Apocalypse in other media

Film

Canadian actor Brendan Pedder portrays a young En Sabah Nur in the post-credits scene of the 2014 film X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Oscar Isaac portrays En Sabah Nur/Apocalypse as the titular main antagonist in X-Men: Apocalypse. Isaac revealed that both practical and digital effects would be used for Apocalypse's costume. The actor had to go through extensive makeup and prosthetics applications, in addition to wearing high-heeled boots and a 40-pound suit to appear taller and more imposing. In the film, Apocalypse demonstrates various abilities, such as telepathy, telekinesis, technopathy, teleportation, flight, cellular regeneration, matter and energy manipulation, mutant enhancement, protective shielding, enhanced adaptive skills, and superhuman physical attributes. The world's first and most powerful mutant, the immortal Apocalypse emerged in prehistoric times and was worshipped as various gods. He developed some form of technology and merged with a Celestial battle-suit that allowed him to transfer his essence into the bodies of others, who were usually other mutants so that he could amass their powers; historical records make reference to his 'Four Horsemen', and how destruction always followed in his wake. When he was being transferred into the body of a mutant with a healing factor, some of his followers betrayed him and trapped him underneath his pyramid, and Apocalypse remained in stasis for millennia until he was accidentally awakened in the 1980s. Apocalypse subsequently recruits Storm, Psylocke, Angel and Magneto as his Four Horsemen, claiming that he intends to build a world where only the 'strong' survive. When the telepathic professor Charles Xavier psychically contacts Magneto, Apocalypse detects his presence, and is somehow able to turn the connection back on Xavier and use him to make the world's governments launch all of Earth's nuclear missiles into space, preventing the humans from rebelling against him. After kidnapping Xavier, Apocalypse attempts to transfer his consciousness into the professor's body to further advance his telepathy and take control of every mind on the planet, but he is opposed by the new X-Men - Raven Darkhölme, Hank McCoy, Scott Summers, Jean Grey, Kurt Wagner, and Magneto's son Peter. During the final battle, Nightcrawler teleports Xavier away from Apocalypse's transferral equipment, while the other X-Men face the Four Horsemen. When Angel is later defeated, Ororo turns against Apocalypse when she sees his disregard for his 'loyal follower', and Magneto is later convinced to betray Apocalypse as well, resulting in the villain being attacked by all the X-Men while Xavier engages him in a telepathic battle on the astral plane. He is finally defeated when Xavier encourages Jean to tap into her full power, the resulting blast disintegrating Apocalypse. Before he dies, he cryptically describes Jean's unleashing of her power as "all being revealed".

X-Men: The Animated Series

Apocalypse appears in X-Men The Animated Series, voiced by John Colicos for Seasons 1, 2, 3 and 4, and by James Blendick for Season 5. Apocalypse makes several appearances throughout the series, attempting to purge a "corrupt" and "weak" world of both humans and mutants to remake life in his own image. This version depicts Apocalypse as an immortal and invincible megalomaniac, able to grow to gigantic sizes and shapeshift his body into technological components, such as weapons, shields and rockets. He describes himself as "eternal" - a lifeform superior to both humans and mutants.

In his first appearance, The Cure, his subordinate Mystique presents a cure for mutations that is in fact a means to brainwash mutants into becoming The Four Horsemen. He is defeated when Archangel turns against him. Mystique reveals that he is secretly behind her assassination attempt of Senator Kelly to further his agenda of sowing chaos and destruction. He also appears in "Time Fugitives", where he serves as a longtime enemy of Cable in the future.

In "Obsession," Apocalypse's former horseman, Archangel, has become hell-bent on destroying him, and the villain uses Archangel's hatred to lure him out into the open. During this episode, the X-Men discover Apocalypse's base aboard a sentient alien ship, that is helping Apocalypse against its will. With the aid of Beast, the ship sacrifices itself to send its master into deep space and temporarily save Earth.

