Tom Hardy May Be New X-Men: Apocalypse Villain

X-Men: Apocalypse, the third film in the new X-Men series, is starting to get underway, and Tom Hardy may be in line to take over as the new villain.

Hardy has been the villain in comic book films before, playing Bane in Christopher Nolan’s wildly successful finale to his Batman Trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises.  While nothing is firm at this point, Hardy is said to be the prime target for director Bryan Singer, who directed the last film, X-Men: Days of Future Past.

This news hearkens back to Days of Future Past, and the scene after the credits which featured a sinister character leading the building of the Great Pyramids of Egypt.  There are also four figures, hidden in shadows, in the distance.

The four characters in the background would be the Four Horseman of the Apocalypse, which would make the sinister figure Apocalypse, one of the villains in X-Men lore.  Apocalypse has a combination of powers which make the villain almost invincible, and the four horseman in the comic book are named Pestilence, Famine, War, and Death.  It is clear that the films are headed in this direction, and Hardy is the focal point of Singer’s search.

Tom Hardy made a name playing Bane, the masked villain in The Dark Knight Rises.  Despite his face being covered the entire film, Hardy’s voice and mannerisms created a compelling antagonist to Batman.  Hardy will also be seen soon in the reboot of the Mad Max franchise titled Mad Max: Fury Road, which will be released next year.

X-Men: Apocalypse begins shooting soon, and will be released in May of 2016.  There has been no confirmation of Hardy’s involvement in the film.

[photo credit: CharlesFred via photopin cc]