Welcome to another horror/sci-fi round-up! We have news on who will play the marvelous mutant Nightcrawler in X-Men: Apocalypse, a look at four new fright-styled T-shirts from Fright Rags (including an ’80's-esque Freddy Krueger), and home media release details for 20th Century Fox's The Pyramid.
Nightcrawler: He can teleport with his unique dimension-hopping ability, he's extremely agile, he knows how to handle a saber with expert ease, and he at times has a gleeful sense of humor. The X-Men mutant Nightcrawler has many admirable traits and was memorably portrayed by Alan Cumming in Bryan Singer's X2. With Singer back behind the camera for X-Men: Apocalypse, a film that will introduce more mutants to the growing ranks of the X-Mansion, it's been revealed by the director on his Instagram page that Kodi Smit-McPhee will play a young Nightcrawler.
Smit-McPhee recently played Alexander in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, voiced Norman Babcock in 2012's excellent ParaNorman, and played Owen in 2010's Let Me In.
Last month, Singer announced that Alexandra Shipp, Tye Sheridan, and Sophie Turner will also co-star in X-Men: Apocalypse as young versions of popular mutants. Shipp (Drumline: A New Beat, Straight Outta Compton) will play Storm, Sheridan (Joe, Scouts vs. Zombies) will portray Cyclops, and Turner (Game of Thrones, Mary Shelley's Monster) will play Jean Grey.
Shooting on X-Men: Apocalypse is slated to commence in April, and Fox has set the film for a May 27th, 2016 release. Singer (X-Men, X-Men 2, X-Men: Days of Future Past) will helm X-Men: Apocalypse off a screenplay by Simon Kinberg, from a story by Singer, Kinberg, Michael Dougherty and Dan Harris. The film is expected to be set in the 1980s and will see the franchise’s core cast (Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, and more) return for another round of mutant action, with this next installment looking to be the new series' most calamitous offering yet.
Oscar Isaac (A Most Violent Year, Star Wars: The Force Awakens) recently signed on to play the titular mega-villain known as Apocalypse, aka En Sabah Nur, who was shown being worshipped like a god by a massive crowd of people during ancient Egyptian times in the post-credits scene of X-Men: Days of Future Past. That version of Apocalypse was an early one, however, and the film will feature a different look for the antagonist. Stay tuned to Daily Dead for more updates on X-Men: Apocalypse.
For those unfamiliar with Nightcrawler, aka Kurt Wagner, who, like Colossus, first appeared in Giant-Size X-Men #1 in 1975, here's his official bio (via Marvel.com):
"Nightcrawler is a mutant who can teleport by opening a portal into another dimension, travelling through it via an unconscious direction-finding sense, and returning to his own dimension. When teleporting, Nightcrawler leaves behind a small portion of the atmosphere of the other dimension that escapes with a muffled “bamf” sound and smells of brimstone. On returning, his power automatically displaces any extraneous liquids and gases.
Nightcrawler is an Olympic-class acrobat thanks to his flexible spine that allows him to perform contortionist-like feats and to go long periods in a semi-crouching position without injury. He is a skilled hand-to-hand combatant and a master at fencing, which he can even perform with his tail, which is strong enough to support his entire body weight."
Kodi Smit-McPhee:
Fright Rags: The fine folks at Fright Rags have unveiled four new T-shirts that are now available for $24.00 apiece in T-shirt sizes Small – 5x-Large and women's shirt sizes Small – 2x-Large. This latest batch of threads pay tribute to 1992's Sleepwalkers, the A Nightmare on Elm Street franchise, 1991's Subspecies, and 1995's Castle Freak. To learn more, visit:
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
Daily Dead's Official Podcast! Daily Dead's Official Podcast!
