Twentieth Century Fox has released a new trailer for X-Men: Apocalypse, and the latest preview of the upcoming film features a surprising cameo from a popular franchise character that — until now — wasn’t confirmed to appear in the movie.
While much of the new trailer recycles footage from previous X-Men: Apocalypse teasers and trailers, it also features an unexpected appearance by Wolverine, the clawed mutant portrayed by Hugh Jackman in every X-Men movie so far, as well as his own spinoff films.
The Wolverine cameo appears near the end of the trailer, around the 2:26 mark in the video. Jennifer Lawrence’s character, Mystique, is seen entering some sort of compound where soldiers’ bodies are strewn around the floor in a long hallway. After remarking that the two young mutants portrayed by Tye Sheridan and Sophie Turner (the pair play Cyclops and Jean Grey, respectively) have been busy, Sheridan says, “We had a little … uh … help.”
The scene then shifts to an image of Wolverine’s fist as his adamantium claws extend, with guards approaching him in the background of the shot.
Jackman has long been rumored for a role in the film, but had yet to be confirmed for X-Men: Apocalypse, which director Bryan Singer envisions as the conclusion of a trilogy that began with 2011’s X-Men: First Class. Jackman’s Wolverine was featured in 2014’s X-Men: Days of Future Past, which essentially created two alternative timelines for the X-Men universe that exist simultaneously, with Wolverine a key player in both story arcs.
Also appearing in the trailer are franchise newcomers Oscar Isaac (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) as the titular villain Apocalypse, Alexandra Shipp as Storm, Kodi Smit-McPhee (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) as Nightcrawler, Ben Hardy as Angel, The Newsroom actress Olivia Munn as Psylocke, Lana Condor as Jubilee, Game of Thrones actress Turner and Sheridan.
Returning actors include James McAvoy as the team’s leader and mutant telepath Charles Xavier, as well as Michael Fassbender as Magneto, Nicholas Hoult as Beast, Rose Byrne as Moira MacTaggert, and Lucas Till as Havok (the energy-manipulating mutant he played in First Class) and Lawrence.
X-Men: Apocalypse is scheduled to hit theaters May 27, 2016.
