Rose Byrne will return to play Moira MacTaggert in “X-Men: Apocalypse.”
The actress first played the CIA agent and love interest to James McAvoy‘s Professor X in “X-Men: First Class.”
“She’s a significant character in the movie,” “Apocalypse” writer Simon Kinberg told EW of the threequel. “We ended ‘First Class’ with Charles having wiped portions of her memory of her experience with the X-Men. They are, essentially, strangers to her when she meets them.”
Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult and James McAvoy will all return to their roles as Mystique, Magneto, Beast and Professor X, respectively, while Oscar Isaac will play the film’s titular villain Apocalypse.
Apocalypse’s real name is En Sabah Nur, which translates to “the first one,” alluding to the fact that he is considered the first human born with the mutant-X gene. Given his ancient heritage, he is extremely powerful and considers himself a God.
“This movie is the completion of the first arcs of Charles, Eric, Raven and Hank, who are essentially our main characters,” he explains. “They’re such young actors and young characters, so there’s a lot more story to tell. But as a first phase of their lives, there is this feeling of closure by the end of the movie.”
As previously reported by TheWrap, the film also added Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner and Alexandra Shipp to play younger versions of Cyclops, Jean Grey and Storm, respectively. Bryan Singer is also returning to the director’s chair.
Last seen in “Annie,” Byrne will next star in Paul Feig’s “Spy” opposite Melissa McCarthy and Jason Statham. She is represented by CAA.