Bryan Singer took to Instagram today to reveal another addition to the extensive cast of X-Men: Apocalypse. Hot on the heels of Ben Hardy’s confirmation as Angel, the director has now announced that Olivia Munn will play Psylocke.
Known as Betsy Braddock in the comics, Psylocke is a telepath who also possesses the power of telekinesis. Depending on which version Singer aims to replicate on screen, she might also be a deadly ninja assassin. Either way, she’s a worthy add-on to the character squad. So far in the X-Men cinematic universe, she’s only been granted smaller villain-minion screen time as one of Magneto’s lackeys in The Last Stand.
While Betsy appeared in several of the establishing Age of Apocalypse storylines prior to the actual arrival of the titular baddie, she didn’t re-emerge during the main bulk of the series. A long standing theory posits that during that time she was captured by Apocalypse and her mind absorbed into his vast network of telepaths, all joined together to forge a firewall of sorts as a defense system for his HQ.
It wasn’t until the 10-year Apocalypse anniversary that she re-appeared, which coincided with her character’s makeover across the entire Marvel comics continuity. One element that did remain was her heritage: the new Psylocke is still a sibling of Captain Britain, who serves on the human high council (a key institution in the AoA comic lines). Will Singer introduce him into proceedings as well? Now that would be interesting…
Munn joins a veritable who’s who of X-Men cinematic lore, with the film set to include James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult and newcomers Alexandra Shipp, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Kodi Smit-McPhee, and Lana Condor. X-Men: Apocalypse opens on May 27th, 2016.
