Over the years, the X-Men franchise has been known to take a few liberties when it comes to the portrayal of classic comic book characters – from the fact that Wolverine is about a foot taller than he should be, to the pervasive use of leather costumes in the original trilogy – but it seems that the upcoming X-Men: Apocalypse will get at least one thing right with its version of fan-favorite mutant Psylocke: she will have her trademark purple hair.
In recent weeks it has been director Bryan Singer who has been filling the internet with updates from the set of the next chapter in the X-Men saga, but this cool bit of news actually comes from Felix Lariviere, who is the credited Hair Designer on X-Men: Apocalypse. He was asked on Twitter by a fan if the film version of Psylocke – played by Olivia Munn – will have her famed purple locks in the movie, and Lariviere responded in the affirmative:
In the comics, Psylocke (real name Elizabeth "Betsy" Braddock) is a mutant best known for being a telepath, as well as having the ability to create psi-bolts and manifest a "psychic knife/katana." These powers have always been drawn reflected in a purple color, and she has the hair to match it:
Olivia Munn will technically be the second actress to play a live-action version of Psylocke, as the character was played by Meiling Melançon in Brett Ratner’s X-Men: The Last Stand, but it’s expected that her role will be much bigger this time around. That being said, there is a legitimate reason to question exactly how much screentime she will get, as she will be sharing with returning veterans James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult, and Evan Peters, as well as other high-profile newcomers including Tye Sheridan as Cyclops, Alexandra Shipp as Storm, Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, Kodi Smit-McPhee as Nightcrawler, Ben Hardy as Angel, Lana Condor as Jubilee, and Oscar Isaac as the titular villain Apocalypse.
We’ll see how it all shakes out when the finished film arrives in theaters on May 27, 2016.
