Jennifer Lawrence “Dying” To Reprise Role As Mystique For New X-Men Movies

Will she, won’t she? That’s been the question looming over Jennifer Lawrence’s immediate future in Fox’s lucrative mutant universe, and though the actress has stated before that May’s X-Men: Apocalypse will be her last, a recent interview with Empire revealed that Lawrence is “dying to come back” as Mystique further down the line.

Set for release on May 27, Bryan Singer’s blockbuster will act as the anticipated conclusion to the director’s prequel trilogy, but mooted reports of character-centric spinoffs indicate that Fox isn’t done with the X-Men universe just yet. Could a Lawrence-fronted Mystique film be on the cards?

Perhaps in fear that announcing spinoffs would undercut the grand magnitude of X-Men: Apocalypse, Fox is yet to offer any insight into its purported plans for the X-universe beyond 2016. But at the very least, and despite her own claims to the contrary, Jennifer Lawrence is game to return.

“I am dying to come back,” she told Empire. “I love these movies, I love being in them. I love ensemble movies because it’s not on anyone’s shoulders.”

Whether a future X-Men film will be stylized as an ensemble movie is still up for question – a conundrum amplified when you factor in the fact that Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy and Nicholas Hoult will all be out of contract once Apocalypse graces theaters. Box office figures will no doubt influence Fox’s final decision, but it’ll be fascinating to see how the studio’s prized asset pans out one way or the other.

X-Men: Apocalypse lands in theaters on May 27.

“Since the dawn of civilization, he was worshiped as a god. Apocalypse, the first and most powerful mutant from Marvel’s X-Men universe, amassed the powers of many other mutants, becoming immortal and invincible. Upon awakening after thousands of years, he is disillusioned with the world as he finds it and recruits a team of powerful mutants, including a disheartened Magneto (Michael Fassbender), to cleanse mankind and create a new world order, over which he will reign. As the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance, Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) with the help of Professor X (James McAvoy) must lead a team of young X-Men to stop their greatest nemesis and save mankind from complete destruction.”