In X-Men: Apocalypse it doesn’t take much for the titular villain to sway Psylocke and convince her to join his team. He appears at the establishment of Caliban, and within a few moments she goes from threatening the god-like mutant as a bodyguard for the black market operator to becoming one of En Sabah Nur’s Four Horsemen. Why is this? Well, according to a conversation I recently had with Olivia Munn, it all ties to the character’s need to find some kind of direction and family after losing her own when she was young.
Olivia Munn was grouped with Sophie Turner and Evan Peters at the X-Men: Apocalypse press day in London, and turning my attention towards the actress I asked about her character’s motivation and why she was so drawn to Apocalypse’s side. She complimented the question, and in acknowledging that the exposition really isn’t in the film, she explained her own reasoning for how things played out. Said Munn,
I know it’s not really shown in the movie that much. It’s something that I talked to Simon Kinberg and Bryan [Singer] about, saying that we’re not really showing the audience the genesis of who Psylocke is and why she would go with him. But the backstory of Psylocke that I brought into it just in my head that you can’t see on screen was that she lost her entire family. She has these really great abilities, these powers, and she’s been manipulated by many different leaders because she’s been looking for her righteous path and looking for a family again.
In X-Men: Apocalypse, she finds this small family in the group consisting of Apocalypse (Oscar Isaac), Magneto (Michael Fassbender), Storm (Alexandra Shipp) and Angel (Ben Hardy). Interestingly, though, Olivia Munn sees Psylocke’s spiritual sibling in another one of her co-stars: Wolverine – specifically the Wolverine from the comics. She explained,
Much like Wolverine in the comics, he’s got these really amazing abilities and he was manipulated by a lot of people to do their bidding. So that’s what she sees in Apocalypse – yet another maybe righteous leader. She’s looking for someone who will show her the way, and looking for a family.
You can check out the video below to watch Olivia Munn explain her approach to Psylocke’s psychology in X-Men: Apocalypse:
X-Men: Apocalypse is in theaters this Friday, May 27th, and be sure to stay tuned to more from my interviews with the movie’s cast and filmmakers!
