Bryan Singer Opens Up about Apocalypse's Powers In X-MEN: APOCALYPSE
I’ve been hearing a lot of talk about how epic X-Men: Apocalypse is going to be and how the X-Men have never faced a villain like Apocalypse before. This character is going to take things to a whole new level because of how powerful he is. We know what he’s capable of thanks to the comic books and the cartoon series, but this is the first time he will be utilized in a live action film. When talking about what we can expect to see from the villain in the movie, director Bryan Singer said:
"To me he is the God of the Old Testament and all that comes with that. I started from there. When Oscar and I met, we began discussing, since he isn’t really God, he’s the first mutant perhaps, he’s imbued with certain unique powers. Some of them may or may not be from this Earth."
The director went on to expand on those unique powers that he's obtained over the course of his existence.
"He has a number of different powers that he’s acquired over the years as he’s moved from body to body, accumulating these various abilities. One of them is to imbue other mutants and to heighten their powers and abilities. Secondly, he can shield from psychic powers; he can form shields so that it makes it harder for a psychic like Xavier to tap in and get to them. He’s not a psychic himself though. He can amplify your power, transform you as a mutant but his ability to physically damage, destroy, or build is in the non-biological world. That’s in the physical world, he can change the inorganic molecules of things. These are some of the powers that we’re exploring and there are some epic things that he does towards the end of the picture."
The filmmaker revealed that Apocalypse’s "greatest power is the power of persuasion.” He explained that that is something the villain has been working on for "tens of thousands of years." He finds "people at a time in a moment when there's an emptiness, when there's a need," and from there he gives them what they need to fill that emptiness and need.
Singer also talked about how he was inspired by cults when developing this character for the big screen.
"Then we started looking at cults and the nature of cults. True cult leaders develop god complexes, and the old God always traditionally had four horsemen. So I thought a cult has traditionally four factions to it that interest me. It has a political faction, and I’d always felt Magneto could fill those shoes. It always has a military faction, so Archangel could fill those shoes as the guardian. There’s also a youth faction, those that you’re trying to seduce and grow into your cult, the young whose minds are malleable, and lastly the sexual component because cult leaders tend to sexualize their position and have sex with half the people in their cult. And the Psylocke character was a very bright character in the comic but is always looking for guidance and leadership. Always trying to find the right guy, so she starts with one and ends up with Apocalypse in this one. I always thought there was a mixture of ancient religion and cultism combined in the character of Apocalypse."
I’m fascinated by cults, and I like how Singer implemented certain aspects of them into who Apocalypse is and the followers that he recruits. I’m excited to see more of this character as the marketing for the film continues. X-Men: Apocalypse hits theaters May 27th, 2016.