Director Bryan Singer’s Memorial Day weekend release of X-Men: Days of Future Past is an ambitious undertaking in itself, covering one of Marvel’s biggest superhero franchises in a multi-era setting, and starring pretty much everyone and their mother.
In an attempt to show just how big a superhero movie Singer promises this fourth X-Men installment to be, Empire Magazine has taken on their biggest promotional cover undertaking to date, offering 25 separate collectible character covers for their March 2014 issue.
The magazine has always been creative with finding ways to sell more magazines, including multiple cover designs or lenticular cover art, as it did with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The 25-cover issue, however, goes way beyond that. The covers were released one at a time every hour for a 25 hour period, and feature 20 characters as well as one of Singer himself.
The characters depicted are Sentinel, Havok, Toad, William Stryker, Bolivar Trask, Mystique, Beast, Quicksilver, Magneto (Michael Fassbender and Ian McKellen versions), Wolverine (circa 1970s and present day), Professor X (James McAvoy and Patrick Stewart versions), Storm, Rogue, Warpath, Kitty Pryde, Blink, Sunspot, Iceman, Bishop, and Colossus.
This number isn’t random, as the magazine is currently celebrating its 25th year in publication. The covers are exceptionally well done, and all 25 fit together to make one long and snaky panoramic scene.
For those wanting all of the issues, Empire is offering all 25 covers for purchase individually online. When it finally hits the racks in the United States, the cost will be $9.99 per issue. This means it would be a $250 investment to get every cover, and that doesn’t include trying to actually find them all. The magazine briefly offered a chance to purchase the entire 25-cover run in one swoop, but it looks as if that offer has expired, at least for now. The good news is that there are cover teases, with all 25 pictures that are featured, so there might be no need to go without rent for a month just to get a copy of every character.
See all of the covers here.
