Spoiler Alert: ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’

With ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ out in cinemas around the world now. We take a look at the post-credits sequence of X-Men: Days Of Future Past, with spoilers, and explain what it's all about.

The scene opens on the expansive sands of the Sahara desert. It pans behind a hooded figure standing on the dunes, arms raised. In the background, we can hear the chanting of a huge crowd. All calling the same thing.

Then we see a pyramid, half-completed. Huge stones lift themselves in the air and begin to reconfigure in complex, completing the pyramid in seconds. The chanting continues. The camera pans around to reveal the face of the hooded figure. It's young, thin man. Chalk white with deep blue lips. Across his shoulder, we see the silhouettes of four mounted riders. Four Horsemen. And the scene cuts to black.

Fans of the wider X-Men franchise will immediately recognize this figure as a version of Apocalypse. And while it's hard to tell, it sounds like the people might have been chanting his given name: En Sabah Nur, meaning The First One.

Born a slave in ancient Egypt under the reign of Rama-Tut, Apocalypse is one of the people who claims to be the original example of Homo Sapiens Superior: the first ever mutant. A being of immense power, he is dedicated to the philosophy of survival of the fittest and a brutal tyrant destined to one-day rule the Earth. And that's not some vague prophecy: people have seen that future and come back to try and stop him - most notably Cable, who was raised under his rule.

As a villain, Apocalypse is easily one of the X-Men's most deadly. Powerful, fanatical and near-impossible to kill, he and his followers have troubled the X-Men on only a few occasions, but it's always a big deal when they do. The biggest storyline to bear his name is the Age of Apocalypse, a story in which a time-traveller accidentally kills Professor X and awakens Apocalypse early, changing the timeline and allowing his rule to begin early. The X-Men, who are led by Magneto in this reality, end up sacrificing everything to stop him and repair the timeline.

Like the first Avengers stinger, this scene is mainly designed to tease the villain of the next movie. It's not a particularly huge surprise, given that the title has already been announced as X-Men: Apocalypse.