X-Men: Apocalypse, but the actor has wished that the movie was better. Isaac has credits in some of the biggest franchises in Hollywood today such as Star Wars, the MCU with Moon Knight, Sony's Spider-Verse series, and Dune, but his first superhero film role occurred in 2016's X-Men: Apocalypse, the third film in Fox's X-Men prequel series.
Isaac starred as the larger-than-life Marvel villain Apocalypse, one of the world's first mutants with the ability to absorb the powers of other mutants as well as immortality. The character is one of the X-Men's greatest foes in the comics, and bringing such an iconic character to the screen proved to be a challenge for both Isaac and director Bryan Singer. X-Men: Apocalypse ultimately received predominantly negative reviews citing the character of Apocalypse as a significant weak point.
Isaac recently sat down with The New York Times to discuss Moon Knight and a few of the roles that have so far defined his career. When asked about his initial foray into the superhero film world with X-Men: Apocalypse, and whether or not the actor disowned the role as the central villain, Isaac explained that he did not but itted that he wished the film turned out better than it had. Read what the actor said below.
"No, I don’t disown it. I know exactly what I went in there wanting to do and the reasons why. There were these amazing actors involved that I really wanted to work with, [James] McAvoy and [Michael] Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence. I collected X-Men growing up, and I loved Apocalypse, I just found him such a freaky, weird character. And then you get there and you’re like, Oh my God, I’ve got all these prosthetics on. I’ve got a suit on. I can’t move. I can’t see anybody. All these actors I wanted to work with — I can’t even see who they are. I still think back to that time with fondness. I wish it would have been a better film and that they would have taken care of the character a little better, but those are the risks."
Although Isaac has explained that he did not enjoy the prosthetics, and has previously stated how filming X-Men: Apocalypse was a nightmare, he genuinely appears to have cherished the opportunity to work with actors that he dearly respects. The film still went on to make a substantial profit at the box office and the X-Men series has retained its loyal fans. Unfortunately, following the Disney-Fox merger, there are no current plans to continue Fox's X-Men film franchise. However, Deadpool 3 is in the works and will reportedly be set within the MCU.
Plenty of great actors have taken roles that have ended up not resonating with audiences. George Clooney went from being nominated for a Razzie in what is widely considered the worst live-action Batman film ever, Batman & Robin, to winning an Oscar for his role in Syriana. Isaac has seemingly taken his role in X-Men: Apocalypse as a learning experience, and has used it to better his career in nearly every way. He has since made waves with his excellent work on Marvel's Disney+ series Moon Knight and is expected to entertain as Miguel O'Hara / Spider-Man 2099 in the highly-anticipated Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
Source: The New York Times
