One of the best additions to the X-Men movie universe in recent years – maybe second only to Deadpool – is Evan Peters’ Quicksilver. First appearing in 2014’s Days of Future Past, the cocky speedster won over fans with that incredible “Time in a Bottle” slow-mo sequence which gave us the best depiction of super-speed we’ve seen in the genre. He was obviously a shoe-in to come back in 2016’s Apocalypse, then, and next year Peters will rack up a trilogy of appearances when he shows up in Dark Phoenix.
Seeing as a weird quirk of the modern X-Men movies is that they jump forward ten years though, how will Quicksilver have changed by the time we catch up with him in Simon Kinberg’s upcoming blockbuster, which takes places in the 1990s? Peters was asked this at a press junket for his new movie, American Animals, to which he revealed that his character is more of a straight-up “good guy” in Dark Phoenix.
“He’s definitely a little older and more mature, a little more subdued, sort of trying to make a, not a name but trying to do right by the X-Men and be a good guy and use his powers for good, so I think he’s on that path at the moment.”
When we first met Peter Maximoff in Future Past, he was an impulsive teen who used his speed for petty theft. Fast forward ten years to the 1980s in Apocalypse, and Quicksilver’s life hadn’t changed that much, as he was still living in his mother’s basement. However, helping the X-Men defeat the titular villain obviously turned his life around.
Last time we saw him, he was a fully-fledged member of the team and given this, it makes sense that Peter would be much more of a hero by this point, shedding his youthful irresponsibility. Still, we hope the character has retained his sense of fun, as his personality was a big part of what made him such a welcome addition to the movies and – sorry, Aaron Taylor-Johnson – the generally preferred version of Quicksilver on the big screen.
We’ll see what X-Men: Dark Phoenix has in store for the speedster when it finally arrives in theaters on February 14th, 2019.