X-Men: Apocalypse is bringing new and old X-Men together in the most 80s sequel yet.
It may not be getting much attention compared to Civil War and Ant-Man right now, but Fox’s X-Men franchise is pushing ahead full steam. In fact, Entertainment Weekly recently pulled back the curtain on X-Men: Apocalypse – a sequel bringing the First Class timeline into the 1980s. But what you might not have expected are characters decked out in nostalgic comic book costumes – including Jubilee’s yellow jacket, Psylocke’s revealing martial arts outfit, and Storm’s 80s Mohawk.
Apocalypse opens ten years after Days of Future Past with America’s Reagan era well underway. Charles Xavier is finally running his school for mutants. Raven is rescuing oppressed and enslaved mutants worldwide. And Magneto – surprisingly – has fallen in love, given up his war, and tries to live a normal life in Poland. But everything changes when Apocalypse, the world’s first mutant, wakes up in Egypt with a plan to purge human civilization. He even manages to convert Magneto into one of his four horsemen alongside Storm, Angel, and Psylocke. This prompts Xavier and Raven to work together and save the world, but for one problem: The 1980s X-Men are only students with no combat experience.
“[Xavier’s] not teaching anybody how to fight at the moment,” actor James McAvoy explains. “He’s teaching people how to control their abilities so that they can work at a bank. But of course this movie challenges all of that.”
Fox’s X-Men films have traditionally avoided comic book-styled costumes for realism. (Cyclops made a crack about “yellow spandex” way back in X-Men 1.) But the floodgates are wide open in X-Men: Apocalypse, with most new characters wearing outfits falling somewhere between nostalgic and tacky. The strange thing is they fit the 1980s themes amazingly well, and should make Apocalypse the most visually distinctive yet.
Perhaps more importantly, Apocalypse is where younger actors are arriving to put more new spins on classic characters. Among the many additions, Game of Thrones‘ Sophie Turner joins the X-Men as Jean Grey, Tye Sheridan signs on as her love interest Cyclops, and Storm’s villainous streak will be portrayed by Alexandra Shipp. The new cast will join the First Class trio of James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, and Jennifer Lawrence on May 27, 2016.
Source: Entertainment Weekly, via Comic Book Movie
