"X-Men: Apocalypse" features more mutants and is welcoming newbies, which others see as a plot establishment for newcomers to continue the franchise. As to how executive producer and writer Simon Kinberg, director Bryan Singer and others decide which characters to introduce, they have an explanation.
"Once we made the decision to make it an Apocalypse movie, some of the characters started to fall into place because we had to figure out who the horsemen would be," Singer told The Hollywood Reporter during the screening of the film in New York on May 24. There are various versions of horsemen in the comics but Psylocke and Angel became their favorites, while they likewise felt to bring in Jean, Storm and Cyclops.
Evan Peters and Alexandra Shipp were also on the red carpet on the night of May 24 in New York. They were joined by co-stars James McAvoy, Tye Sheridan, Carolina Bartczak, Rose Byrne and Lana Condor.
Alexandra Shipp is stepping on Halle Berry's shoes as the new Storm while Evan Peters plays Quicksilver for the second time. Lana Condor who plays mutant Jubilee makes her debut and expressed she was a little nervous for such a big role, she told Fuse in an interview with her co-stars Peters and Shipp during the screening. "I know that people are so excited to see her in action, because they've waited for a long time to do that."
Shipp shared she has been a Storm fan who is in love with cartoons and the actress, Berry. She said, "It's really scary walking on some big shoes that Halle left for me."
Peters have played the lightning-fast mutant Quicksilver in the 2014 "X-Men" film but is expected to have a bigger role in the new film. He said he knew little about Quicksilver so went to comics to learn more about the character.
The three work with co-stars Sophie Turner, Kodi Smit-McPhee and Tye Sheridan who play Jean Grey, Nightcrawler and Cyclops. The movie also brings in previous stars Hugh Jackman and James McAvoy who portray Wolverine and Professor Xavier.
The follow-up of 2011's "X-Men: First Class" and 2014's "X-Men: Days of Future Past" was released over the weekend and became the winner at the box office with an estimate of $65 million. Its figures fail to beat its predecessor "Days of Future Past" which raked in $110.5 million during its weekend debut in 2014. The Fox' mutant film is followed by "Alice Through the Looking Glass" with $28.1 million and "The Angry Birds Movie" at $18.7 million.
Alexandra Shipp talks about Storm and other characters in "X-Men: Apocalypse" in the video below.