At Comic-Con International 2013, Twentieth Century Fox brought attendees their first taste at the future (and past) of their most ambitious Marvel move to date, X-Men: Days of Future Past. Along with earning big buzz from debuting the first Days of Future Past footage on stage, with the help of the film's vast star-studded cast, the studio did a little public viral marketing by having an anniversary showcase outside the convention center.

On display across the street from the main building Fox had the head of a Sentinel robot on display, with employees of Trask Industries handing out anti-mutant propaganda posters.

Trask Industries - in the fiction of the X-Men film universe - is a massive international corporation founded by Bolivar Trask (played by Peter Dinklage in the film) and a leader in genetics and technology, specializing in "advancing human progress" and protecting humanity against the "mutant threat." Their website www.trask-industries.com has launched in full and features a plethora of interesting lore and imagery from the timeline explored in X-Men: Days of Future Past. Just remember, if you're reading that site, you're in the year 2023 - the approximate time the film may take place, according to director Bryan Singer.

Pretending we're in the year 2023, it's now 50 years after Trask Industries released the first Sentinels. It's that era where the 'past' part of X-Men: Days of Future Past takes place (with James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, etc.) and it's the 2023 (Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellan, Halle Berry, etc.) era where the other part of the story occurs. The imagery on the site tells an interesting, albeit different history than the one we're used to:

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A little info on Trask Industries:

As the world's leading full-spectrum genetic security and containment company, Trask Industries continues to uncover new ways to control the mounting X-gene threat. We are proud to bring decades of experience, along with 118,000 innovative minds as we continue to secure human freedoms in every nation on Earth. Our goal is to solve tomorrow's problems, today.

On the About page, it's clear that something terrible relating to mutants occurred in the '60s which changed the mindset of the world's governments, so much so that they accept lethal robotic centurions as a normal element of emergency response.

Founded by Bolivar Trask in 1967, Trask Industries was built on the philosophy of advancing human progress through technology and genetics. Our early research led to the revolutionary development of DNA-Generated Prosthetics. Since then, Trask Industries has taken the lead in genetics-based defense technology with our Mutant Detection Device and Sentinel program. We've partnered with international governments to ensure that any threat to human extinction is preemptively neutralized. With Trask Industries, you can rest assured that the future of humanity is in safe hands.

Informational highlights:

  • Trask Industries was founded by Bolivar Trask in 1967.
  • The first Sentinels (Mark I model) released in 1973. A year later the government allowed them to be deployed in highly populated cities and to serve as part of the President's security attache (beginning with Nixon).
  • Between 1973 and 1996, Trask produced 8732 Sentinel Mark Is for the governments of the United States, China, Russia, Israel, Saudi Arabia, France, India and the United Kingdom.
  • Production on the Mark I has shifted to the new Mark X: "These highly anticipated units will combine next-generation nanotechnology and bioweapon breakthroughs, promising an even brighter future for the human race."
  • Trask Industries is also responsible for the development of Mutant Detection Devices (featured in all Sentinels) and Inhibitor Collars (see images below).
  • If not for the 50 years of work by Trask Industries, 50% of the world's population would have the X-Gene and by 2030 the homo sapien species would be "eradicated."

The Mark Is stand at 18 feet tall, feature dual "Trask 873K energy blasters" and can fly with a ceiling of 45,000 feet. Just as we suspected, that design (featured in the images below) is from the '70s and not the potentially-even-larger Mark X units we will see fighting the future X-Men. Those newer designs may be closer to the massive machines from the comics, cartoons and teased with a head in the intro of X-Men: The Last Stand.

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'X-Men: The Last Stand' Sentinel
Remember This? Mark X?

The most glaring highlight we can draw from this fascinating history on Trask and the research and breakthroughs his company is responsible for is that none of it has played into the film series as we know it, outside of the teaser image above of the head from X-Men 3. That leads us to believe that the events in X-Men: Days of Future Past are taking place in a different timeline, one where something changed the course of industry and changed the world to fear the mutants (even more than normal). Perhaps that alternate reality may help explain the return of Patrick Stewart's Professor X?

Check out the site yourself at www.trask-industries.com and let us know your thoughts and theories!

Bryan Singer directs X-Men: Days of Future Past with newcomers Peter Dinklage, Omar Sy, Boo Boo Stewart, Fan Bingbing, Evan Peters, Adan Canto, Josh Helman, along with returning stars Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Nicholas Hoult, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, Anna Paquin, Ellen Page, Shawn Ashmore, Halle Berry, Lucas Till, and Daniel Cudmore. James Marsden may be involved if witness reports are true.

The Wolverine releases July 26, 2013, X-Men: Days of Future Past on May 23, 2014.

Follow Rob on Twitter @rob_keyes for your Marvel movie news!

Source: Trask