‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ Reveals Main Cast, To Be Somewhat Based on ‘Age of Apocalypse’
The announcement of 'X-Men: Apocalypse,' a film that would undoubtedly see one of the most famous villains of the 'X-Men' universe rise to the big screen, came as a delight to fans of these Marvel characters, even with director Bryan Singer's 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' waiting to be released. We still have a little over a month left to see the sequel to 'First Class,' but 'Apocalypse' is already looking to up the ante.
According to Singer, speaking with EW, "From a visual standpoint it actually may be a bigger movie than 'Days of Future Past' because there’ll be disaster movie imagery, like the title would imply." The title refers to Apocalypse, who's like the Thanos or Darkseid of 'X-Men,' having grown up in ancient Egypt and prolonging his life through his own mutant abilities and alien technology. (You can learn more about this big baddie HERE.)
While much of what this film entails is still rightfully shrouded in mystery -- 'X2' writers Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty only recently began writing it with Singer -- the director did reveal that 'X-Men: Apocalypse' takes its name from the 'Age of Apocalypse' comic book arc and will be "somewhat" based on that story, which features an alternate universe in which Apocalypse rules. However, "[the movie] won’t necessarily create an alternate universe," said Singer, "but there may be some swapping things that I’m playing with."
Singer also revealed that 'Apocalypse' will be set in the '80s and center on James McAvoy's Professor X, Michael Fassbender's Magneto, Jennifer Lawrence's Mystique and Nicholas Hoult's Beast, and the director is considering bringing on other mutants like Gambit and Nightcrawler.
With 'X-Men: Days of Future Past' coming out on May 23, Singer also notes to pay attention for clues that'll help set up the next film.
You won’t feel at the end of the movie that it set up 'Apocalypse.' What it does is it sets up possibilities. But what we’ll discover in 'Apocalypse' is that events in this movie made that happen. ... 'Apocalypse' deals with ancient mutancy. What would humans have thought mutants were? What would mutants think humans were? You’re dealing with gods and things like that. And what if one survived and what if that found its way into our world?
So we guess that report about a post-credits scene featuring our first look at Apocalypse himself was all just a bunch of smoke and mirrors, but we're still eager to see those Sentinels in action.
'X-Men: Days of Future Past' has one of the largest, star-studded casts we've ever seen, from the likes of Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart to Peter Dinklage and Halle Berry, and has two interconnecting storylines playing out in two different time periods. We can't even imagine what Singer is planning for 'Apocalypse' if he's going any bigger than this.
'X-Men: Apocalypse' will hit theaters on May 27, 2016.