able to change the future.

Mystique Visits Beast At X-Mansion

Mystique and Beast get to spend some alone time together in X-Men: Days of Future Past: The Rogue Cut when she stops by the X-Mansion. The theatrical version of the movie sees Professor X learn that she's traveling to Washington D.C. using Cerebro, but he is unable to discover her destination in The Rogue Cut. This results in Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique coming to the X-Mansion and running into Beast by accident. She convinces Hank not to tell Charles that she's there before seducing him, rekindling the romance that started in X-Men: First Class.

Magneto & Iceman Rescue Rogue

On their mission to save Rogue from the X-Mansion in X-Men: Days of Future Past: The Rogue Cut, Magneto and Iceman follow Professor X's directions to secretly travel through the building, eventually reaching an incapacitated Rogue. Magneto uses his magnetic powers to neutralize the guards and doctors, while Iceman races to an unconscious Rogue, placing his hand on her face so she can absorb some of his life energy. After she wakes, Magneto and Iceman begin to escort Rogue safely from the X-Mansion.

Iceman Dies Saving Rogue

While Rogue seemed to have been saved, X-Men: Days of Future Past: The Rogue Cut featured a tragic end to her rescue, as Sentinels attacked Magneto, Iceman, and Rogue shortly after their escape. In an effort to distract them, allowing Rogue to make it back to the X-Men, Iceman sacrifices himself, with the Sentinels killing him similarly to how they do in the theatrical cut. However, his death happens much earlier in The Rogue Cut, which leads to many other minor elements changing in the third act of The Rogue Cut. Magneto and Rogue manage to escape, but the X-Mansion is burned to the ground during the fight.

Mystique Destroys Cerebro

Back in 1973, it's revealed that Mystique made her way to the X-Mansion in order to destroy Cerebro. Sneaking through the building after spending time with Hank, and even impersonating Professor X to enter the secure room, Mystique proceeds to destroy the machine, meaning Charles wouldn't be able to track her or communicate with her from within the X-Mansion. This would have surely made her mission to kill Peter Dinklage's Bolivar Trask - the creator of the Sentinels - much easier, though Professor X, Beast, and Wolverine still manage to decipher where she would be heading.

Rogue Replaces Kitty Pryde

With Rogue returned to the X-Men following the attack at the X-Mansion, she proceeds to absorb some of Kitty's power and replace her, allowing her injuries to be tended to. This keeps Wolverine's mind in the past, allowing the mission to continue, and even Wolverine feels this change. This leads to minor changes throughout the rest of the film, as Rogue is seen with Wolverine where it had previously been Kitty's job in the theatrical cut, despite being injured. Reaction shots of Rogue and Kitty are used in place of those that previously belonged to Iceman, and Kitty even saves Magneto instead of Blink in The Rogue Cut.

How The Sentinels Find The Future X-Men Team

As another quick addition to X-Men: Days of Future Past: The Rogue Cut, it's explained how the Sentinels managed to track down the X-Men at their remote base in the Chinese mountains. The mission to save Rogue earlier on had ended with a Sentinel arm being stuck on the X-Men's Blackbird, returning to their base with them. The new shot in The Rogue Cut saw this arm, still clinging to the ship, activating a tracker embedded inside, allowing the Sentinels to home in on the signal and attack the X-Men in the film's final battle.

Young Professor X Talks To Veteran

Much of X-Men: Days of Future Past's ending is kept the same for The Rogue Cut, though there is a short extra scene that refers back to one of the X-Men's previous adventures. During the Sentinel presentation in Washington D.C., Professor X sits next to a war veteran, who asks him how he got in a wheelchair. Charles remarks that it was because of friendly fire, referencing Magneto's inadvertent shooting of Charles at the end of X-Men: First Class, leading to Charles' paralysis, but the tentative friendship between Charles and Michael Fassbender's Erik Lehnsherr to still be preserved.

Post-Credits Scene Puts Trask In Jail

X-Men: Days of Future Past: The Rogue Cut also includes a mid-credits scene that wasn't included in the theatrical cut. The short scene shows Bolivar Trask incarcerated in the Pentagon prison that had previously housed Magneto. An unspecified amount of time has passed after the end of X-Men: Days of Future Past, but Trask's long hair and beard signal it has been a while since the events of the presentation in Washington D.C.