Casting News for X-Men: Apocalypse!
For better or worse, Bryan Singer is hard at work on X-Men: Apocalypse. The movie will be based on the infamous ‘90’s event which saw the X-Men battling an alternate timeline where the murder of their mentor Charles Xavier creates a world where Magneto leads the fight for peace against the genocidal Apocalypse. The event is a favourite for many comic fans, so there is more than a little pressure on Singer to deliver a movie that meets expectations. His interpretation of Days of Future Past made a fun movie, even if it did meet with some criticism from X-Men fans for its drastic deviations from the original story. It takes guts to face such a loyal fan base, and it’s even more brazen to recast key roles, but that’s just what Singer’s done. He announced on Twitter that he has cast the roles of young Cyclops, Storm, and Jean Grey.
Meet our new and brilliant young mutants: @Alexshipppp as #Storm @SophieT as #JeanGrey and @TyeSheridan as #Cyclops. #XmenApocalypse
— Bryan Singer (@BryanSinger) January 23, 2015
Tye Sheridan is best known for his appearance in The Tree of Life, and Alexandra Shipp who starred as Aaliyah in the film about the singer’s life that aired on Lifetime. They will take on the roles of Cyclops and Storm respectively from Hollywood heavyweights James Marsden and Halle Berry.
The biggest news is the casting of Sophie Turner as Jean Grey. Game of Thrones fans will recognize Turner as Sansa Stark, the eldest daughter of the Stark family who has known no end of torment, making her a perfect candidate to play a mutant. Sheridan, Ship and Turner will join Oscar Isaac when he takes on the daunting role of the title villain as well as returning cast members James McAvoy as Professor Xavier, Michael Fassbender as Magneto and Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique. Another new cast member to join these esteemed alumni is Oscar Isaac who will play the maniacal Apocalypse. Of course Apocalypse won’t hit theaters until May 2016, so we can expect a lot more from announcements from Singer before then.
