X-Men: Apocalypse (2016)

[Michael*]

On 2/18/2015 at 2:29 PM, Kevork89 said:

So excited about this. Another aussie woohoo. And he's quite a young talent too. He will be great. My original post is updated

 

Did you hear about the recent Deadpool news? That Colossus will appear in the film however Daniel Cudmore who plays Colossus won't be in it. So I hope they don't recast him. That would be a slap in the face.

 

Smit-McPhee as Nightcrawler is another good call by Singer, he's a great fit for the visual design of the character. Although he'll have to go some to equal what Alan Cumming brought to the role in 'X-Men 2'.

 

Tough to make an overall judgement on Cudmore's acting abilities as I only ever saw him in the X-Men franchise, but still, it's hard not to feel bad for the guy. Despite the limited screentime allowed for him, I thought his performances over the three films were strong enough to warrant exploring the character more in 'Deadpool'. Plus, Colossus will almost certainly be in his metallic form and covered in CGI for the majority of the running time anyway.

[Kevork89]

http://variety.com/2015/film/news/eastenders-actor-ben-hardy-joins-x-men-apocalypse-1201440972/

 

I think he will be Angel or Cannonball.

[Michael*]

I'd imagine the Apocalypse connection would make Archangel a lock to appear, although really I'd prefer it if they were to introduce him as Angel. The shocking part of the story was that one of the original X-Men transformed into a monster. Without first establishing him as a part of the team, you wonder if it'll have the same impact. Plus there's the added risk of opening yet another can of continuity worms, since Ben Foster also played him in 'Last Stand'.

 

Only other character I can think of that Hardy really looks like is Banshee, but of course, they already went there.

[Michael*]

Unknown actress cast as Jubilee in 'X-Men: Apocalypse'
 
Actress Lana Condor has been cast as Jubilee in next year's X-Men Apocalypse. Jubilation Lee, a Chinese-American teenage mutant who possesses the ability to generate pyrotechnic energy bursts, has made cameo appearances in three previous X-Men films, played by Katrina Florece in 2002's X-Men and Kea Wong in 2003's X2 and 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand.

Condor is such a screen newcomer that X-Men: Apocalypse is her first listed credit on IMDB. Director Bryan Singer announced her casting on Instagram last night (March 25). Singer is due to start shooting X-Men: Apocalypse this spring in Toronto and the film is set for release on May 27, 2016. Last month (February) he announced that Kodi Smit-McPhee has been cast as young Nightcrawler and in January he unveiled three other new cast members for X-Men: Apocalypse. Game of Thrones actress Sophie Turner – Sansa Stark in the HBO fantasy series – will play Jean Grey; Tye Sheridan will portray Cyclops and Alexandra Shipp, who starred as Aaliyah in a recent US TV biopic, has been cast as Storm.

They join returning cast members Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult and Evan Peters, as well as Oscar Isaac, who has been cast as Apocalypse, the villain that gives the film its title. Rose Byrne is also confirmed to be reprising her role as CIA agent Moira MacTaggert from 2011's X-Men: First Class and Hugh Jackman has recently hinted that he will be returning as Wolverine.
 
Meanwhile, Patrick Stewart has confirmed that he will not be appearing in X-Men: Apocalypse, but also said that his fellow original X-Men star Ian McKellen "certainly" will have a role.

Ever so slightly concerned that Jubilee will just be a decorative character with no real purpose except to showcase some cool powers, and to have another mutant take part in the final battle (like Sunspot, Bishop, Blink and Warpath in DOFP and Colossus since X2). We'll see.

[Kevork89]

http://collider.com/x-men-apocalypse-olivia-munn-is-psylocke/

Olivia Munn has been cast as Psylocke.

 

http://collider.com/x-men-apocalypse-concept-art-archangel/

Ben Hardy is confirmed as Angel and new concept art revealed.

 

I'm excited for both of these characters. I am not a fan of Olivia Munn but i'll hold out judgement. Bryan Singer doesn't make too many bad choices so I trust him. I'm loving the lineup of characters. We have Cyclops, Jean, Storm, Beast, Nightcrawler, Angel, Psylocke, Apocalypse plus Prof X, Magneto and Mystique. WOW this is all X-Men fans dream come true. I also have to say that finally an X-Men film with substantial female mutants and possible leads. The last few movies the main lead has been Mystique with other women having bit parts. This one for once seems like they are giving us the amazing X women who are just as good if not better then the guys.

[Michael*]

As a longstanding Psylocke fan, I'd have to say that’s quite the curveball. I was pleasantly surprised by some of Munn's serious dramatic work on ‘The Newsroom’, but she's not someone I’d ever associate with playing Betsy. Thus, my expectations aren't particularly high. On the bright side, I was disappointed with the way 'Last Stand' handled the character and I'm happy to see her getting showcased again on the big screen.

[Kevork89]

Yeah I just don't see Munn as Psylocke. I feel like this is another January Jones situation. She just isn't suited to that type of role. January was dreadful as Emma Frost. She didn't do the character justice. I hope that it isn't the same outcome for Psylocke as she is one of the best female X-Men characters. Truthfully I would've cast Maggie Q.

This shot from Nikita screams Psylocke.

[Michael*]

I get the feeling that all the newbies will be given relatively modest roles for the time being, but since Jennifer Lawrence has announced that this will be her last gig as Mystique, they may be on the lookout for the franchise's next poster girl. If, let's say, Sophie Turner proves amazingly popular with audiences in this one then I could see her being upgraded to a much bigger part next time. Same probably goes for Olivia and company.

