Bryan Singer has chosen his Jubilee for “X-Men: Apocalypse!”
Although she may be a minor and relatively fresh character, Jubilee has made frequent but minor appearances throughout the X-Men films. In X-Men: Apocalypse that may change given that Bryan Singer enthusiastically announced casting Lana Condor as Jubilee on Instagram.
Jubilee was introduced by Chris Claremont in Uncanny X-Men issue #244. The character didn’t take off immediately but gained significant notice when she appeared in the popular cartoon “X-Men: The Animated Series.” Throughout the comic books and the cartoon series, she was portrayed as a rather weak character that always seemed to be in trouble rather than being the hero. Her powers made her seem like a toned down Dazzler (another X-Men character) given that they consist of her essentially shooting fireworks from her hands.
Jubilee barely poses a threat to those that she encounters but she does have some character developmental significance. She was a character that most younger generations could relate to being that she was adopted and the Xavier School seemed more like an orphanage taking her in. But even though she may have been more of a victim throughout her storyline, Bryan Singer could still get creative with her character and make her more significant in “X-Men: Apocalypse.”
On the other hand, Lana Condor is a fresh face in Hollywood. She has an IMDB page but no attachments to any films or any other projects. Many speculated that actors like Boo Boo Stewart and Omar Sy would have larger roles in “X-Men: Days of Future Past” as Warpath and Bishop but they barely had a speaking part. Given those actors actually had a decent film resume, the announcement of Lana Condor as Jubilee may be more of a publicity stunt to build hype rather than giving any sort of insight into the character’s significance.