Bryan Singer on Biblical Analogy in "X-Men: Apocalypse"

I just saw an article published by IGN in which X-Men director Bryan Singer talks about the presence of biblical analogy in the newest installment in the franchise, X-Men: Apocalypse. If you've seen any of the trailers for this film, you knew that there was going to be some kind of biblical influence in the film because in the trailers the main villain's four henchmen are compared to the four horsemen from the book of Revelation. But apparently the biblical influence goes much farther than that. Here is Bryan Singer's comments concerning the film's villain, Apocalypse:

"[Apocalypse is] kind of the opposite of Christ, actually. Christ would have come years after him, by the way. Our premise is [Apocalypse] stomped around ancient Egypt, and that's when he is buried and awakens in 1983. He's kind of more the God of the Old Testament, the vengeful God who wants the world in a certain order and wants to be worshipped -- but he's also forgiving,” 

Let's play a game. It's called "Find the Problem in Singer's Statement." Trick question. There are two problems. The first is that Singer has no understanding of the biblical God. God is not different in the Old and New Testaments. He is unchanging, and so His wrath and His forgiveness never changed in their degrees. The second problem is that the new X-Men villain is inspired by God. Apocalypse sees wrong in the world and seeks to correct it by destroying it and build a new world. Sound familiar? It should, because in the book of Revelation we see God destroying the old creation and bringing in the new creation. I'm already not liking where this analogy is going, but it gets even worse. Singer continues:

“He's also a false god, which makes him kind of like a cult leader. So [Apocalypse actor Oscar Isaac] and [writer/producer Simon Kinberg] not only studied religion but also studied the nature of cults and how they function. And that helped inform us how he chooses his Four Horsemen. Because in his mythology he always has four protectors and followers -- because he does have moments of vulnerability, which you'll see in the movie."

 I feel like with this statement Singer was trying to win back the Christian demographic by basically saying, "Yes, this villain is inspired by your God, but this character isn't your God." That may be so, but the problem is that that's not how it will come across in the movie. What we're going to be seeing in the movie is a character who is basically an evil version of God. To really get where this is going, we need Singer's explanation of how the leader of the X-Men, Charles Xavier, fits into this analogy:

"I've gotten to explore Professor X when he was an older, bald, wise man, when he's insecure, when he's defenseless, when he's powerful. He's more of a Christ figure. He chooses to be a teacher. He could go inside Cerebro and rule the world, but he chooses not to. He chooses to teach and preach and hope that people follow his message: peace and unity. And I've gotten to see him as a drug addict and a loser, and in this movie you're going to get to see him prosperous and almost blindly optimistic, and how he changes."

I have no idea where Singer is trying to go with this statement (and we probably won't know until the film arrives in theaters), but I do know that Singer does not understand who Christ is at all. That being said, if X-Men: Apocalypse goes so far as to make it clear that Xavier is a Christ figure, what does that mean for the message that comes across in the film? We'll basically have (allegorically speaking) Christ fighting to save the world from being destroyed by God's wrath. That sounds somewhat biblical, since by dying on the cross for us, the real Christ saved His people from the wrath of the real God. But this is a spiritual salvation, and it does not save the world from the wrath that is to come. This movie is going to turn this salvation into a physical salvation for the entire world. Furthermore, the film will be depicting events similar to the judgement in Revelation (a comparison we already know the film will make), but depicting that judgement in a negative light. I frankly don't care that Apocalypse is only inspired by God and not actually God. What this film will be conveying is that God is wrong to destroy the earth.

All of this being said, I will be seeing this movie in order to review it (whether I do it when the film is in theaters or if I will wait until the home media release I have not yet decided). However, unless the film can cause me to see a story that isn't a flawed analogy for the book of Revelation, my recommendation to Christian audiences will be to not support this film.