 

For what it's worth now, my ultimate pick for Betsy would have been Gemma Chan of ‘Sherlock’ and ‘Jack Ryan’ fame. A bit of a pipe dream perhaps, but hey, the only thing on Hardy's CV was 'Eastenders'.

 

[Kevork89]

Good choice my friend. I think Sophie will definitely have a breakout role in this. She's immensely popular already due to GoT everyone I have mentioned to that she is playing Jean is super pumped for it. I think Tye, Sophie and Alexandra will all get a nice big boost from this and will definitely be taking over for the franchise. I love Jennifer Lawrence but Mystique overall isn't an integral part of the X-Men story.

[Michael*]

Yeah, in many ways, Mystique is to the X-Men franchise what Black Widow is to the Avengers. Both are examples of characters who've become better known and more popular via the movies, rather than the source material. Mystique's superpower probably helps with that, since shape-shifting looks considerably cooler on film than on the page.
 
A lot of people online like to make comparisons between Wolverine and Iron Man too, in terms of how they're always front and center in every movie. To be fair, there's probably some truth to that, but the likes of Jackman, Lawrence and Downey are the hook for folks who otherwise wouldn't want to go.

[Kevork89]

Yep which honestly I have no issue with. I think Jackman is still the best actor who's played a comic role in my opinion. Robert is high up there too. Their dedication to the characters and its fan base is amazing. So I never care that they're the main players in the movie. They deserve it because they made these characters popular. I love Jennifer but you can just tell she's not really that into being Mystique. She doesn't have the passion for the character that other actors do for their roles. So if she's finished after apocalypse I'm ok with that. But never say never. I'm very very pumped for this movie. The cast of characters is perfect for the time they are setting it. The anticipation is killing me.

[Michael*]

Her performance in 'DOFP' was a big step up from 'First Class', but overall, I never saw her as a great fit for the part.
 
I think Lawrence has an acute case of franchise fatigue at the moment. In addition to four 'Hunger Games' movies, this is her third X-Men and most actors seem to tire of playing the same roles after a while. Unless they're Hugh Jackman, who's happy to be playing an iconic character and owns it, or Robert Downey, who gets paid £60m a pop.
 
She probably isn't a fan of going through the extensive make-up process needed to portray Mystique either. I believe Rebecca Romijn and Alan Cumming hated it too back in the day.

[Kevork89]

Lucas Till is back as Havok. Wonderful. Love this character and I hope he has a bigger role this time around. He could be a horsemen. Also will be interesting to see how they handle his and Scott's relationship.

Michael it seems like you and I are the only one discussing X-Men

[Michael*]

I could talk X-Men forever, marking it down as a win that there are still two of us.

 

Yeah, you have to wonder how they'll make the Summers family connection work now. Alex was a young guy in 'First Class' and Scott will be a young guy in this one, although there probably won't be enough of an age gap to rule out the possibility of the two still being brothers. Not sure it’s believable for Lucas Till to play a character in his forties either, but I suppose we’ll have to wait and see how it plays out onscreen. If nothing else, it might distract from Wolverine looking fifteen years older in 1983 than he did in 2003.

[Kevork89]

I can never stop talking X-Men. Still to this day my favourite comic book series and movies. Some of the movies have had their moments. Like Origins and Last Stand but overall I have loved every movie they've made. They may lack consistency compared to the Marvel or DC universes. But there's something about the movies that have a hold on me. I think it's also because X-Men was the first of the modern era comic book movies and really is what has allowed all of these comic book movies to be where they are, but sadly it's gets no credit for it.

In regards to the Sunmers connection, yeah who knows. They keep jumping ahead 10 years but the actors aren't older. I guess Havok could still be his brother. Just a much older brother. I feel that would make a bit more sense compared to his father seeing as how the actors only have like 6 years difference between them.

I still have a feeling that somehow some future mutants will be in this movie. There's been talk of a Halle and Ian cameo somehow. And we know that Angel was in Last Stand. Yes they've done a Star Trek and history has changed but I doubt that the characters births have changed in the timeline. Could Apocalypse travel through time in this? If so I hope he does and he rips a few mutants from the future. My only hope is to finally see Rogue.

[Michael*]

Seconded. The first X-Men, while obviously not perfect, was so important in redefining the comic book movie genre. Just a few years after the likes of 'Batman and Robin', where the plots were ludicrous, the scripts were dreadful and actors like Val Kilmer had already dismissed the characters as silly people running around in silly outfits, Singer created a character-driven story about a group whose greatest enemy was prejudice, societal bias and hatred, and paved the way for the more up to date fare of Captain America, Avengers and the Dark Knight. Granted, studios still ended up making things like 'Catwoman' at various points along the way, but there's been such a big overall step up in quality over the last decade or so, which absolutely could not have happened without the X-Men franchise.
 
Sounds like Anna Paquin is up for making a comeback, but only on the condition that she gets to fly.

[Kevork89]

And so she should. Poor Anna. Rogue has been given the short end of the stick when it comes to her character. I'm not too fussed if Rogue flies but I was looking forward to seeing her in DoFP and seeing how she's accepted her gift. I think they need another movie with the original cast.

[Michael*]

I suspect that the next time we see Rogue onscreen it’ll be with someone new in the role, which would be a bit of a shame really, because I'd prefer to see Anna given another shot. I suppose to be fair, one of the reasons why she never became ‘badass’ Rogue was probably that the accompanying storyline from the books would have been hard to do without eating up a considerable chunk of the movie. They would have needed to dedicate as much time to it as they did to the Jean Grey/Phoenix arc in 'Last Stand', which obviously, you can't do for everyone.

[Michael*]

Here's the first official shot of Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nightcrawler.

 

[Kevork89]

Yay yay love it