20th Century Fox certainly lucked out in nabbing Jennifer Lawrence for the X-Men series right before she achieved mega-stardom with the Hunger Games franchise and an Oscar-win for Silver Linings Playbook. X-Men: Days of Future Past took advantage of this by making her Mystique a pivotal character, although if a new interview with MTV is any indication Mystique will not be so front-and-center after the upcoming X-Men: Apocalypse.
“It is my last one, actually, yes,” confirmed Lawrence of bowing out of the mutant-verse after next summer’s blockbuster.
This comes as no surprise as she is one of the most sought-after actresses in Hollywood at the moment, having just signed on to headline director Steven Spielberg’s adaptation of Lynsey Addario’s memoir “It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War.” She will also be reteaming once again with Bradley Cooper and director David O. Russell for this Christmas’s awards contender Joy right after her final bow as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2. In other words, it’s very clear that the X-Men franchise needs her a lot more than she needs it.
James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, and Nicholas Hoult will lead the cast of X-Men: Apocalypse, which will also see the return of Rose Byrne as Moira MacTaggert and newcomers Alexandra Shipp, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan and Kodi Smit-McPhee as young versions of Storm, Jean Grey, Cyclops and Nightcrawler. Evan Peters is also expected to make a return appearance as Quicksilver. The film is being written by Simon Kinberg from a treatment by Mike Dougherty, Dan Harris and Kinberg.
Said to be the conclusion of a trilogy started with X-Men: First Class and continued with X-Men: Days of Future Past, cameras will start rolling on the next adventure in Montreal beginning in April, once again under the direction of Bryan Singer. X-Men: Apocalypse is set for release on May 27, 2016.
