Bryan Singer talks Mystique in ‘X-Men Apocalypse’ and why she’s ‘famous’
Taking center stage in one of the most recent trailers, Jennifer Lawrence seems to tap into her inner Katniss, rallying the X-Men to face Apocalypse in the new film: X-Men: Apocalypse. Director Bryan Singer spoke with Empire about Mystique, what has transpired since X-Men: Days of Future Past as he sets up fan excitement for the new film.
“She’s famous, but nobody’s really seen her since,” Singer told Empire about that scene in the teaser, as Kodi Smit-McPhee’s Nightcrawler says “Your’e Her.”
“Meeting her is a big deal to him. She’s the great hero from 1973 and he’s starstruck in that moment.”
Mystique has lived in the shadows, always being an outsider, even among the X-Men.
“She’s not comfortable with it. She’s not interested in being the face of a world that she doesn’t believe exists. She’s not a hero,” Singer continued.
“It’s the same reason I’m setting 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea right after the Civil War. Everything wasn’t suddenly hunky-dory between the North and the South – there was still hostility and tension. The same thing exists here.”
Kodi Smit-McPhee told JoBlo that his character is actually trying to conquer his fears in this movie, so it’s good to have someone to look up to.
“I’m sure Nightcrawler, he’s kind of scared of his own shadow at this point, so he’s probably pretty terrified. Through everything he does in this movie it’s kind of, as we say, the stepping-stones of becoming the brave hero he is,” he said.
When asked to describe his character, Smit-McPhee said that he’s pretty “vulnerable, swashbuckling, [and] joyous” so fans would definitely enjoy watching him interact with fellow mutants.
X-Men: Apocalypse will hit cinemas on May 27.