As has become the norm with trailers shown at Comic-Con panels, a bootlegged trailer from X-Men: Apocalypse has hit the internet. The film is the latest in the franchise, featuring the mutants in a civil war over how to integrate themselves into society. The latest entry is being directed by Bryan Singer (X-Men: Days of Future Past) and pits the two opposing mutant factions against Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac, Star Wars: The Force Awakens), a mutant bent on destroying the world.
The trailer features glimpses of the impressive cast of returning players, including Jennifer Lawrence (The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2) as Mystique, Michael Fassbender (Slow West) as Magneto, James McAvoy (Victor Frankenstein) as Professor Charles ‘X’ Xavier, and Hugh Jackman (Pan) as Wolverine. New to the cast are Sophie Turner (HBO’s Game of Thrones) as Jean Grey, Olivia Munn (Mortdecai) as Psylocke, and Kodi Smit-McPhee (All the Wilderness) as Nightcrawler.
It’s admittedly difficult to get a clear picture of everything going on in the trailer, as the video is off-center and the image has been reversed – a common practice that makes it more difficult for license holders to recognize unauthorized videos – but the focus of the trailer appears to be on Turner’s Jean Grey. This makes sense, given that Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult (Mad Max: Fury Road) won’t be returning to the series after Apocalypse, and Jackman will be donning the claws for the final time in the upcoming third, standalone Wolverine film. Grey also has a grand character arc that was highlighted in X2: X-Men United and X-Men: The Last Stand, as she evolved into Phoenix. We’ll see how far the movie takes that evolution when it’s released.
Also worth noting is that the breakout character from Days of Future Past, Quicksilver (Evan Peters, The Lazarus Effect), will also be in the new movie. Due to rights issues, the character was also featured in Disney’s Avengers: Age of Ultron, where he was killed-off, avoiding any future confusion for audience members.
Warner Bros. eventually released official, HD versions of the trailers for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad after leaked footage made the rounds. Until that happens for X-Men: Apocalypse, you can watch the leaked footage below.