Apparently in the comics there is a storyline where she phases herself back in time. Not so much others though.
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Kitty phasing back through time was the original Days of Future Past storyline in the comics. They changed the time traveler to Wolverine for the movie. Whether that was actually a good idea or not is debatable. (I haven't actually seen the movie yet.)
Of course, if they were insistent on doing the cast merge, then Wolverine wouldn't have much to do in this movie since in the comics (30 year old comics spoiler) he dies horribly right near the beginning of the future storyline and he's not involved with the First Class group.
I understand Wolverine is the movie's big draw, but it's a shame that Kitty gets sidelined for what is one of her iconic storylines in the comics.
Whether that was actually a good idea or not is debatable. (I haven't actually seen the movie yet.)
I think for the franchise, giving that storyline to Wolverine was the right call - the comics audience knows who Kitty Pryde is, but in the movies, Ellen Page is a new cast member, so there's no emotional resonance to be gained by putting her in the middle of the First Class cast. But Old!Wolverine plus Nu!Professor X = wacky hikinks! Angsty wacky hijinks, but still.
That said, Hugh Jackman was totally phoning it in and the movie would have been better without him as the star.
Whether that was actually a good idea or not is debatable. (I haven't actually seen the movie yet.)
There was the problem that in this timeline Kitty wasn't alive in the 70s to jump back into her past self.
That's a handy excuse, but I don't think it's a legitimate argument, given how many other retcons this franchise has already been through.
Well, they could have done a future-future and then present storyline to get around the age issue, but then they couldn't have linked casts. And of course, they wouldn't have been able to potentially reboot their universe with that method.
Of course they could have gone with straight up physical time-travel and kept Kitty as well.
But Wolverine is the face of the franchise.
X:Men, non-spoilery silliness. When we first see James McAvoy, I couldn't figure out who he was reminding me of, then I got it- Lieutenant Dan! Even before the return to the wheelchair. Never would have said that McAvoy & Sinise resembled one another, but I guess something about the long hair, blue eyes, and bad attitude...
Hah, Epic. I had a similar feeling but didn't have the ah-ha until I read your post. I agree.
Along those lines, when I saw the trailer for Kingsmen: The Secret Service in front of DoFP yesterday, it took me a few seconds to make the connection to Men in Black and realize why I was getting such a strong sense of deja vu.
Also true, Matt!