Bryan Singer just revealed that Nightcrawler will indeed be apart of the cast of X-Men Apocalypse and will be played by Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Road, Dawn of The Planet of The Apes, Let Me In). It’s possible that his casting had something to do with just working with Magneto’s Michael Fassbender in the western Slow West.
This casting shouldn’t have come as a shock as Bryan Singer had stated previously to Cine Premiere that he wanted to use a young Nightcrawler in the next installment. This could mean another familiar mutant might join the film as he was also considering to use Gambit.
“I’m considering a Gambit and potentially a young Nightcrawler for Apocalypse. [We were] going to have to Nightcrawler [in Days of Future Past] and even wrote a scene, but I felt that we were forcing too mutants known history.”
At the time of the interview Channing Tatum hadn’t been announced as Gambit and his solo film was still only an idea at the studio. Now it seems with the film shooting later this year, Singer might need to include him into the film in some sort of fashion to help Fox promote the mutant hero for his solo film.
Bryan has stated in the past he desperately tried to find ways to include Gambit into the original films but there was never enough space for him. Although, Remy LeBeau did get a nice little Easter Egg in X-Men 2. I wouldn’t be shocked if Singer ends-up using him in Apocalypse as it’s the perfect story to include him.
I’m starting to get the impression that Hugh Jackman might be sitting this one out as he’s yet to be confirmed for the film’s lineup and it’s a bit odd they wouldn’t make that announcement earlier in the casting. Jackman’s name has been missing in the official press releases and this could mean he might be shooting scenes later, will only cameo or isn’t in the film at all.
James Mangold has revealed that Wolverine 3 is expected to start production once Apocalypse is finished shooting which could mean that Jackman could shoot his scenes at a later date. I’m just shocked that they wouldn’t just come-out and announce him for the film.
Then again, Gambit was also a member of Apocalypse’s Four Horsemen and might end-up taking on the role meant for Wolverine.
The character is officially getting a solo film after Apocalypse and Gambit‘s release date is set for November 2016. It’s expected to begin production sometime between the summer and fall of this year. Including Gambit into Apocalypse would greatly improve the awareness of the character to the general public. Plus, there is still a lot of backlash from X-Men Origins: Wolverine and Fox might want to distance the character further from that incarnation as much as possible.
Gambit‘s solo film could really use the extra bump with an appearance in Apocalypse.
We still have no clue what the timelines will be for Gambit but they’ve already established he was kicking-around as an adult in the 80s, which means he could show-up in Apocalypse as it’s set in 1983. It’s possible that Gambit might have a slowed aging factor as with a couple of other mutants, allowing him to be apart of multiple eras in the franchise.
We have already speculated that there could already be some crossover potential between the new X-Men films via The Morlocks and Gambit could also be another key to linking all the franchises together.