While X-Men: Apocalypse is still in its early pre-production stages, the producer Bryan Singer has been utilizing Instagram to make some major announcements about the movie’s progress. For instance, we recently discovered that newcomer Lana Condor would join the cast as the hand sparking mutant, Jubilee.
But she’s not the only Asian American you can look forward to seeing in X-Men: Apocalypse. Adding onto the mutant list, Singer’s recent Instagram post welcomes Audrey cover girl, Olivia Munn, to the team as Psylocke.
Not familiar with Psylocke? Born with the name Betsy Braddock, Psylocke is the twin to Brian Braddock, better known as Captain Britain. By the time their parents died (murdered by the computer Mastermind), Betsy had become a charter pilot. While flying home with her brothers to escape an attack from Mastermind’s agent, Doctor Synne, Betsy fell victim Synne’s psychic attack, which caused her to crash her plane. It’s believed that the mental intrusions of Doctor Synne was the start of Betsy’s precognitive powers and the birth of Psylocke.
You may remember Olivia Munn as the iconic host of the G4’s Attack of the Show, a tech-gaming variety show. Together with co-host Kevin Pereira, Munn raised Attack of the Show to cult status, gaining a large following among the “tech-geek” audience who embraced Munn’s quirky blend of humor, tomboy attitude and sex appeal. It’s great to see her go from the hot dog-chugging TV host to telepathic mutant!
As Marvel continues to increase their number of Asian American female characters, like Ms. Marvel, Silk and many more, we hope to see just as many Asian Americans on the big screen in the near future. Keep ’em coming, Marvel.
