When Bryan Singer et al. initially announced actor Oscar Isaac as the titular villain of X-Men: Apocalypse, the Internet didn’t implode. Then again, it didn’t orgasm with excitement either. Isaac is positively wonderful in Inside Llewyn Davis, and nerds across the board are excited for his turn as the X-wing pilot Poe Dameron in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. But Apocalypse is a massively large baddie, and Isaac is, um, a bit thin.
Never fear, for Isaac has the right mindset for how to bring the first mutant to life come 2016. As the Hollywood Reporter notes:
“I’ve been reading the script a lot and trying to come at — for me — an interesting angle,” Isaac explained. He said that he was “definitely focusing on the fact [that his character] is the embodiment of the second coming of the judgments of God and that energy going in. We’re playing with that.”
Isaac is currently developing the character with director Bryan Singer and producer Simon Kinberg:
“[We’re] trying to … make his philosophy and [mission] one that is both simple but also holds water, that really makes sense throughout the whole movie,” promising that the three have “come up with something very cool” as a result.
All that’s left, of course, are the massive amounts of benching that Isaac will need to put on the weight, and muscle, that the role demands. But if he’s already this committed to (and outspoken) about Apocalypse’s hauntingly biblical tones, then the physical toning likely won’t be a problem.
X-Men: Apocalypse attempts to destroy the world on May 27, 2016.
