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Then and Now: Looking at the Mutants in 'X-Men: Apocalypse'

We're taking a look at the new mutants of X-Men Apocalypse and seeing what they originally looked like on screen.

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The X-Men film franchise has been a smashing success. Fox has crafted something pretty special and with X-Men Apocalypse, the 8th film in Fox's run (9th if you include the Generation X TV movie), coming in 2016, there's a lot of characters being reintroduced into the X-Men film franchise that we haven't seen in quite some time.

With the release of a slew of pictures from Entertainment Weekly, we thought it's time to compare the newest additions to of the cast and their looks to what these characters looked like in their first live-action appearances.

Psylocke

First Appearance: X-Men: The Last Stand (2006)

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One thing that's easy to miss is Psylocke's inclusion in the 2006 film X-Men: The Last Stand, which had a knack for including as many mutants as possible and killing them off. In the 2006 film, Mei Melançon took on the role of the telepathic assassin. Now, Olivia Munn is set to play Betsy Braddock.

Munn's Psylocke is directly ripped from the comics. The outfit is nearly identical as well as the hair. While Munn doesn't match her The Last Stand counter-part, Melançon's version of the character was buried in the story. Munn looks pretty awesome and the whole look is a huge step up from the last time we saw Psylocke in this film franchise.

Nightcrawler

First Appearance: X2 (2003)

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Kodi Smit-McPhee isn't the first person to put on a whole bunch of blue Nightcrawler make-up. Back in 2003, Alan Cumming put on an extremely memorable performance as the blue devil, BAMFing his way through our hearts.

Smit-McPhee looks pretty awesome in this picture and it's really cool to see that he still has the marks on his face and it really does look like a younger version of the X2 character. The only curious thing is that both Nightcrawler's father (Azazel) and mother (Mystique) are already in the movies, so we're guessing he's going to have different parents.

Cyclops

First Appearance: X-Men (2000)

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Taking over the roll of Scott Summers is Tye Sheridan. In the 2003 film X-Men, James Marsden played the roll before eventually being murdered off so he could be in a Superman film. Hopefully, Tye can grab that same cockiness and attitude Marsden brought to the role.

Sheridan really does have a younger Marsden look. His face is a tad thinner, but the hair really works here, in comparison. Plus, he's got a snazzy 80s version of those ruby quartz glasses. What about his connection to Havok? Is that something they'll delve into in X-Men Apocalypse? By connection, we mean they're brothers in the comics, in case you didn't know!

Jean Grey

First Appearance: X-Men (2000)

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Taking over the iconic role of Jean Grey is Sophie Turner, who many people know from HBO's Game of Thrones. The first person to play one of Marvel's most powerful mutants was Famke Janssen. That's quite the tough act to follow, since Famke did a fantastic job in the five X-films she appeared in.

As far as the actual look goes, Sophie Turner doesn't look too much like Famke Janssen, but that's ok because Turner is pretty awesome herself. With more images comes more continuity questions and how she'll relate to the characters around her.

Jubilee

First Appearance: Generation X (1996)

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In this history of X-films, there have been three actresses, prior to X-Men Apocalypse, who have played Jubilation Lee: Katrina Florece (X-Men), Kea Wong (X2, X-Men: Last Stand) and Heather McComb (Generation X). Jubilee has pretty much been relegated to the background of the newer X-films, but she did have a larger role in 1996's TV movie Generation X, where Heather McComb wore some fantastic yellow lipstick.

However, now newcomer Lana Condor is playing the role in X-Men: Apocalypse and she totally looks like an 80s mallrat, just the way fans love her. The sweet yellow jacket and pink sunglasses are back and the giant hoop earrings are totally way rad. Hopefully, Jubilee will get a lot of screen time and lines in this next film.

Storm

First Appearance: X-Men (2000)

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Storm has never looked tougher and more awesome, sorry Halle Berry. Alexandra Shipp takes of the role of Ororo Munroe in the newest film, taking the reigns from Berry who portrayed the role of Storm in four of the X-Men films. That's some big shoes to fill, but man, Shipp looks really awesome and intense in the couple of pictures we saw thus far.

First and foremost, the fan-favorite mohawk will be featured in the upcoming film and there's just something about her face that screams "villain" here. That and the fact she's standing next to Apocalypse in some of the other photos. There are elements of a younger version of Halle Berry's Storm, like the shape of her face and nose, but we seriously can't get over how awesome that mohawk is.

There you have it. Which look do you think works the best in the X-Men film universe? Which one doesn't match up. We'll keep you updated as more photos from the characters are released.