Film studio 20th Century Fox has apologized following backlash over its promotional posters for its latest superhero film, X-Men: Apocalypse, which depicts an image of Oscar Isaac’s villain Apocalypse strangling Jennifer Lawrence’s character Mystique.
“In our enthusiasm to show the villainy of the character Apocalypse we didn’t immediately recognise the upsetting connotation of this image in print form,” 20th Century Fox said in a written statement, according to the Independent.
“Once we realised how insensitive it was, we quickly took steps to remove those materials,” the statement said.
The X-Men billboards had popped up in population centers around the world, leading up to the film’s May 27th theatrical release.
Leading the charge against the billboards was Charmed actress Rose McGowan, who called out the film studio for condoning “casual violence against women” to market its movie.
“There is a major problem when the men and women at 20th Century Fox think casual violence against women is the way to market a film,” McGowan told the Hollywood Reporter, adding:
There is no context in the ad, just a woman getting strangled. The fact that no one flagged this is offensive and frankly, stupid. The geniuses behind this, and I use that term lightly, need to to take a long hard look at the mirror and see how they are contributing to society. Imagine if it were a black man being strangled by a white man, or a gay male being strangled by a hetero? The outcry would be enormous. So let’s right this wrong. 20th Century Fox, since you can’t manage to put any women directors on your slate for the next two years, how about you at least replace your ad?
“We apologize for our actions and would never condone violence against women,” the statement 20th Century Fox statement said.
X-Men: Apocalypse is the ninth film in the popular mutant superhero franchise, starring Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, and Nicholas Hoult.
Despite the criticism, the film crossed the coveted $100 million domestic mark on Friday.
Follow Jerome Hudson on Twitter: @jeromeehudson
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.