Oscar Isaac talks playing titular villain in X-Men: Apocalypse

Last Updated on August 5, 2021

Last month we learned A MOST VIOLENT YEAR star Oscar Isaac has been cast as Apocalypse in the next X-Men movie, and yesterday the actor talked a bit about his and director Bryan Singer's plans for the villain in an interview with IGN. Apocalypse is an evil bastard in the comics, however Isaac says they'll be humanizing him a little in the upcoming film.

In the early conversations we talked a lot about that [Apocalypse's distinct point of view and agenda]. Of course, you read the comic book, and [Apocalypse is] not so shaded with gray — except his face. [Laughs] That's the only thing gray about him. Just as Bryan's done with the other films, I think he seeks to find something a little more interesting than the archetypal aspects of the characters, which work really well in print, but for a film I think you want to see a bit more of the — for lack of a better word — humanity in [Apocalypse]; because ultimately this is a story about humans.

Oscar Isaac continues by saying he's wants to discover what makes Apocalypse tick.

It's just different symbols for different things that we feel. So with this character I am incredibly interested in the challenge of finding someone that's psychologically interesting and compelling, and actually the spiritual aspects of the character… For me, that's what I'm interested in, in any character that I do. It's a meditation on 'What's their engine? What's their spirit?' Whether that's about Llewyn Davis or Apocalypse, there's an aspect of 'What is it that makes them run? What's their spirit like?' That's what I'm interested in finding out about that character.

Isaac was also asked if he'd like to see X-MEN: THE LAST STAND's Ben Foster return as Angel, who in the comics is transformed into Death (one of Apocalypse's Four Horsemen) after losing his wings, and later becomes Archangel.

He's a great actor. I don't really know how they're going to put all that together or exactly what characters, or how that's going to work. But I know Angel and Archangel in particular were some of my favorite characters in that storyline. That was such a cool and dark storyline. I think that would be a cool thing to see on film.

X-MEN: APOCALYPSE is going to be set in the 1980s though, so Ben Foster's Angel would only be a child during that time period. It would be a very awesome thing to see on the big screen, but if Angel/Archangel is going to appear in the movie, I highly doubt Foster will be the one playing him.

X-MEN: APOCALYPSE will be in theaters on May 27, 2016.