X-Men: Days of Future Past's writer and producer has confirmed the superhero movie includes an extra nod to Anna Paquin's Rogue that has been hidden in plain sight since 2014 -- and that it was unintentionally left in.
Simon Kinberg has been a big part of the X-Men franchise since X-Men: The Last Stand and served as a writer/producer on Days of Future Past for the pseudo-sequel. Although the movie served as a who's who of X-Men alumni and brought back everyone from James McAvoy to Patrick Stewart, Paquin's role as Rogue was almost non-existent in the theatrical release.
Speaking to IGN during a quarantine rewatch of the movie, Kinberg explained how fans can find Rogue during the movie's action-packed finale. "The pillars in [the X-Men's hideout] are mirrored," said Kinberg. "We only realized very late that, in one of the mirrors we have, from the Rogue Cut, Rogue actually in the mirror instead of Kitty. It's a really deep, deep cut unintentionally and completely accidentally. But we were like, 'It's taken us this long to notice it. We don't think an audience is going to notice it.' And no audience seems to have noticed it, or at least talked about it."
The Rogue Cut Kinberg is referring to is the extended release that put Paquin's role back into Days of Future Past. Rogue's proposed arc saw her take over from an injured Kitty Pryde to keep Wolverine's consciousness in the past. The idea was that the original X-Men were going to save a captive Rogue from the remains of Xavier's mansion and use her powers to absorb Kitty's. Although it added another layer to the story and included the heroic death of Shawn Ashmore's Iceman, the producers decided the subplot did "not service the main story."
Rogue was a part of the X-Men franchise from the very start and was one of the main characters of the first movie, released in 2000. Paquin reprised the role for the next two sequels, with Rogue battling her own demons in the "mutant cure" storyline of X-Men: The Last Stand. While news of her return alongside Ellen Page and Ashmore grabbed headlines ahead of Days of Future Past's release, her role was cut down to a cameo with other favorites including Kelsey Grammer, James Marsden and Famke Janssen in the altered timeline.
When it comes to the latest generation of X-Men movies, Rogue hasn't appeared in the "new" timeline that was started with X-Men: First Class and formed a major part of Days of Future Past. While young versions of Beast, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Nightcrawler and even the often-forgotten Jubilee appeared, there was so sign of Rogue. Paquin has previously said she'd be open to playing Rogue again, but for the time being, fans are left hunting for her Easter egg in X-Men: Days of Future Past.