Along with Taylor Schilling, Crystal Reed, Rebecca Rittenhouse, Sarah Greene, and Jessica De Rouw, Olivia Munn was up for the role of Vanessa Carlysle in Deadpool, a role that ultimately went to Morena Baccarin. Munn is now entering the X-Men cinematic universe as Psylocke in X-Men: Apocalypse, but producer Simon Kinberg confirmed to us that she was a Deadpool contender. At the time, he said it “ultimately wasn’t the right character for her,” but the actress recently opened up about why she bowed out of discussions.
During an interview with American Way Magazine, Munn explained that she didn’t want to just play the love interest and wanted to be in on the action. “I said, ‘Is there a fight scene?,’” she recalled. Despite assurances from the producers, she had a feeling the role would be more talking and less fighting. “The fight scene could be her monologue,” she joked.
Kinberg told Collider on the set of X-Men: Apocalypse:
I had met with Olivia Munn for a character in Deadpool that ultimately wasn’t the right character for her, but we were like “We’ve gotta keep in touch, she has to do something in the X-Men world.” And Bryan and I were sitting in Montreal a few weeks later and saying we should do Psylocke and I was like, “Dude, I just met with Olivia Munn two weeks ago. She’d be great.”
Even with a character like Psylocke, a mutant who’s favored weapons are psionic blades she creates with her mind, Munn worried she’d become the sex object of the film. She said on the set:
The thing about Psylocke is that, I can see the way that she’s dressed but it has nothing to do with how strong she is and how powerful she is. That is something that I love about Psylocke. When most superheroes don’t enjoy killing or don’t want to kill but they will kill if they have to, Psylocke can create anything with her mind. She can kill from afar, like Magneto or Storm, but she chooses to create a sword, which is a very intimate way to kill someone. She experiences it.
Psylocke will make her debut in X-Men: Apocalypse as one of the titular villain’s Four Horsemen. The film will drop into theaters May 27th.
