X-Men's Bryan Singer Compares Professor X To Christ And Apocalypse To A False God

At the time of its release, much was made of the Messianic imagery in Bryan Singer's Superman Returns -- which was of course mostly forgotten when the even-more-Messianic Man of Steel hit theaters almost ten years later.

Looks like Singer is going back to that well a little bit, though; in case you couldn't tell, what with all the Biblical talk in the trailers, X-Men: Apocalypse will get a little preachy from time to time.

"[Apocalypse is] kind of the opposite of Christ, actually. Christ would have come years after him, by the way. Our premise is he stomped around ancient Egypt, and that's when he is buried and awakens in 1983. He's kind of more the God of the Old Testament, the vengeful God who wants the world in a certain order and wants to be worshipped -- but he's also forgiving," Singer told IGN. "He's also a false god, which makes him kind of like a cult leader. So [Apocalypse actor Oscar Isaac] and [writer/producer Simon Kinberg] not only studied religion but also studied the nature of cults and how they function. And that helped inform us how he chooses his Four Horsemen."

"I've gotten to explore Professor X when he was an older, bald, wise man, when he's insecure, when he's defenseless, when he's powerful. He's more of a Christ figure," Singer added. "He chooses to be a teacher. He could go inside Cerebro and rule the world, but he chooses not to. He chooses to teach and preach and hope that people follow his message: peace and unity."

X-Men: Apocalypse is the ninth film in the X-Men franchise, and the fourth to be directed by Bryan Singer. The film features a screenplay by Simon Kinberg, and stars James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Oscar Isaac, Nicholas Hoult, Rose Byrne, Olivia Munn, Evan Peters, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Sophie Turner, Tye Sheridan, Alexandra Shipp, Lucas Till, Josh Helman, Lana Condor and Ben Hardy.

Check out when X-Men: Apocalypse and other movies are coming out in ComicBook.com's Movie Release Schedule.