I prefer the obscured approach, too, Nathan.

As for any tales set in a near-future, in comics, TV, movies, wherever, I feel the year should never be given. Better to have it "in the near-future," or "15 (or whatever amount of years) from now..." If something is set "15 years from now," it will always be 15 years from the time you are watching or reading the story.

I hereby declare any dates in Days of Future Past to be in error, AKA a "Chrisprint".

I understand the idea of using a set date in movies or books; it lends an air of legitimacy, while it is certain to be forgotten. For goodness sakes, it's only a movie; who will remember a Space Odyssey in the year 2001? That's forty years in the future!

But it turns out that entertainment media stuck with the viewing/reading public longer than anyone expected, I suppose. So we know all these details NOW where the creators, I think, weren't concerned with that far into the future.

I believe the same applies to locations... it is much harder to validate an invasion in Poland or Tanzania while invading Wakanda or Qurac are nice and safe. If it's a non-specific but realistic sounding country, then no one needs to start applying real national statistics to a story. "Hey! It wouldn't be nearly so easy to take down Mexico! The United States and others would come to their aid!" makes more sense in discussion, and less sense in publishing, than using Latveria instead.

Another consideration of non-specific dates is that technology doesn't have to keep up. We aren't worried about what kind of tech is used in Planet of the Apes... but androids in 2019 are a little too advanced for the timing of Blade Runner. Although I'd like to pre-order mine now, for certain. :)

And I remembered that the Future part of "Days of Future Past" took place in 2013. And the "Welcome to the 21st century" bit. I still don't see any Sentinels flying around outside my window, but of course that's for the best. 

I would have preferred young Quinn simply existed in our "present day", the articles could still be shown, but without specific dates (perhaps anniversaries of the first appearance), and the bulk of the film happening 20 years after the fateful discovery day, whether that be 2020, 2030, 2040, or whatever. The beginning is so brief, I don't feel there's much dating it. And even less reference points in the post-apocalyptic era. 

*I guess it was meant as an "alternate" future from the start, as the movie was released in 2002.

I recall reading Mark Twain and in some of his stories he just left the last two digits out, July 4, 18__ or something similar. That worked for me.