Even before ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ hit theaters this summer, Bryan Singer and 20th Century Fox revealed that work had started on the next chapter of the X-Men film franchise, ‘X-Men: Apocalypse.’ Although for a little while it looked like the filmmaker’s future with the project might be rocky due to some supposed scandals, things seem to be back on track and some new announcements have been released pertaining to the upcoming sequel.
First, Deadline reports that Singer has been officially named as the director of ‘X-Men: Apocalypse.’ He has just closed a deal with the studio to helm his fourth X-Men film, which takes place a decade after ‘Days of Future Past’. This story written by Singer, Simon Kinberg, Michael Dougherty, and Dan Harris is set to follow the events of this new altered timeline that sees a the team face off against “an ancient unrelenting force determined to cause an apocalypse unlike any in human history”.
Then, speaking of the team, Kinberg confirmed that the ‘X-Men: First Class’ cast will be the main focus of the next film in an exclusive Q&A session with Yahoo! Movies. The writer/producer also went on to say that even though stars like Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, and James McAvoy would be at the forefront, we might see some familiar characters in the mix as well. However, the faces would be different considering the time that this movie is set:
“If we included some of the original X-Men, like Storm, Jean, Scott, and others, yeah we would have to recast them, because Apocalypse takes place a good twenty years before ‘X1’, which now insanely was fifteen years ago. It would be very hard to do. Halle, Famke, and Jimmy, and others have done such wonderful jobs of bringing those characters to life and they’re so identified, those actors, with the parts now. So it would be a tall task, but I also would have said before ‘First Class’ there would be no way we could find actors who could stand alongside Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart, and I think we managed to with Michael and James finding their own interpretation of the characters, not doing an impersonation. So, are we going to have to recast? If some of those characters were in the movie we would, but we’ll see.”
To hear all of Kinberg’s answers to the fan-submitted questions, check out the video below:
What do you think about these new details about ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’? Do you have any actors in mind that could play younger versions of Storm, Jean Grey, Cyclops, and the other team members from the first X-Men movie? Share your picks in the comments.
‘X-Men: Apocalypse’ hits theaters on May 27, 2016.
