‘X-Men Apocalypse’: Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen out, Rose Byrne in
A new X-Men film will arrive next year and fans get some more casting updates on X-Men: Apocalypse. Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen are reportedly now returning to reprise their roles as Professor X and Magneto while Rose Byrne will be back.
UPDATE: McKellen may be in afterall: In an interview with Oregon Live, Stewart now says “But Magneto, Ian McKellen, is certainly going to be in it,” the actor told the site…And what I’m very excited about is that we have been talking about a Wolverine movie, which would team Hugh Jackman and myself together. Wolverine and Professor Xavier. That would be a very different sort of “X-Men” from the four movies that I’ve already done.”
Stewart made the announcement during an interview with Larry King on Ora.TV’s Larry King Now.
“I was learning quite a lot more about it last night, and it is going to be looking very much at the earlier lives of all our characters,” Stewart said. “And so I don’t think we’ll be making an appearance.”
The latest film in the francise, Days of Future Past, featured both Stewart’s Professor X and McKellen’s Magneto as well as their young counterparts, James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender, the time travel themed film.
Byrne appeared in X-Men: First Class as government agent Moira MacTaggert and writer Simon Kinberg spoke to EW, Simon explaining how Byrne is back, but the character is also almost effectively new.
“She’s a significant character in the movie. We ended First Class with Charles having wiped portions of her memory of her experience with the X-Men. They are, essentially, strangers to her when she meets them. It’s certainly a rich relationship that we started to dig into in First Class, and would like to mine more in this one.”
Kinberg confirmed that Apocalypse is basically meant to be an end for one set of stories begun in First Class.
“This movie is the completion of the first arcs of Charles, Eric, Raven, and Hank, who are essentially our main characters. They’re such young actors and young characters, so there’s a lot more story to tell. But as a first phase of their lives, there is this feeling of closure by the end of the movie.”
Director Bryan Singer will be back with McAvoy, Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, Hugh Jackman and Evan Peters. Oscar Isaac will play the villain, Apocalypse, and reports have Ryan Reynolds’ Deadpool and Channing Tatum as Gambit making appearances as well.
X-Men: Apocalypse is set for theaters on May 27, 2016.
