Oscar Isaac’s difficult time on Bryan Singer’s final X-Men movie, X-Men: Apocalypse, has been heavily documented. The star went as far as saying his time as the titular villain was excruciating. How does Isaac feel almost seven years later? Has his tone changed after taking another chance on a superhero franchise, Marvel’s Moon Knight, a series available to anyone with a Disney+ subscription?
While talking to the New York Times, Isaac spoke about why he was initially onboard to tackle the Apocalypse character and doesn't "disown" the work he did in the timeline of Marvel movies. The actor expressed his original excitement around the role was in part due to the fact he was sharing the screen with such talented costars:
No, I don't disown it. I know exactly what I went in there wanting to do and the reasons why. There were these amazing actors involved that I really wanted to work with, [James] McAvoy and [Michael] Fassbender and Jennifer Lawrence. I collected X-Men growing up, and I loved Apocalypse, I just found him such a freaky, weird character. And then you get there and you're like, 'Oh my God, I've got all these prosthetics on. I've got a suit on. I can't move. I can't see anybody. All these actors I wanted to work with – I can't even see who they are.'
It seems that most of Isaac’s frustration comes from wearing the clunky Apocalypse suit and not being able to interact with some of his favorite fellow actors unencumbered–a complaint I feel sympathetic towards. I would imagine one of the upsides to being an actor and taking on one of these tentpole franchises would be the chance to bond with some of the best working actors.
Even though it was a less-than-ideal situation for the actor, it doesn't seem like Isaac’s time in the Fox X-Men universe was all terrible:
I still think back to that time with fondness. I wish it would have been a better film and that they would have taken care of the character a little better, but those are the risks.
It’s doubly upsetting that the actor's time as Apocalypse wasn’t fulfilling, considering he was an X-Men fan and the portrayal of the character just wasn't handled particularly well. However, I’m happy to hear that Oscar Isaac looks back on his time as Apocalypse with some fondness, and it didn't sour him on taking up superhero roles altogether. Had he been turned off by superhero movies, we might not have seen him in his starring role in Marvel’s top-tier dark series Moon Knight.
Though a return as Moon Knight has yet to be announced as one of Marvel’s upcoming movies or in another Marvel Disney+ series, it's hard to imagine he won’t be making a return in some capacity after critics and fans alike praised Isaac's work in the series.
Given the darker tone of Moon Knight, perhaps an appearance in the upcoming Marvel Blade movie would be a natural fit for Isaac’s return to the MCU? We'll let you know if Blade gets any more updates...
