A press release highlighting a merchandising/advertising partnership between M&Ms candy and Fox’s forthcoming X-Men: Apocalypse film directed by Brian Singer is due to arrive in theaters next spring on May 27, 2016, includes a cool graphic of Magneto and Storm’s M&M alter egos along with a synopsis of the film that explains in part the motivations of the film’s ancient mutant villain, who will be played by Oscar Isaac: “Since the dawn of civilization, he was worshiped as a god. Apocalypse, the first and most powerful mutant from Marvel’s X-Men universe, amassed the powers of many other mutants, becoming immortal and invincible. Upon awakening after thousands of years, he is disillusioned with the world as he finds it and recruits a team of powerful mutants, including a disheartened Magneto (Michael Fassbender), to cleanse mankind and create a new world order, over which he will reign. As the fate of the Earth hangs in the balance, Raven (Jennifer Lawrence) with the help of Professor X (James McAvoy) must lead a team of young X-Men to stop their greatest nemesis and save mankind from complete destruction.”

Isaac’s Apocalypse costume has received considerable criticism from online wags who compared it to that worn by Power Rangers’ villain Ivan Ooze, though Singer has defended the purple togs vociferously (see “Singer Defends Apocalypse Costume”).

In addition to Fassbender, Lawrence, McAvoy, and Isaac, the cast of X-Men: Apocalypse will include returning X-actors Rose Byrne as Moira McTaggart, Evan Peters as Quicksilver, and Lucas Till as Havok, plus newcomers Alexandra Shipp as Storm, Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, Ben Hardy as Angel, Tye Sheridan as Cyclops, Olivia Munn as Psylocke, and Lana Condor as Jubilee.