Jennifer Lawrence announced her intention to leave the role of Mystique following the next movie of the X-Men franchise, X-Men: Apocalypse during a recent red carpet interview. Lawrence was palling around with her frequent co-star Bradley Cooper this weekend at the premiere of their long awaited film Serena , and as MTV ‘s Josh Horowitz turned the conversation to the subject of Mystique and the upcoming filming of the latest X-Men flick. He casually asked Jennifer if she thought this would be the last X-Men film.
“It is my last one, actually,” Lawrence replied with a laugh as Comicon enthusiasts’ hearts broke around the globe.
Fans of Lawrence don’t need to worry about whether or not they will get their Jennifer fix, however, as the actress has many other projects to keep her busy. She is currently wrapping up the film Joy which re-teams her with Bradley Cooper and director David O. Russell, a grouping that has garnered Lawrence two of her three Oscar nods in the past. That film is set to be released this Christmas.
In November, fans of the Hunger Games series will bid adieu to Jennifer Lawrence as heroine Katniss Everdeen in the franchise’s final installment Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 . And following the filming of her final X-Men film, which is set for a May 2016 release, Lawrence has already agreed to star in the Steven Spielberg film It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War scheduled for release in 2017. That means Jennifer Lawrence fans can rely on at least one motion picture starring their beloved actress for the next three years which, in a town as fickle as Hollywood, speaks volumes in terms of respect for her talent.
Still, with Jennifer Lawrence’s revelation coming on the heels of X-Men co-star Nicholas Hoult’s announcement last week that he too would be leaving the series following Apocalypse , fans of the X-Men series are most likely fearful that this spells the end for the beloved mutants on the big screen.
Jennifer Lawrence took over the role of Mystique in X-Men: First Class as the franchise tried to show a fresh perspective on the origins of the mutants. Mystique, originally played by Rebecca Romijn, is a blue-skinned shape shifter, and while the loss of Lawrence is notable, it doesn’t necessarily mean it is the end of the road for Mystique. Rumors had circulated last year that the X-Men franchise hoped to develop a movie featuring Mystique, similar Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine .
While many are fans of Jennifer Lawrence as an actress, the response to her announcement of leaving the role of Mystique, so far, has been met with mixed reaction. Some fans have stated Lawrence made the X-Men series better while others countered they didn’t care for Jennifer’s version of Mystique. With the success of many other comic book films such as Guardians of the Galaxy , Iron Man , Captain America , and The Avengers , it’s more than likely that X-Men will simply re-cast the role of Mystique and carry on despite Lawrence’s exit.
Is Jennifer Lawrence’s departure from Mystique a good thing or a death sentence for X-Men ? Tell us what you think.
[Image courtesy of Mike Coppola/Getty Images]