This week sees the opening of X-MEN: APOCALYPSE, the sixth film in the X-franchise, once again bringing director Bryan Singer back to the helm with many new and returning stars entering the fray. I sat down and talked with the cast and crew of the new film, including director Bryan Singer, writer/producer Simon Kinberg, and stars Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, Sophie Turner, Evan Peters, and Olivia Munn, all of which shared their thoughts on being in the film and where the franchise goes from here. Personally, I loved X-MEN: APOCALYPSE, which sits safely with X-MEN: FIRST CLASS as my favorites of the franchise. It’s the most comic book-y of the series and it was nice to see it be a heroes vs. villains story rather than another variation of the “humans vs. mutants” trope and it leaves things off right where I’d hoped the 2000 film would have. Anyway, enough about how I felt, here’s my interviews with the cast and crew.
First up is director Bryan Singer, who discussed the initial controversy over the appearance of Apocalypse and how that may inform his early looks at future projects, as well as where he sees the franchise going (including his own involvement) and how the latest mutant success, DEADPOOL, fits into the mix.
Next up is producer Simon Kinberg, who has helped spearhead the mutant franchise alongside Singer for a while now. Kinberg talks about why they chose Apocalypse as the villain for this film, how the ’80’s settings influenced the film, and the next X-film being set in the ’90’s.
Jennifer Lawrence and James McAvoy have been playing Mystique and Professor Xavier since X-MEN: FIRST CLASS and the two talk about how they develop their relationship outside the script, what direction Lawrence would like to see Mystique go after Apocalypse, and whether or not McAvoy has ever talked about playing Xavier with Patrick Stewart.
Lastly, I talked to Olivia Munn, Evan Peters, and Sophie Turner, who react to how much it sucks being in an X-Men film to start things off. Peters talked about having the most fun in the film, while Turner talks about being able to break away from her usual oppressed role of playing Sansa in Game of Thrones, and then Munn discusses what was most important to get right about Psylocke.
Check out X-MEN: APOCALYPSE in theaters this Friday!
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