If you happen to be a big fan of the X-Men film series, then you need to soak it up as much as you can because the series is set to be integrated into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. You better believe the continuity we’ve seen thus far will not be carrying forward into the MCU, so your preferred series will be ending in a few short years.

X-Men in 2000 is responsible for introducing the concept of the superhero film. It was even a precursor to The Avengers as it featured a large cast with a number of superheroes. The series has shifted upwards in popularity ever since X-Men: Days of Future Past merged continuities and brought forward a new timeline. Deadpool and Logan have highlighted just how commercially successful the series has become and there are plans to showcase more films with the releases of X-Men: Dark Phoenix and The New Mutants; these films might be the final ones before the MCU takes over.

While Marvel films may have made you think they were the first ones to make the superhero genre work, you'd be mistaken there. The X-Men films had the shooting demands for a superhero film done right before it became a thing. The cast and crew have always gotten along wonderfully, which is why we have had actors playing them for so long.

If you are a big X-Men fan, then you will love to scroll through these pictures that will offer you a new perspective on how the films are made.

25 All These Screens

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It takes talent to be an actor, but it also takes a special talent to be part of the production crew. The actors play the part they are supposed to play and then move on to other things. It’s the production department that makes the film in a coherent way for us to enjoy.

Here, Nicholas Hoult can be seen admiring the multiple screens around while filming takes a small pause. The cameras are on him, but they aren’t rolling just yet. The screens that will show footage in the film are blank as post-production is in charge of that.

24 Water Fight

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Now Nicholas is all-in during his performance. Clad in Beast garb and makeup, Nicholas is beating down Michael Fassbender’s Magneto. Although this might look like filming is on, you can see the crew closely following the action mere inches away.

What you see on film has the crew standing nearby.

It is only because the cameras aren’t on the crew members that we feel the actors are out there by themselves, but that’s just not the case. This should also give you some appreciation for Michael, who seems to be having a torrid time out there.

23 Cerebro Room

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Cerebro room is the place where Professor X goes to; usually, he can be found there all by himself. On the off chance you do see someone else accompanying him there it’s because of sensitive circumstances that require the presence of another, or because someone has gotten there forcefully.

In reality, you can see here that the Professor is never alone while filming is going on. This scene is from X-Men: Days of Future Past and everyone in the area seems to be frolicking over to James McAvoy; perhaps there was something important only he could do.

22 Group Huddle In The Stadium

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Hugh Jackman is considered the “Nice Guy” of Hollywood, owing to him living up to that reputation every time we see him. Hugh even remembered a student he had coached in high school decades down the line and recognized him on the red carpet. So, this picture of him acknowledging the crew’s efforts in X-Men: Days of Future Past’s set is not the biggest humble act we’ve seen him do.

Still, it does remind us that everyone’s efforts make the film and not just the most popular guy. Considering the action to follow in the stadium, this was a sign of bigger things afoot.

21 The Fandom

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Bryan Singer looks to be having the time of his life directing the X-Men movies. The man directed X-Men, X2, Days of Future Past, and Apocalypse. Needless to say, he knows his X-Men very well. Singer was so comfortable on this occasion that he nerded out on another, bigger fandom: the Star Wars one.

Singer combines both Magneto and the Death Star in this picture. You could even argue he’s chiming in Pac-Man as well considering the shirt. What we can be sure of is that none of us can read his mind with the helmet on.

20 Peter Dinklage Rehearsing

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Everyone was excited when it was announced that Peter Dinklage had signed on to play the role of the villain in X-Men: Days of Future Past. The actor was known for his antagonistic attitude in Game of Thrones and this was another chance to show a different side of him.

You can see his level of interest as he and Bryan Singer peruse over notes while on a plane ride. Looks like acting is a full-time job indeed as neither actor nor director waste time on the jet.

19 Fun With Names

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The cast of X-Men: Days of Future Past certainly seemed to have had a great time filming the movie. You can catch Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy, and Michael Fassbender all rocking out a dance on The Graham Norton Show while in this picture Nicholas Hoult, Jennifer Lawrence, and Peter Dinklage act childish with cast names.

Looks like the Jennifer Lawrence sticker is missing.

She has Peter’s name on while Nicholas fools around with Michael Fassbender’s name. Whatever may be happening, the wide smile on Jennifer’s face and Peter’s stance shows us everyone was at ease.

18 Going To The Past

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X-Men: Days of Future Past brought back Kitty Pride to the team. She hadn’t been seen in 8 years since her last appearance in X-Men: The Last Stand and her return was well-received. But having been away from the character for so long must have meant that Ellen Page needed a bit more guidance to get into gear as compared to Hugh Jackman, who starred as Wolverine non-stop for 17 years.

We can find Ellen looking rather confused by Bryan Singer’s directions in this picture while Hugh patiently waits.

17 Super Selfie

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Without a doubt, with the exception of Ryan Reynolds, the three most popular actors in the X-Men series are here in this selfie. Hugh Jackman, of course, is the most popular of all, but the bromance between Michael Fassbender and James McAvoy ensures those two are close behind.

It was a treat for everyone to get the chance to see Wolverine interact with younger versions of Professor X and Magneto. The three got along wonderfully, as evidenced by this selfie, which was clearly taken during Magneto’s breakout scene.

