Extra, Extra!: Jennifer Lawrence Is Leaving X-Men after Apocalypse

In which I report on the latest in entertainment news.

Although the franchise languished through a listless trickle of Wolverine spin offs in its awkward adolescent years, Fox's X-Men franchise has proven to be one of the biggest players in the recent superhero boom, and it's really no surprise why that is.  The series powered through the wake of Batman & Robin with the first X-Men, survived the fallout of X-Men United, and completely rebuilt itself from the ground up with First Class and Days of Future Past.

No small part of that is that through trial and error, Fox has succeeded in sniffing out the right talent for their movies.  Bryan Singer, who had never tackled a big-budget action movie before X-Men - and who would go on to helm the supremely disappointing Superman Returns - found his stride in X-Men: tackling the first two movies plus Days of Future Past with a surprising degree of confidence and insight.  When Fox desperately needed to reboot the franchise, Matthew Vaugn was the perfect choice for a fresh perspective on a languid series.

Casting Michael Fassbender and James MacAvoy as Magneto and Xavier was as inspired a choice as casting Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart in the same roles years before.  Hugh Jackman, known today as the literal embodiment of Wolverine, was a little known Australian TV actor when he was cast in the role.  And, of course, securing Jennifer Lawrence for the role of the young Mystique ensured bringing over hoards of Hunger Game fanatics to the franchise and securing every shred of respect her presence invariably lent to the project.

This is why the news of her departure from the franchise after the upcoming X-Men: Apocalypse came as such a big shock: she was as absurdly perfect in her role for X-Men as she was in the also-ending Hunger Games series.  After 2016, Lawrence won't have a single blockbuster franchise to call her own.

The weird thing is, though, that nobody's really going to be all that hurt by her walking away.  Fox has already gotten three huge movies out of her and has absorbed as many of her fans as it possibly could at this point.  Given that Mystique usually opts to go commando in blue scales, and just as frequently transforms into other characters, the role should be easy enough to recast for future movies.  It's not even like Lawrence was the first person to take on the role.

And Lawrence herself?  Don't worry about her.  She's a media darling who won't be hurting for fans following her X-Men breakup.  At just 25 years old, she's already won an Oscar and had two other nominations for good measure.  She and Bradley Cooper have already teamed up for Serena, which gets its North American release this week, and both are joining forces with David O. Russell once again for next year's Joy.

In short, she had a career before X-Men and she'll continue to have one after X-Men.  She's the most vibrant, likable and, above all, talented actress of her generation, and she's going to have to work a lot harder than passing on another superhero sequel to ruin her career.

So what are your thoughts about Jennifer Lawrence's departure from the X-Men franchise?  Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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