This 'X-Men: Apocalypse' deleted scene featuring Jubilee deserved to be in the final cut

We'd forgive you if you forgot about X-Men: Apocalypse in the midst of a disappointing summer for blockbusters (though there were good, smaller films this year!). It wasn't Suicide Squad-bad, but the film could've used more humor to compensate for a morose villain and generic apocalyptic plot. 

At the very least, X-Men: Apocalypse would've benefited from including this deleted scene, shared on the Tumblr xmenladies, in which Jean Grey, Cyclops and Jubilee take Nightcrawler to an American mall for the first time. 

It's just three minutes of footage, but there's plenty of reasons it's a glaring omission from director Bryan Singer. 

It featured more Jubilee, which X-Men: Apocalypse sorely lacked. Though Jubilee is in X-Men: Apocalypse, her role is barely more than that of an extra, with the character being the only mutant in the film with dialogue that doesn't have a chance to show her powers. Singer did cut a lot of her screen time, including the mall scene, which gives us a glimpse of Jubilee using her powers at an arcade. 

Sure, she may not be a lead in the film, but Jubilee's status as an Asian-American superhero in the franchise makes her deserving of more time on screen in the film.

It demonstrates how accepted mutants are in a post-Days of Future Past world. The X-Men films consistently show society rejecting them for being different, which drives a lot of the conflict in the series. However, the events of Days of Future Past — saving President Richard Nixon from a mutant assassination attempt — place them in a better light. 

The mall scene exemplifies this in a way the rest of X-Men: Apocalypse never did. Nightcrawler has a very distinct look (he's blue and has a freaking tail), and he was rescued earlier in the film from cage fighting with other mutants against his will. But here he's able to walk around freely — in fact, people go out of their way to acknowledge him. 

X-Men: Apocalypse should have shown — just briefly — how society reacted positively to mutants after Days of Future Past.

It's dripping with '80s nostalgia. If the fandom behind Stranger Things is any indication, the '80s are in.

The mall scene, to that point, uses Men Without Hats' "Safety Dance" as the characters slowly strut into the mall, get a Slurpee, play at the arcade, check out some records and look at funky aerobics videos. It's fun, and it works. 

Considering X-Men: Apocalypse's best sequence is arguably Quicksilver's slow-motion montage set to the tune of the Eurythmics' "Sweet Dreams," a scene set to "Safety Dance" certainly wouldn't have felt out of place. 

While the deleted mall scene wouldn't have been enough to save the movie from box office and critical mediocrity, excluding it is still a serious oversight.