'X-Men: Days of Future Past': First look at Quicksilver in action

There are plenty of familiar faces in the upcoming X-Men: Days of Future Past (this week’s cover of EW), like Wolverine (Hugh Jackman), Professor X (Patrick Stewart), and Magneto (Ian McKellen). But also several new mutants, including the first appearance of Quicksilver played by American Horror Story‘s Evan Peters. EW has an exclusive first look at the super speedy character in action, helping time-traveling Wolverine and young Charles (James McAvoy) break Erik (Michael Fassbender) out of prison. “That is the bulk of Quicksilver’s presence in this film,” explains producer/writer Simon Kinberg. “They need somebody who can help them get in and out of somewhere. And the idea is that Logan knew him in the future and so they go to try to find his younger self.”

He also adds some levity to the dark Past. “The way we conceived him is a sort of an ADD kid,” says Kinberg. “Everything he does is just popping and zipping around. He doesn’t take anything seriously. He’s not in a situation for more than a few seconds. So it infused the movie with an energy that was really useful for us.”

X-Men fans know that he also has a fairly personal connection to Magneto. Reveals Kinberg, “Quicksilver is Magneto’s son in the comics and there may be an allusion to it in the movie, but it’s not something we fully explore yet.”

Quicksilver is also a character in Joss Whedon’s upcoming Avengers: Age of Ultron, but played by Kick-Ass star Aaron Taylor-Johnson. Kinberg dismisses any kind of competition between the two portrayals. “After we made that decision [to use the character], we heard that Joss wanted to use Quicksilver for Avengers. I think it’s kind of cool that Quicksilver is gonna be in two movies, and it will be cool to see different versions of him.”

For more on X-Men: Days of Future Past as well as 104 other summer movies, including Guardians of the Galaxy, The Fault in Our Stars, and Transfomers: Age of Extinction, pick up the new issue ofEntertainment Weekly on stands April 11th.