16 Set Scope

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The beginning of X-Men: Days of Future Past started with a bang by showing the Sentinels taking out the hero mutants. You got the sense the mutants were completely outmatched and the sentinels were ready to claim victory. The mutants held out in a private refuge where Kitty Pride then sent Wolverine’s conscience to the past.

In the above picture, you can see how the set looked when you didn’t have sentinels onscreen. Those sentinels weren’t actually there (but you already knew that) and the environment looks very much barren due to the lack of those giants.

15 Wolverine's Fall

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Wolverine has never gotten the better of Magneto. In X-Men: Days of Future Past, he finally had a shot at taking Magneto out because of his lack of adamantium. Unfortunately, the song remained the same and Magneto ruthlessly defeated Wolverine.

Those bars do look like they’re in him.

As you know, Magneto impaled Wolverine with rebar and threw him underwater. They looked CGI in the movie, but as this photo attests that wasn’t the case. It doesn’t look too comfortable either although Hugh doesn’t appear to be in any pain.

14 Magneto Pretending To Fly

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Magneto utilizes his powers to make himself fly in a way. In actuality, he controls the magnetism around him, which gives him the ability to rise in air. In real life, Michael Fassbender can’t do that himself so he needs the assistance of the crew and special effects department. In the final battle from X-Men: Days of Future Past, Magneto had the heroes down for the count before Mystique blindsided him.

In this picture, Magneto’s supposed to be in the process of levitating, but Michael hasn’t been fit with the cables to do so.

13 Cerebro Hallway

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Like we saw with the crew during Magneto and Beast’s water fighting scene, you don’t know what’s going on around the actor when the camera is firmly trained on them. In this instance, the very same is happening as we see Hugh show Wolverine’s anger while Beast is right next to him, only with a little smile.

Nicholas Hoult obviously isn’t in character while the camera is on Hugh, but that’s a real gamble considering the scene is playing out. Perhaps his part was over the time being and Wolverine was the focus character.

12 Mystique's Make Up (Rebecca Romijn)

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Rebecca Romijn’s performance as Mystique was so iconic that, even though Jennifer Lawrence has played her longer now, the part is still associated with Romjin. At the time X-Men came out in 2000, the superhero genre really wasn’t much of anything, and so Rebecca’s makeup as Mystique was something revolutionary.

In this picture, you can see not one or two, but four people tending to her.

Despite playing someone with blue skin, Mystique was a head-turner in X-Men, and that was partly due to the wonderful makeup job the crew did.

11 Mystique's Makeup (Jennifer Lawrence)

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Jennifer Lawrence had it going for her in 2011-12 when she became part of two enormously successful franchises. Her role in The Hunger Games made her a household name, but she had to endure more in X-Men: First Class. This was because of the demands of having so much makeup and color lathered on.

Don’t worry, she is actually clothed in the picture you see, but such is the magic of the crew that it gives the impression to the opposite. What’s weird is that Jennifer has been rendered bald here. So, the hair you see in the movie is a wig.

10 Professor X's Wheelchairs

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Professor X is one of the main stars of the series so it’s not like the production department is just going to send him out in any rackety wheelchair. The wheelchair we saw him in X-Men: Days of Future Past was a particularly advanced type, but this wasn’t the only one commissioned.

Like a lot of things in filming, even Professor X’s wheelchair went through several concepts before one was decided. This should make you realize how much work goes into making a movie; something as menial as a wheelchair is scrutinized to give the best look in the finished movie.

9 Quicksilver Running

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The standout sequence in X-Men: Days of Future Past was of Quicksilver defying all sorts of science to stop the bullets hitting Wolverine (as if it made any difference if they hit him), Charles Xavier, and Magneto. The scene is played on repeat on YouTube to this day, but it did require a lot of work to come out right.

Quicksilver had stopped to take a taste of the soup that had been flung in the air, and you can see the actor filming that very scene. But there’s no actual soup around, or even the kitchen for that matter!

8 Everybody On The Jet

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In X-Men: Days of Future Past, Magneto and Professor X didn’t have much to do in the future other than hold out for Wolverine to change the past. They did see some action in the beginning scenes when seeking to evade the sentinels chasing after them. In the still, you can find the director, Bryan Singer, giving out pointers to both Magneto and Professor X over how to best convey the sense of urgency required from that scene.

Although the cameras aren’t rolling, Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart both look in top form as their facial expressions seem grave.

7 Storm's Green Screen Flying

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Storm didn’t have much to do in X-Men: Days of Future Past, owing to Halle Berry’s pregnancy. The actress did show off some of the character’s abilities though, as Storm faced the sentinels in a fight that was certain to end in her doom.

Storm’s signature pose consists of her levitating in the air before showering down her foes with lightning. This is how that scene actually looks like without the rendered background or the ramp vanished from view. Not as impressive as in the film, wouldn’t you agree?

6 That 70s Sequence

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The biggest draw for X-Men: Days of Future Past was the chance to see the future characters meet the past ones; Wolverine interacting with both versions heightened that intrigue. The first time we saw him interact with the characters was in the mansion, followed by them breaking Magneto out.

This picture was taken of the scene that preceded the flight sequence. All men look awesome as ever as they showcase that 70s’ feel to us. James McAvoy, Hugh Jackman and Michael Fassbender, in particular, are oozing the confidence required to convince us they do belong to that decade.