Oscar Isaac

Oscar Isaac portrayed En Sabah Nur/Apocalypse in X-Men: Apocalypse and Marc Spector/Steven Grant/Moon Knight/Mr. Knight in Moon Knight which he also executive produced. He voiced Miguel O'Hara/Spider-Man 2099 in Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse will be reprising his role in the upcoming Spider-Man: Beyond the Spider-Verse.

He also voiced Marc Spector/Moon Knight in What If...? episode "What If... The Hulk Fought the Mech Avengers?".

Significant roles[]

Joseph in The Nativity Story (2006)
Bassam in Body of Lies (2008)
José Ramos-Horta in Balibo (2009)
Prince John in Robin Hood (2010)
Blue Jones in Sucker Punch (2011)
Evgeni in W.E. (2011)
Standard Gabriel in Drive (2011)
Number Three in The Bourne Legacy (2012)
Michael Perry in Won't Back Down (2012)
Llewyn Davis in Inside Llewyn Davis (2013)
Rydal Keener in Two Faces of January (2014)
Abel Morales in A Most Violent Year (2014)
Nathan in Ex Machina (2015)
Poe Dameron in Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Poe Dameron in Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017)
Poe Dameron in Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Quotes[]

"In the early conversations we talked a lot about Apocalypse's distinct point of view and agenda. Of course, you read the comic book, and [Apocalypse is] not so shaded with gray -- except his face. [Laughs] That's the only thing gray about him. Just as Bryan's done with the other films, I think he seeks to find something a little more interesting than the archetypal aspects of the characters, which work really well in print, but for a film I think you want to see a bit more of the -- for lack of a better word -- humanity in Apocalypse; because ultimately this is a story about humans. It's just different symbols for different things that we feel, so with this character I am incredibly interested in the challenge of finding someone that's psychologically interesting and compelling, and actually the spiritual aspects of the character."
"He's a great actor. I don't really know how they're going to put all that together or exactly what characters, or how that's going to work. But I know Angel and Archangel in particular were some of my favorite characters in that storyline. That was such a cool and dark storyline. I think that would be a cool thing to see on film."
"I’ve seen a couple things. Scary s–t. Scary s–t… I’m going to bring the X-Men down to their knees. It’s amazing, I’m so excited about everything that’s going to happen."
"The costume hasn’t been figured out yet. But one of his major powers is being able to change all the molecules in his body. So I’ll be changing all the molecules in my body… It’s gonna be a lot of fun."
"With X-Men, it's about why this woman who invented Apocalypse, Louise Simonson, she was tasked with: make a new arch-villain. She said, ‘OK, I'll make the embodiment of the Second Coming with the Four Horseman and all.' That's scary shit. So I'm curious about that. What's the philosophical expression behind the apocalypse? What apocalypse means, which comes from the Greek for ‘to reveal.’ To lift back the curtain."
"Without giving anything away, the recruitment of the Four Horsemen is very cool. It's very interesting the way that he does that. You know the idea of - the way that cult leaders do - they find people that are in need of something and try to fulfill that thing in them - as it relates to every one of the Horseman."
"Absolutely. And at the same time figuring out what the limits are and how it relates to how he moves and what it costs him. That's always a fun thing. So to be able to sit with Simon Kinberg and - as a fan - just go through it and be like, 'Well what about this!?! You know, this is something that he does in the comics and is there a way to incorporate this? Or if he has this power suddenly how do we make that not come out of nowhere?' So it's really fun to map that thing out. But yes, the nature of how his powers manifest themselves is to a certain extent quite open to interpretation. Because there are so many and they are so vast."
"On an individual level he's able to reveal the true power of his Horsemen and what's true to them. And I think to reveal the weakness - how weak we've become. Because this is an ancient entity. So to come to - I think 1983 - and say, 'How did the world become so weak? How did we allow ourselves to become to weak and to enslave ourselves.' I think that's where he's coming from."
"I’ve been reading the script a lot and trying to come at for me, a interesting angle. Definitely focusing on the fact he is the embodiment of the second coming of the judgments of god and that energy going in. We’re playing with that. What we are trying to do is make his philosophy and what his mission is, one that is both simple but also holds water, that really makes sense throughout the whole movie. I think Simon Kinberg and Bryan Singer, we’ve been able to come up with something very cool."
"I was obsessed with the end times and the Second Coming when I was younger, 'cos I grew up in a kind of Evangelical family and they were obsessed with it, and were terrifying us with it all the time. And so when there was a character that embodied the judgment of God in that Book of Revelation I was just completely drawn to it. And so when it comes around I got the shot at actually playing him on screen, I was just excited to bring all of that stuff I had kind of grown up with."
“We had to do some adjustments here and there and be like, alright, maybe this is too alien, he also is someone who people would want to follow and not just be terrified of. So the balance, and then making sure that there’s some great elements from the comic but also making our own thing as well. In the comic, he generally is like 12 feet, 600 pounds.”
“I mean that last battle is going to be pretty insane. I mean, it’s like freaking Apocalypse fighting all of the X-Men. It’s pretty cool.”
"You use different tools, different approaches. ...It was great because there’s an embodiment of such big ideas, you’re not working in the realm of naturalism. And just because something's natural doesn’t mean that it's interesting — and I think Kubrick knew that very well. Sometimes it’s fun to push performance into other places that is not just about the same kind of verité thing. You can go to heightened places in a Greek tragedy or kabuki kind of way. You have these forms that express more than just an individual’s personality. And that’s been really fun to play with in X-Men."
"For me, more than anything, it was about being guilty of nostalgia. I was a big fan of Star Wars. I was also a big fan of X-Men, particularly the villain Apocalypse, so when those parts came around and there was interest for me to do them, I was excited about it. I was excited to explore those worlds. There is something more mythical … basically, you’re playing God. It’s a challenge."
"It's very cool. It’s going to be in front of Star Wars when they show the trailers in theaters. I’m very excited. We’ll see how many people realize that Apocalypse and Poe are the same person."
"Depends which comic you are talking about. There’s X-Factor, there’s X-Men, there’s The Age of Apocalypse, there’s the animated series, there’s X-Men: Evolution, so when someone says Apocalypse without referring a comic book, it’s a very general question. They may want to state which is their Apocalypse first. He’s definitely not going to be everyone’s favorite version of Apocalypse, but he’s my favorite version of Apocalypse. It’s something from the 80s mixed in with something new. They either create a backstory that he was this mutant from Ancient Egypt that found this technology and they explore that story or they send him to another universe where he’s more powerful than he’s ever been. He’s turned all these other X-Men into villains. There are different ways that artists and creative people get the chance to explore his story on a massive scale if they do. In this one, Bryan Singer and Simon Kinberg took the inspiration from many different sources, many different versions of Apocalypse throughout the ages and found the one that we thought was the most interesting."
"I love Apocalypse. I grew up collecting X-Factor. I remember when the first comic book came out, and for me, especially because I grew up in a religious household, I knew about the book of revelations, the second coming, the Apocalypse, and then you see this comic book character that is supposed to embody all of these ideas. For some people they just thought he was this big blue guy and it was survival of the fittest, but for me, that was less interesting. The most interesting part for me was the Blibical aspect and end of the world and the revelation of the way things were before."