With her initial three-film contract with 20th Century Fox expiring with last year’s X-Men: Apocalypse – not to mention her dislike for the body paint and make-up necessary for her character’s mutant form – there had been question marks as to whether Jennifer Lawrence would be returning as Mystique for the next entry in the main X-Men series.
However, Lawrence is now officially back on board for X-Men: Dark Phoenix alongside her First Class co-stars James McAvoy (Professor X), Michael Fassbender (Magneto) and Nicholas Hoult (Beast), and speaking to Digital Spy at the UK premiere of her new film mother!, the Oscar-winner has revealed what enticed her back for another outing (aside from what we suspect is a rather large pay rise).
“My contract was up, I didn’t have to do another one, but if I didn’t do another one, what would her story be?” said Lawrence. “I felt like I owed it to the fans, and I owed it to the character to follow her journey, to be fair to the movies, and not be like, ‘I don’t want to do another X-Men!’ And then I just never show up and everyone’s very confused about the Mystique they’ve been following for the last three films.”
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Given that Mystique is absent from the Dark Phoenix Saga in the comic books, it will be interesting to see how she factors into the story for the new film, which is currently in production in Montreal under director Simon Kinberg.
X-Men: Dark Phoenix is set for release on November 2nd, 2018. Simon Kinberg is directing a cast that includes franchise veterans Michael Fassbender (Magneto), James McAvoy (Professor X), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), Nicholas Hoult (Beast), Alexandra Shipp (Storm), Sophie Turner (Jean Grey), Tye Sheridan (Cyclops), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Nightcrawler) and Evan Peters (Quicksilver) alongside new additions Jessica Chastain and Lamar Johnson.
Originally published September 8, 2017. Updated July 19, 2024.
