Though Jennifer Lawrence returning as Mystique always seemed highly unlikely after Marvel Studios announced that the X-Men franchise was being rebooted following the 20th Century Fox deal, with several actots from the Fox era reprising their roles for Avengers: Doomsday (and possibly beyond), there was a slim chance we might see the Academy Award winner back as the mutant shape-shifter at some point.
Rumor has it that Lawrence has been speaking to Kevin Feige about a potential MCU role, but it definitely sounds like the No Hard Feelings star is done with donning the blue paint!
“My favorite part of playing Mystique was the stunts,” Lawrence said during a video interview with Allure magazine. “It was so fun to train in that way and learn how to move. I had the same stunt double, Renee Moneymaker, who was Katniss. She is one of my best friends, so that was great. My least favorite part was most certainly the paint.”
When asked if she would ever consider playing Mysqite again, Lawrence seemed at least somewhat open to the idea... initially.
“Never say never... but absolutely [frick]ing not. You know how airbrushing is very cold? And I am ticklish. I learned how little sleep I can operate on and what can happen to the human mind when you’ve actually reached your breaking point. And patience!”
In a separate interview on the Call Her Daddy podcast, Lawrence recalled sitting in a makeup chair for eight hours each time she needed to transform into Mystique during the making of X-Men: First Class, which marked her debut as the character.
“For First Class, it was all body paint and glue. It was eight hours every time and ticklish. You’ve had airbrushing, right? Imagine two tiny, cold, compressing airbrushes all over your body. I am a hero. No one will understand what I went through.”
We still don't know whether Marvel has plans to introduce a new take on Raven Darkholme in the MCU, but we'd be very surprised if she showed up in the first X-Men movie that has Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier on board to helm.
In related news, Christopher Abbott has revealed that he's still "not sure" if he'll be shaving his head to play Professor Charles Xavier in the upcoming reboot.
“My hair’s pretty thick," he told Esquire in a recent interview. "I’ve shaved my head for things before, and I’m down. But if my head is anything like my face, three hours later it’s going to be back. So I’m not sure because he’s not shaving his head every day. I want it to feel right.”