Although the “X-Men” film franchise was often criticised over the apparent “white-washing”, what helped the franchise to succeed was also its incredibly diverse range of characters.
After announcing that newcomer Lana Condor would join the cast to portray Chinese American mutant Jubilee, director Bryan Singer took to Instagram to announce that Olivia Munn will portray Betsy Braddock aka Psylocke in “X-Men: Apocalypse“.
Check out his Instagram post below:
“Deliver Us From Evil” star Olivia Munn is known for her supporting roles in various films and TV series, including “The Newsroom”, “Date Night”, and “Iron Man 2″. Most recently, she co-starred with Johnny Depp in the movie, “Mortdecai”.
Before becoming an actress, she began her professional career in TV journalism. She co-hosted “Attack of the Show!” from 2006 to 2010 and became a correspondent on “The Daily Show” from 2010 to 2011.
And now, Munn, whose mother is of Chinese descent, is set to portray psychic warrior Psylocke. Her character briefly appeared in 2006’s “X-Men: The Last Stand” and was portrayed by Asian American actress Meiling Melançon. In the film, she fought against the X-Men as a member of The Omegas.
Created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Herb Trimpe in 1976, Betsy Braddock first appeared in the Marvel UK series “Captain Britain”. Before becoming the X-Men member Psylocke in 1986, she was a supporting character in the adventures of her twin brother, Captain Britian. Her original powers were precognition, telepathy, mental bolts, mind control, and generating illusions.
Psylocke can generate a “psychic katana” and is immune to telepathic probes and attacks. She acquired the body, skills and elements of personality of a Japanese female ninja after crime lord Mats’uo Tsurayaba captured her and switched her mind with the mind of his lover, Kwannon. She somehow acquired the telekinesis of Jean Grey and was given the power to travel via shadows by The Crimson Dawn.
According to screenwriter Simon Kinberg, Psylocke was included in early drafts of Singer’s “X-Men: Days of Future Past“, but did not appear in the final film. Since she has been one of Apocalypse’s Four Horseman, “X-Men: Apocalypse” would be the first time the mutant will be prominently featured.
Set in the 1980s, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, and Rose Byrnewill reprise their respective roles in “X-Men: Apocalypse”. Newcomer Lana Condor joined the cast as Jubilee while Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, and Kodi Smit-McPhee will play the younger versions of Jean Grey, Cyclops, Storm, and Nightcrawler respectively. Ben Hardy was recently confirmed to be playing Angel and Evan Peters may show up as Quicksilver again.
Singer is directing “X-Men: Apocalypse” based on a screenplay written by Simon Kinberg, Mike Dougherty, and Dan Harris.
The movie, which is the sequel to “X-Men: Days of Future Past“, is slated for release on 27th May 2016.
(Source: Variety)
