The sequel to "X-Men: Days of Future Past" is currently in its developmental stages and a number of actors are expected to be recast to portray the roles of the younger versions of the popular mutants.
"X-Men: Apocalypse" will be directed by Bryan Singer and written and produced by Simon Kinberg. IGN reported that a couple of actresses are being contemplated to play the role of Jean Grey. Producers have to pick between Sophie Turner, who made her mark by playing Sansa Stark on "Game of Thrones" on HBO and Saoirse Ronan, who played Hanna in "The Lovely Bones". There were also prior talks that Elle Fanning, Hailee Steinfeld and Chloe Moretz were also vying for the role of the telepath but Turner and Ronan seem to be in the lead.
IGN also reported that to play Cyclops or Scott Summers, a number of actors are being considered. Taron Egerton seem to be the most favored in the bunch, which also includes Jamie Blackley, Tye Sheridan, Charlie Rowe, Ben Hardy and Timothee Chalamet. Blackley starred in "If I Stay", Sheridan appeared in "Mud" while Egerton had a great performance in "Kingsman: The Secret Service".
Screen Rant revealed that Egerton said about the rumors of him possibly playing Cyclops, "I'm not really sure what's going on there or where that [rumor] came from, but my friend Nicholas Hoult plays Beast and he says that's very fun. Of course, everyone would like to play a superhero, but this is by no means me saying I would like to go play Cyclops. So, I don't know."
To play storm, Alexandra Shipp and Zendaya Coleman are both vying for the role. Kat Graham was also rumored to be interested in the role. Latino-Review reported that Shipp previously played Aaliyah in "Aaliyah: The Princes of R&B" and is set to appear next in "Straight Outta Compton". Coleman has appeared on TV shows like "Zapped", "Shake It Up" and "K.C. Undercover". Shipp seemed to be the more preferred between the two.
Cinema Blend wrote that the recent X-Men films delved more into the younger versions of the mutant heroes. James McAvoy played the young Charles Xavier or Professor X, Michael Fassbender played the young Erik Lehnsherr or Magneto and Jennifer Lawrence took on the role of the young Raven or Mystique. More names are set to come up as more members of the X-Men will be featured to appear in the upcoming movie. The young actors are still in the testing stage at present, so confirmations on the selected actors are bound in the coming weeks.
The official filming of "X-Men: Apocalypse" begins on April 2015 in Montreal. The movie is aiming to launch on May 27, 2016.