It wasn’t too long ago we brought you the news that Jennifer Lawrence would not return as the shape-shifting Mystique beyond Bryan Singer’s hotly-anticipated X-Men: Apocalypse. With nascent plans in place for a spinoff film centering around the nebulous character, the actress’ remarks came as somewhat of a surprise, though during San Diego Comic-Con last weekend, Lawrence took time to reconsider.
Back-pedalling on previous comments, it turns out Apocalypse may not be the actress’ final appearance as Mystique after all, after she revealed that she “loves doing these movies” and is simply bidding her time for more material to arrive.
“I told Fox not to not ask me,” said Lawrence at Comic-Con. “I kind of want to bait them with a text and then when they call me, I go, ‘Don’t call me!’ and then hang up. I don’t know. I love doing these movies. I want them to ask me, and then I’m just going to see how I feel in the moment when they ask. It might not make a lot of sense to a lot of people, but I feel like I’ll know when they ask. If I get a pit in my stomach and feel like I’m going to throw up, I’ll say no. And if I don’t, I’ll ask how much they want to pay me.”
As Fox’s lucrative prequel trilogy draws ever closer to its triumphant crescendo, it’s almost a given that the studio will look to continue the X-Men series long after the release of Apocalypse. After all, Bryan Singer’s previous outing, Days of Future Past, pulled in a staggering $750 million at the worldwide box office, and it would make financial sense for Fox to maintain that sense of momentum.
Whether that results in further spinoff films from the core mythology will be answered with time, but with such a rich pool of characters to draw from, there is ample room for Fox and its prestigious creative team to spread their wings.
What do you make of Lawrence’s comments, though? Indeed, are you happy to hear of her enthusiasm to return as the mutated femme fatale beyond Bryan Singer’s X-Men: Apocalypse?