20th Century Fox has found its villain for the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past follow-up X-Men: Apocalypse, and the studio has nabbed one of the best actors working today to bring the character to life.  Variety reports that Inside Llewyn Davis star Oscar Isaac has signed on to play the titular antagonist, a very old mutant who was considered a god during the time of ancient Egypt.  The crux of Apocalypse takes place in the 1980s and the film has been described as a “disaster movie”, so the powerful villain presumably acts as a formidable force for the X-Men team.  More after the jump.

It was previously reported that Fox was eyeing Tom Hardy to play the villain in X-Men: Apocalypse, so it was clear that the studio was aiming high in the casting of this role.  Variety adds that while other actors were considered, Isaac was an early favorite and served as the prototype for the kind of actor director Bryan Singer was looking for.  Isaac is an incredibly talented actor who will next be seen in the character-driven drama A Most Violent Year, but he’s clearly not wholly opposed to franchise material as he also has a supporting role in 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens.  The actor isn’t leaving smaller, character-driven projects completely behind though, as he also stars in the fantastic-looking sci-fi film Ex Machina opposite Domhnall Gleeson.

Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, James McAvoy, and Nicholas Hoult are all poised to return for Apocalypse, with Hugh Jackman expected to have a major role as well.  Moreover, Singer and writer/producer Simon Kinberg are looking to introduce more young versions of the most famous mutants, as a recent report ran down a casting shortlist for the roles of young Jean Grey and Cyclops that included Chloe Grace Moretz.

Filming on X-Men: Apocalypse is due to begin in Spring 2015 in anticipation of a May 27, 2016 release date.