Jennifer Lawrence To Return As Mystique In A Marvel Movie
Jennifer Lawrence could be making her return to her X-Men/ Marvel days in an upcoming movie. It would mean reprising an old role.
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Jennifer Lawrence already feels pretty removed from the X-Men franchise even though it’s only been about two years since her last appearance. But that feels sort of like a lifetime ago considering how the movie landscape has changed in just a short time and the lack of success in that last film. But she might be returning sooner than later to a comic book role. Insider Daniel Richtman is reporting that Kevin Feige wants Lawrence to reprise her role as Mystique in the upcoming Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Magic.
Jennifer Lawrence played Mystique/ Raven in three X-Men movies: The Days of Future Past, Apocalypse and Dark Phoenix. Reprising her role from those movies in the new Marvel Cinematic Universe would be an interesting choice but would at least lend some continuity to what’s coming down the pike in terms of crossover films. But the newest Doctor Strange movie might just be perfect for such a thing considering the size and scope of it are shaping up to be enormous. Reintroducing old characters into the fold could start making a lot of sense.
The reason there’s even talk about Mystique’s role being recast, or having Jennifer Lawrence just back into the shape-shifting suit is because Marvel is just beginning to work the X-Men characters into the mix. They, just recently, acquired the rest of the Marvel catalog which Fox had controlled for many years. But the companies merged and now the Marvel Universe has the full cast at their disposal for upcoming films. It looks like they are going to introduce X-Men folks slowly, but Jennifer Lawrence could be part of the plan.
The three X-Men movies involving Jennifer Lawrence were a mixed bag. Days of Future Past performed really well with critics, scoring 90% on the Tomatometer and earning about $750 million at the box office. But the follow-up Apocalypse started things waning a bit. While it earned more than $500 million in ticket sales, it lagged with critics at only 47%. And then Dark Phoenix was a real disaster. It barely recouped its $200 million budget and scored a 22% on Rotten Tomatoes. It sure looked like Jennifer Lawrence was done in this role.
But a new studio, combined with the multiverse, could begin to rewrite some of that history when it comes to Jennifer Lawrence in the part as well as put some of the old X-Men gang back together. We already know Elizabeth Olsen’s Scarlet Witch will be part of things, possibly as the antagonist following the events of WandaVision. And there’s been plenty of other rumors about different versions of Marvel characters making appearances as well. We might see old Spider-Man actors and Deadpool might even get in on things. Considering it’s already set to be a massive ensemble cast of Marvel folks, getting the X-Men into the mix makes a lot of sense.
If she were to reprise her role as Mystique in Doctor Strange 2, Jennifer Lawrence wouldn’t be the first X-Men holdover to get back into the action with the new Marvel. Apparently, Evan Peters is already in the aforementioned WandaVision playing his Quicksilver role from the previous franchise. If the path is to try to get as many old faces in here as possible, they are well on their way.
There are still plenty of decisions to make about Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Magic and just because Kevin Feige and company want Jennifer Lawrence back in the role, doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. The film, part of Marvel’s Phase Four, is still quite some time off and isn’t scheduled for release until 2022 at the earliest.
In the meantime, Jennifer Lawrence has plenty of movies in the pipeline. She’s currently wrapped on Red, White and Water along with Bryan Tyree Henry. It’s a post-war film involving PTSD and the fallouts of seeing action. Plus, she’s currently filming the next Adam McKay film Don’t Look Up with co-star Leonardo DiCaprio. The two are astronomers who have to do a media tour warning the world of impending doom.
In terms of returning to Mystique, I’m here for it. Though the movies lagged a bit near the end, it isn’t because of Jennifer Lawrence’s character. The stories were just a mess. She should get a chance to get back into the role with a bigger story to tell.
