During an interview with the "Monkeys Fighting Robots" podcast, actor Oscar Isaac opened up a little bit regarding his character Apocalypse in the upcoming film "X-Men: Apocalypse," and his response indicated that this will be the most formidable villain the series will see thus far.
"I've been reading the script a lot and trying to come at for me, a interesting angle," the actor explained. "Definitely focusing on the fact he is the embodiment of the second coming of the judgements of god and that energy going in. We're playing with that."
In the comic book source material, Apocalypse can be viewed as some sort of monster of biblical proportions. Originally named En Sabah Nur, the villain was born in Egypt roughly 5,000 years ago and was the very first human being to exhibit the X-gene, which is the cause of mutations, literally making Apocalypse the first mutant.
En Sabah Nur would be shunned because of his grey skin, a side effect of his immortality, but would stumble upon alien technology that would make him into the monstrous and god-like being known as Apocalypse. He would then use these powers to recruit followers and rule over mankind.
The character first appeared in "X-Men: Days of Future Past" during an end-credits scene. The scene depicts a young En Sabah Nur being worshipped by legions of people in Egypt as he uses his powers to quickly assemble the Egyptian pyramids. This early version of the character was played by Brendan Pedder.
"X-Men: Apocalypse" will be set in the 1980's and will finish the trilogy that began with "X-Men: First Class" and continued in "X-Men: Days of Future Past." It will also mark the end of Jennifer Lawrence's, Michael Fassbender's, James McAvoy's, and Hugh Jackman's portrayals of their respective characters since their contracts will end, giving the future of the franchise to newcomers such as Tye Sheridan and Sophie Turner, who play a younger version of Cyclops and Jean Grey, respectively.
"X-Men: Apocalypse" is scheduled to hit theaters on May 27, 2016.
