X-Men: Apocalypse may have a lot of heroes in its cast, but there will be plenty of villains giving them trouble. As if the eponymous antagonist wasn’t bad enough, he will also be assisted by his Four Horsemen (Magneto, Storm, Psylocke and Angel), and William Stryker will also be returning to cause trouble. Now another classic mutant bad guy is reportedly making an appearance in the 2016 blockbuster: The Blob!
Instagram user Benjamin Malatre Bureau recently posted a picture of an X-Men: Apocalypse souvenir keychain that he claims to have received after spending "four crazy days" on the film’s set in Quebec. While there he apparently hung out with Ben Hardy (Angel), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), Kodi Smit-McPhee (Nightcrawler) and Nicholas Hoult (Beast), as well as the actor who is playing longtime X-Men adversary Blob. In a separate comment, he states that there won’t a fat suit or any CGI used to bring The Blob to life, as a 540-pound French-Canadian actor will be playing him. It wasn’t revealed whether Blob will be fighting the X-Men or simply be popping in for an appearance akin to Toad in X-Men: Days of Future Past.
The Blob, a.k.a. Frederick Dukes, first appeared in 1964’s X-Men #3, making him one of the team’s oldest enemies. Originally working alone, he was later recruited into Magneto’s Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. His powers include super strength, extreme endurance to physical injury and being able to generate a gravity field that makes him immovable while on the ground. However, he is still able to be harmed via mental attack or sensory overload, and his blubbery skin doesn’t provide the same protection to his face, so a well-placed punch to his noggin will take him out just like anyone else provided you can get close enough.
He was previously played by Kevin Durand in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Fred was one of Wolverine and Sabretooth’s teammates on William Stryker’s strike force. Depressed after the team broke up, Fred gained a lot of weight (making him look just like his comic book counterpart) and started boxing under John Wraith’s tutorage. After getting beaten by Wolverine in the ring, Blob revealed that Stryker and Sabertooth were working together to kidnap mutants for an unknown purpose, and also directed Wolverine to find Gambit for more answers. Because the franchise’s timeline was altered in X-Men: Days of Future Past, it’s unclear what Blob will be up to in 1983, although with Josh Helman reprising Stryker, it’s possible his life went on a similar path and he is serving Stryker in this timeline as well.
We’ll reportedly see Blob in action when X-Men: Apocalypse hits theaters on May 27, 2016.
