X-Men Apocalypse Producer: Storm, Cyclops, Jean Grey Would Have To Be Recast

When X-Men: Apocalypse hits the theaters, fans of the franchise will see some familiar faces, but they might also see some new ones as well. The producer of the X-Men movies has confirmed that Apocalypse would need to feature recasts for the original X-Men. We all know this thing will center on Wolverine, though, so no need to worry.

X-Men movie producer Simon Kinberg confirmed in an interview with Yahoo that, if the first wave of X-Men – the ones that appeared in the 2000 film that launched the franchise – appear in X-Men: Apocalypse, they will likely have to be replaced by younger actors. That’s because the next X-Men film will take place in the 1980s, some 20 years before the first X-Men film was set.

“It’d be very hard to do, because Halle, Famke, and Jimmy and others have done such wonderful jobs of bringing those characters to life,” Kinberg said of the casting difficulties for X-Men: Apocalypse. In fact, it would apparently be so difficult to pull off those first-wave X-Men that they might not pop up in X-Men: Apocalypse at all.

Which, really, should surprise no one. By now, it should be apparent to all that the “X-Men movie franchise” is really the “Wolverine movie franchise.” Fox has taken the rich tapestry of the X-Men comics, stripped away almost all of what made it good, and surrounded Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine with an assortment of typically bland characters that react to the things that Wolverine does. The only real exception to this was X-Men: First Class, and Wolverine even popped up in that one.

Kinberg also did his best to assure X-Men fans that Fox’s seven X-Men films actually do have something resembling a coherent chronology. He placed the films in their correct order, carefully avoiding the fact that Professor X got exploded and Magneto got de-powered and Wolverine got his claws broken over the course of some of the later X-Men flicks. No apologies for spoiling those character fates for you; it’s actually a kindness, since now you don’t have to suffer through the movies.

That’s all neither here nor there, though. What’s important is that, with most of the original First Class mutants dead and most of the “initial” X-Men too young, there’s the question of exactly who will be showing up for X-Men: Apocalypse. Professor X, Magneto, Mystique, Beast, and Wolverine are formidable in their own right, but none of them stands a chance against the Four Horsemen and Apocalypse, who will likely be the most powerful X-Men villain ever to hit the big screen.

Inquisitr has already explored a range of other characters that could hit the screen for X-Men: Apocalypse, and even if Apocalypse is set in the 80s, one still holds out hope that the criminally underused Storm manages to make the cut. And that she would be played by a mohawk-wearing Lupita Nyong’o. It would also be great to see Dazzler, Longshot, and any of the other tons of 80s X-Men popping up on screen.

In the end, though, we all know that this is going to be about Professor X, Magneto, Beast, Wolverine, and Mystique. Here’s hoping, though, that Fox is able to work in other characters and set the tone for a new generation of X-Men films.