The Gifted Teases Its Own Take On Classic X-Men Storyline

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The Gifted Season Finale Teases Its Own X-Men: Days of Future Past

By Meagan Damore

Published Feb 27, 2019

In The Gifted Season 2 finale, a mutant returned from the future with a warning, setting the stage for a third season inspired by Days of Future Past.

SPOILER WARNING: This article contains major spoilers for "oMens," The Gifted Season 2 finale.

Blink lives! In "oMens," The Gifted Season 2 finale, Clarice Fong returned in the episode's final moments with a dire message. The teleporting mutant has not only recovered from her life-threatening injuries, but also mastered her abilities, which suggests a great deal of time has passed for her since her last appearance.

Clarice reappeared as the Mutant Underground's leadership struggled to regroup after their losses. As they discussed their next move, John Proudstar sensed a disturbance outside. He ran to investigate, only to encounter a mass of purple sparks. Soon, the sparks coalesced into a portal, through which Clarice stepped out.

However, this Clarice looked much different than the one John last saw. Her hair was longer, she wore a silver top with a matching necklace and carried two dart-like devices in her hand. "Something has happened," she said, bypassing any greetings. "I need you all to come with me. There's something you need to see."

With that, she tossed one of the darts, which opened another portal. On the other side, the world was dark, lit only by fiery destruction. She nodded her head at it to indicate they should follow and stepped back through as the other mutants exchanged glances. The episode ended before they could really react or answer her.

Before this dramatic reappearance, Clarice struggled with both her identity and her powers. She had only just fully embraced her mutant self this season when she made the decision to join the Morlocks, and even then she still struggled to hold portals open. Now, however, she opens portals with ease; what's more, it seems like she can now travel through time as well as space.

Clarice's return echoes "Days of Future Past," an iconic Uncanny X-Men storyline from Chris Claremont and John Byrne. In that two-issue arc, Kitty Pryde traveled back in time from the future to prevent the assassination of anti-mutant Senator Robert Kelly, which triggered a series of events that led to mutant internment camps. This was adapted into a film titled X-Men: Days of Future Past; a box office smash, the film swapped Wolverine in for Kitty and made some other major changes.

Likewise, The Gifted seems to be setting up a loose adaption of the "Days of Future Past" storyline. It appears as though Clarice is returning from the future with a warning, in much the same way Kitty did when she kickstarted the event in the comics. However, it's yet to be seen how much The Gifted will borrow from this fan-favorite story arc -- or if it will get a chance to at all. At the time of writing, the series has not yet been renewed for a third season.

Fox’s The Gifted stars Stephen Moyer as Reed Strucker, Amy Acker as Caitlin Strucker, Sean Teale as Eclipse/Marcos Diaz, Jamie Chung as Blink/Clarice Fong, Coby Bell as Jace Turner, Emma Dumont as Polaris/Lorna Dane, Blair Redford as Thunderbird/John Proudstar, Natalie Alyn Lind as Lauren Strucker, Percy Hynes White as Andy Strucker and Skyler Samuels as the Frost sisters.