Mark Millar on Sentinels in ‘X-Men: Days Of Future Past.’

Mark Millar recently spoke to SFX Magazine and opened up about Bryan Singer’s upcoming X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST. The 20th Century Fox “Marvel Consultant” talked about balancing the ever-expanding cast, tackling the Sentinels, and Kitty Pryde’s involvement in the film.

“[The cast] has actually been very well put together – Simon Kinberg and Matthew Vaughn worked on it together and they are both great at what they do.” said Millar. “Then Bryan Singer came in, and, of course, he is Mr X-Men and he knows exactly how everything works. Just look at these first two X-Men movies: despite the huge cast of characters it all came together really well. These two movies never felt like overload and the balance was really, really good. On the other hand I though the third film felt crowded, but then Singer is excellent at working with ensemble casts. So with this one I feel it is all fine. I have read the screenplay and it doesn’t feel rushed and it doesn’t feel like it is too many characters.”

Fans have been waiting over a decade to see the mutant-hunting robots, known as the Sentinels, grace the big screen. While one was teased in X3, it seems we’ll finally get to see them in action.

“You will have a couple of big movies with giant robots in them.” said Millar, referring to upcoming films like PACIFIC RIM and TRANSFORMERS 4. “I don’t really want to give too much away but the Sentinels are a big feature of this story. They will be cool and this will deliver on all of the teasers. We’ve all been waiting for this ever since X-Men: The Last Stand showed us one of their heads. Now it is finally coming, and we only have to pay ten quid to see it in the cinema whereas they’re having to pay $100 million to deliver it. So I’m delighted [laughs].”

While not revealing much on Kitty Pryde, played by Ellen Page, Millar mentioned that fans of the character “will not be disappointed” by her presence in the film. Pryde had a major role in the original comic arc, sending her mind back in time to a younger version of herself, to warn the X-Men of a history-changing event.

Way back in 2003, we interviewed and released concept art (see image below) from X2 production designer Guy Dyas, who revealed that Sentinels were originally planned for the film, saying “[They] were almost fully conceptualized and taken in 3D. We tried to incorporate [them] into X2, but there was just too much going on in the film already.”

Image courtesy of 20th Century Fox.