Oscar Issac in a still from X-Men: Apocalypse
A Hindu leader based in America has petitioned director Bryan Singer to delete a reference to Lord Krishna from his next
X-Men film, subtitled
Apocalypse. A new trailer for the movie, released this week, contains a line spoken by the antagonist Apocalypse in which he identifies with Krishna - "I have been called many things over many lifetimes, Ra, Krishna and Yahweh."
Rajan Zed, President of an organization called Universal Society of Hinduism, described the comparison of a Hindu deity to a movie villain as 'inappropriate' in a tweet and asked for all references to Krishna deleted from the trailer and the film:
In a statement published on his
website, Mr Zed said that "such trivialization of Lord Krishna, wo is revered in Hinduism, is inappropriate and disturbing to devotees." He also suggested that Hollywood executives be trained in religious and cultural sensitivity. Hollywood is welcome to make films about Krishna, he said, as long as "the final product remain true to the scriptures and not a fantasised or re-imagined version."
There has been no response on Bryan Singer's Twitter account as yet, or an official statement.
Apocalypse, as depicted in the X-Men universe, is an ancient and immortal mutant - possibly the first ever mutant - and is depicted in the comics with gray skin and blue lips. In the movie, played by actor Oscar Issac, he has been shown as blue-skinned. As per the trailer, Apocalypse is more powerful than the X-Men and is able to control all of them.
X-Men: Apocalypse is calendared for the summer of 2016. James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Nicholas Hoult and Rose Byrne return as Professer X, Magneto, Mystique, Beast and Mora MacTaggert. Other than Oscar Issac, additions to the cast include Sophie Turner and Olivia Munn as Jean Grey and Psylocke.
Watch the latest
X-Men: Apolcalypse trailer here: