The big-screen reboot of the X-Men franchise has been received well by fans ever since 2011’s X-Men: First Class created a new timeline for the popular Marvel Comics mutants, but one question has lingered throughout the last few installments of the series: When will James McAvoy’s version of Charles Xavier go bald?
And now, thanks to Bryan Singer, we finally have an answer to that question.
The X-Men: Apocalypse director posted a photo on Instagram over the weekend depicting McAvoy’s transformation into the more iconic image of Professor X — and it’s obvious from the picture that the actor is going completely clean-shaven for the role, and not donning a skin-cap as some suspected he might do.
“#Xavier reborn (in process )” wrote Singer in the caption for the image.
The decision to go bald also puts McAvoy’s version of the telepathic leader of the X-Men more in line with the previous iteration, memorably portrayed by Patrick Stewart, though the timelines of these two different versions of the character have now seemingly diverged after the events of X-Men: Days of Future Past.
Along with McAvoy, X-Men: Apocalypse is expected to bring back franchise veterans Michael Fassbender (Magneto), Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique), and Nicholas Hoult (Beast), as well as Rose Byrne as Moira MacTaggert, Evan Peters as Quicksilver, and Lucas Till as Havok. They’ll be joined by newcomers Alexandra Shipp as Storm, Ben Hardy as Angel, Tye Sheridan as Cyclops, Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, Lana Condor as Jubilee, and Olivia Munn as Psylocke (a clever Shakespearean reference?), as well as Oscar Isaac as the film’s titular villain, the powerful mutant Apocalypse.
X-Men: Apocalypse has been described by Singer and screenwriter Simon Kinberg as the conclusion of a “trilogy” that began with X-Men: First Class, though more films are expected to keep the series rolling down the road.
Cameras are currently rolling, and the film is scheduled to hit theaters May 27, 2016.
