Jeff from The Wrap has revealed on Meet The Movie Press that Fox and Bryan Singer are currently casting for the role of Psylocke in X-Men Apocalypse, but doesn’t mention names.
It’s another fan-favorite character not unlike Jubilee and Gambit that Fox is finally giving us, like Jubilee was given a bit of screentime as a villain X-Men The Last Stand, but was never really given a true adaptation. There’s some hope she could end-up more heroic with this version of the character.
There are plenty of ways Bryan Singer and Fox could go with casting Psylocke. We know that Moira MacTaggert is coming back and Elizabeth Braddock started in the Marvel comics as a British spy, and could be friendly with her C.I.A. counterpart maybe being an MI6 agent. Her mind wasn’t transferred into her iconic Japanese body and given awesome ninja training until later-on in the X-Men comics. They could aim to hire either an English or Asian actress for the role.
I’d love to see actresses like Rosamund Pike, Gemma Arterton, and Natalie Dormer in the mix, if they’re aiming for the MI6 Betsy version of the role. If Jennifer Lawrence does exit the franchise a role like Psylocke could replace Mystique, so expect some bigger names wanted for the role.
Introducing her would make a lot of sense with an X-Force script from Jeff Wadlow is likely being one of the next X-Men projects in the pipeline, Psylocke being the modern team leader of the group makes sense to include her in that film. Wadlow is possibly exiting the project to focus on directing Masters of The Universe for Sony instead. I highly expect that X-Force will be the next X-Men film to be announce by Fox.
We’ll see the return of returning stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Rose Byrne, and Nicholas Hoult reprising their roles. New actors added to the lineup include Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, Tye Sheridan as Cyclops, Alexandra Shipp as Storm, Kodi Smitt-McPhee as Nightcrawler, Lana Condor as Jubilee, and Oscar Isaac as titular villain Apocalypse.
Unconfirmed additions include Ben Hardy as an unnamed mutant, along with possible cameos from Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, and our first introduction to Channing Tatum’s Gambit.
Production is expected to begin this April in Montreal with it hitting theatres in May 2016.
SOURCE: MEET THE MOVIE PRESS