Oscar Isaac Addresses ‘Very Challenging’ Experience Playing Apocalypse in 2016’s ‘X-Men: Apocalypse’

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Oscar Isaac, known for his work in franchises like Star Wars and Dune, gained renewed attention in 2022 as the lead in Disney+’s Moon Knight. Though a second season hasn’t been confirmed, Isaac received significant acclaim for portraying Marc Spector and his alternate personality, Steven Grant, introducing a compelling new character to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. While fans await his next Marvel appearance, Isaac can also reflect on this successful comic book film role.

Before starring as Moon Knight, Oscar Isaac first appeared in the Marvel universe in 2016, playing the villain in X-Men: Apocalypse. Unfortunately, the movie wasn’t well-received by critics or fans, and while it earned $544 million worldwide, it was one of the lowest-grossing films in the X-Men series. Many felt the story didn’t do justice to the powerful character of Apocalypse, and even Isaac has spoken about the difficulties of making the film.

While on the show Hot Ones, Isaac reminisced about his role as Apocalypse in the 2016 film X-Men: Apocalypse. He shared that a major draw for him was the opportunity to work with a talented cast including Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, and James McAvoy. However, due to the heat from his elaborate costume, he rarely got to interact with them, spending most of his downtime cooling off in a tent.

Honestly, a huge part of why I took the job was the cast – Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, McAvoy… they’re all incredible! But the irony is, I barely got to see them. It was so hot on set, I was constantly overheating and basically stuck in a cooling tent. People would occasionally pop their heads in, say my name, and then vanish before I could even turn around. It was definitely a challenge, but I really am grateful for that tent – it saved me!

Isaac has talked before about how challenging it was to film X-Men: Apocalypse. He previously described the shoot as “excruciating” and often kept to himself on set to cope, which was hard while wearing the bulky costume. Although other actors had similar difficulties with X-Men roles, Isaac received most of the criticism when the film didn’t perform well.

After ten years, Oscar Isaac was praised for his performance as Moon Knight in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and fans are eager to see the character return in future films and Disney+ shows. Meanwhile, the villain Apocalypse will be central to the second season of Marvel’s animated series X-Men ’97, coming out later this year. There’s also a possibility Apocalypse could appear in a live-action X-Men reboot within the MCU once the Multiverse Saga concludes, though those plans are still in development.

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2026-04-03 22:23