When Does the Film "X-Men: Apocalypse" (2016) Take Place?
"X-Men: Apocalypse" is a historical fiction superhero film written by Simon Kinberg with Michael Dougherty, Dan Harris, and Bryan Singer [adapting "X-Factor" #24-#25 (1987) by Louise Simonson] and released in a public theater May 9th, 2016. (Wide release was May 18th, 2016.)
It takes place on an alternate timeline of the fictional Marvel Cinematic Universe in the year:
We know this because at the start of the first scene after the film's prologue, a time and place setting title card reading "OHIO, 1983" appears over the footage.
1983 AD
We know this because at the start of the first scene after the film's prologue, a time and place setting title card reading "OHIO, 1983" appears over the footage.
Furthermore, halfway through the film, the teen mutant characters go out to see "Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi" (1983) at a theater with it advertised on the marquee behind them. That film premiered in theaters on May 25th, 1983 AD.
Finally, the film begins with a prologue immediately labeled with a time and place setting title card of its own: "NILE VALLEY, 3600 BCE". It's a fictionalized version of Ancient Egypt in 3600 BC.
It is a chronologically early film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the second-earliest chronological film featuring the X-Men characters [third counting the time travel parts of "X-Men: Days of Future Past" (2014)].