In the "Beyond Good and Evil" storyline, the Apocalypse of the future steals Cable's computer for its time-travel capabilities and accidentally ends up in the Axis of Time. He recruits Mr. Sinister, Magneto and Mystique, and attempts to become a deity by kidnapping the most powerful psychic beings from across the universe, planning to kill them simultaneously in order to release a wave of psychic energy powerful enough to stop time itself and destroy all life. Inside the Axis of Time, he then would recreate the universe in his own image. Magneto and Mystique assist Apocalypse under the belief that Apocalypse is using the Axis to create an alternate future where Earth was ruled by mutants. Upon learning his true plot, they turn on Apocalypse and Mr. Sinister and help the X-Men to stop him. In the end, the freed psychics used their combined powers to bring Apocalypse out of the Axis of Time and into the present. Professor X explained that without his Lazarus chamber to rejuvenate him (Cable previously traveled back in time and destroyed it as soon as it was completed), Apocalypse had lost the source of his immortality and would "cease to exist".

In "The Fifth Horseman", Apocalypse is shown to be communicating from the astral plane with Fabian Cortez. It is revealed that when he was sent out in space, Apocalypse witnessed Magneto's televised speech declaring Asteroid M a safe haven for mutants, and with Deathbird (during the Axis of Time events), he revived Fabian Cortez, after he had been left to die at Asteroid M by Magneto. He charged Cortez with finding a powerful mutant for him to be reincarnated in. Cortez failed and Apocalypse claimed Cortez himself for the vessel and Apocalypse lived once more.

X-Men: Evolution

David Kaye voices Apocalypse in X-Men: Evolution. He was first mentioned in the second season, before becoming the main antagonist of the third and fourth seasons. Depicted as the world's first mutant, Apocalypse possesses various powers that make him nearly invincible, including telepathy, telekinesis, technopathy, immortality, invulnerability, flight, shapeshifting, size alteration, matter and energy manipulation, and enhanced strength and speed.

During the age when the pharaoh Rama-Tut used some form of technology to conquer Egypt, a mutant grey-skinned infant was abandoned in the desert, only to be found by the warrior Baal's tribe of bandits. Baal recognized the child's potential, and named him En Sabah Nur, Egyptian for "The First One". Under Baal's training, Nur grew up to be a powerful warrior who was unmatched in combat, described as having "unnatural" physical attributes. Word of Nur's power soon spread to the pharaoh, who saw Nur as a threat to his rule, and subsequently sent his army to kill him. The bandits were massacred during the battle, and the trauma of seeing Baal murdered caused Nur's full powers to manifest, resulting in him killing all of the pharaoh's forces and taking the name "Apocalypse". Apocalypse then discovered a vessel left by the pharaoh, which contained a device called the Eye of Ages. Planning to use it to turn all of the humans on Earth into mutants, Apocalypse entered the Eye, and was given even more power, becoming a god-like pharaoh with an ethereal white glow. Fearful of his powers, Apocalypse's high priests seized the opportunity to seal him within the machine, entombing him in the Himalayas and locking the tomb behind three doors. Centuries later, Apocalypse telepathically contacted the hypnotist Mesmero, and recruited him to unlock the doors by having him find the three esoteric keys. When the X-Men and Magneto's Brotherhood of Mutants discover that Rogue has stolen all of their powers, they join forces in an attempt to stop Apocalypse's revival. However, Mesmero eventually succeeds in awakening Apocalypse by manipulating Mystique and Rogue. Apocalypse subsequently merges with the futuristic technology in Rama-Tut's craft, becoming a blue cybernetic being, before once again attempting to use the Eye of Ages to turn every human on Earth into mutants. To this end, Apocalypse uncovers pyramids in Mexico, China, and Egypt to relay the Eye's mutating effects across the globe. Apocalypse later turns Magneto, Professor X, Storm, and Mystique into his Four Horsemen to defend the three pyramids and his base hidden under the Sphinx. The X-Men then gather their allies (including modified Sentinels under the command of S.H.I.E.L.D.) and engage in a final battle against Apocalypse and his Horsemen. In the end, Rogue stops Apocalypse by using the powers she absorbed earlier from Leech to temporarily shut off his mutant abilities and trap him in the Eye of Ages. Wolverine then damages the control system of the vessel, sending Apocalypse to an unknown time.

Wolverine and the X-Men

Apocalypse makes two brief, non-speaking appearances Wolverine and the X-Men. In "Shades of Grey", he is revealed to be Mister Sinister's secret master. In "Foresight", Apocalypse appears in the future alongside Sinister and Cyclops. Apocalypse was originally going to serve as the primary antagonist of the second season, but the series was cancelled.

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