Entertainment

Meet The New Faces Of 'X-Men: Apocalypse'

by KT Hawbaker

X-Men: Apocalypse arrives in theaters on May 27, and the movie brings an enormous cast of characters with it. The ninth installment in the Marvel franchise, the film rounds out X-Men: First Class and Days Of Futures Past in a sub-trilogy that bends the timeline of the mutants' universe. In First Class, fans see the beginnings of the X-Men; Magneto and Prof. X meet up for the first time, bro out, and get involved with other mutants in the Cuban Missile Crisis. Obviously, this doesn't end well. Days Of Futures Past dials the universe back from the present day to the 1970s, so Wolverine can stop Mystique from assassinating the senator and prevent the Sentinels from doing their thing. But before going to see Apocalypse, you'll probably want to catch up on your plots a bit more thoroughly than that, and learn who the new X-Men in Apocalypse actually are.

The premise of the new movie is (relatively) simple: It's 1983. Apocalypse, the alpha mutant, bends and snaps himself awake after thousands of years. With a battle cry similar to "Make America Great Again!" Apocalypse expresses his disillusionment with the current state of the world and recruits a small army of mutants to help him forge a super race. In process of the X-Men and Apocalypse duking it out, fans meet the younger versions of classic mutants, played by new actors. Get to know the newcomers, below:

Oscar Isaac As Apocalypse

FREDERIC J BROWN/AFP/Getty Images

OK, he's not quite a newcomer. A Juilliard-trained actor, Isaac also plays Poe in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and led the casts of Inside Llewyn Davis and Ex Machina. It'll be fascinating to see what kind of intensity he brings to this big bad role.

Alexandra Shipp As Storm

DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images

While Storm isn't a new character, Shipp's casting is a new addition to the franchise. She plays a teenaged version of the character who is taken advantage of by Apocalypse as one of his Four Horsemen.

Lana Condor As Jubilee

DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images

This version of Jubilee marks Condor's big screen debut and the first time the character appears in a role larger than a cameo.

Tye Sheridan As Cyclops

Paul Marotta/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

Cyclops is a super familiar character, but Sheridan plays the youngest version yet.

Kodi Smit McPhee As Nightcrawler

Jason Kempin/Getty Images Entertainment/Getty Images

You might recognize McPhee from The Road, but you might also not. Because puberty. This movie is so high school.

Sophie Turner As Jean Grey

DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images

Turner believes it was her role as Sansa on Game of Thrones that helped her land this role. "I think maybe one of the reasons that they chose me for her is because they saw the dark side of Sansa," she told IGN. "Maybe they're thinking, 'Oh, Phoenix, Jean Grey.' I definitely see a lot of parallels in there."

Olivia Munn As Psylocke

DANIEL LEAL-OLIVAS/AFP/Getty Images

Already a bonafide celeb and movie star, Munn brings fresh blood to this role, a character we haven't seen since 2006's X-Men: The Last Stand.

Ben Hardy As Angel

To prep for this role, Hardy took to indoor skydiving, according to ComicBook. Not too shabby.

With all of these updates and new characters in tow, X-Men: Apocalypse is a total mutation of the old films.

Images: 20th Century Fox; Giphy