In some surprising casting news, Bryan Singer has announced that Evan Peters has been cast as Quicksilver in X-Men: Days of Future Past. If the name Quicksilver seems familiar from recent news, it’s because his inclusion in The Avengers 2 was recently confirmed by Joss Whedon. Singer revealed his news on Twitter, as he has grown quite accustomed to lately, revealing looks at Halle Berry As Storm, makeup for both Nicholous Hoult as Beast and Jennifer Lawrence As Mystique, Peter Dinklage’s first day on set, and pretty much every other piece of news we’ve seen over the last few months. Below is the edited tweet:
Thrilled to say #EvanPeters is joining #XMen #DaysOfFuturePast as #Quicksilver.
— Bryan Singer (@BryanSinger) May 24, 2013
Originally the tweet opened with ‘Before he was an #Avenger, he was just a REALLY fast kid…’ which was later changed. This obviously assumes that the Avengers version of Quicksilver would be older than the Days of Future Past version, which might clash with Whedon’s plans for the character. Especially when considering recent rumors that Saoirse Ronan might be in the running for the role of Scarlet Witch, the twin sister of Quicksilver, which would lead us to assume they would cast a similarly aged Quicksilver. This might be a minor fact considering some of the larger issues this casting touches upon.
With Days of Future Past and The Avengers 2 coming from different studios (Fox and Marvel Studios respectively), and the rights to these characters tied up in a very unique situation, this could cause some problems. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch are equally at home with the Avengers or the X-Men, and are a part of a long history dating back to the beginning of both franchises. They first appeared as villains with the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, serving under their father Magneto, though this was unknown to them at the time. This makes them part of an important family in the mutant world, but that was only the beginning of their storied career.
They soon turned up in the pages of the Avengers, and were the first new members added on to the core team along with Hawkeye, and have remained a constant presence on many iterations of the team over the years. Both dealt with the extreme difficulties of having a mutant terrorist for a father, and each returned to their villainous ways at different times. So the story potential for both are enormous, and it’s no surprise that they are hot ticket items.
The problem lies with how each studio plans on using the character. Obviously we are now going to see two different versions of the character, which could potentially place these movies at odds with each other, which raises issues with many a fan’s cherished continuity. Not to mention how it reflects on other characters, considering that Beast from the X-Men is also a long-standing Avenger, as is Wolverine. Hitfix has a bit more on the legal situation concerning Quicksilver’s cinematic future:
[box_light]This is not a situation where the two different companies are working together to try to create a sense of a larger shared world. In fact, if either of them could get the other to back off, they would. The thing is, Bryan Singer has designed a sequence that he feels only works with Quicksilver, and Joss Whedon feels that there is a pressing reason for Quicksilver to show up in “The Avengers 2,” and so what we’re going to see is a legally-negotiated stand-off in which we’ll get two totally different versions of one character. While they may act like things are amicable in public, HitFix sources say otherwise.
Singer has just cast Evan Peters as Quicksilver for “X-Men: Days Of Future Past.” He’s shooting first, so presumably, he will win the showdown in terms of being the first to define the character on film. Marvel has larger plans for the character, though, and wants to use him for more than just one action sequence. The way the arrangement works, Marvel Studios cannot refer to the character as a “mutant,” and they can’t mention Magneto at all. Likewise, Fox can’t make any reference to The Avengers in their film.
That means they’ll have to either explain his powers in a different way in “The Avengers 2,” or they’ll just have to make no mention of his origin at all. At this point, there are so many characters in “Days Of Future Past” that it seems odd they’d end up in a pissing match with Marvel about who gets to use a character who, let’s face it, 90% of the audience for either franchise has never heard of.[/box_light]
This seems to be a good estimate, as Quicksilver will more than likely not be a huge part of Days of Future Past, considering the already huge cast Singer has assembled. Pietro and his sister’s future with the Avengers is a little brighter, so we can all safely hope that this situation doesn’t derail either films plans with the character. As it stands now, Evan Peters isn’t a terrible choice for the role of Quicksilver. Peters is most well known for his role as Tate on American Horror Story or Todd in Kick-Ass, and will probably do Pietro Maximoff justice in the potentially limited amount of screen time he will see. The more interesting side of the story just may play out behind the scenes, so as always, we will be here to keep you posted.
What do you think of the casting announcement? Is Fox firing the opening salvo in a war that will determine many of these ‘gray area’ characters? Is this all an overblown media attempt at selling more tickets? Sound off in the comments section below!
Grizzly Bomb 