Oscar Isaac Cast as Apocalypse in X-MEN: APOCALYPSE
Oscar Isaac, so hot right now. Oscar Isaac. He may have been snubbed by the Academy, not receiving an Oscar nod for his brilliant performance in Inside Llewyn Davis, but that was a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Not only will Isaac be seen in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Deadline is reporting that the actor has officially signed on to star in yet another gigantic geek property. Isaac will take on the villainous role of the ancient mutant Apocalypse in X-Men: Apocalypse. The Dark Knight Rises’ Tom Hardy was previously rumored to be up for the role. This news comes on the heels of reports last week that Fox is narrowing down their choices for actors to play younger versions of Jean Grey and Cyclops in the upcoming 1980s set sequel to X-Men: Days of Future Past, which will continue to follow the X-Men: First Class cast.
In the comics, Apocalypse is 7 feet tall and can grow to much greater heights, so I would imagine that Isaac will at least be wearing heavy prosthetics, or that the role could possibly even be a purely motion capture performance — much like what Josh Brolin has done to inhabit the role of Thanos in the MCU. Although, the younger actor who played Apocalypse in the post credits scene at the end of Days of Future Past only wore a bit of makeup. So it just depends on how closely they want to adhere to the look of the character from the comics, which has never been a major priority for Fox in their interpretations of these Marvel characters.
Director Bryan Singer is back to helm X-Men: Apocalypse, which will start filming in April of 2015 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with a planned May 27th, 2016 release. The film will involve ancient mutants and further explore the relationship between Magneto and Mystique. Isaac will be joining the First Class cast (James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, and Nicholas Hoult), along with Days of Future Past scene stealer Quicksilver (Evan Peters), who is confirmed to be returning for at least one scene.
As for what Isaac’s role will be in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, we’ve only seen rumors so far, but we’ll likely get some bigger clues when the teaser for that movie is released this Friday. You can read a possible description of what will be included in the trailer, here.