Two of the most familiar faces from the X-Men film franchise won't be seen when X-Men: Apocalypse hits theaters in 2016.
Patrick Stewart broke the news on Larry King Now (via Yahoo! Movies) when asked if he would be returning for the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past sequel, telling King he would not be reprising his role as Professor Xavier.
"No. Nor Sir Ian McKellen, either," Stewart says.
Stewart then went on to elaborate about the setting of X-Men: Apocalypse and how it would not make sense for the older versions of Magneto and Xavier to appear.
"I was learning quite a lot more about it last night, and it is going to be looking very much at the earlier lives of all our characters... And so I don't think we'll be making an appearance," Stewart says.
His statement seems to confirm X-Men: Apocalypse will indeed only feature one generation of X-Men, unlike the time travel storyline seen in Days of Future Past that featured both young and old versions of Professor X and Magneto. That film established an alternate timeline for the X-Men film franchise, which director Bryan Singer will be exploring in future installments. Just as Days of Future Past was set in the 1960s, Apocalypse will take place during the 1980s and star younger versions of X-Men like Storm and Cyclops seen in the original X-Men trilogy.
The news isn't all that surprising. James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender starred as the younger versions of Xavier and Magneto, respectively, in X-Men: First Class and Days of Future Past. They will serve as the backbone of the films as the franchise moves forward. As sad as it is to see Stewart and McKellen part ways with the franchise they helped create, the series is in more than capable hands.
