X-Men Apocalypse
Olivia Munn in X-Men Apocalypse Marvel/20th Century Fox

Olivia Munn has revealed why she turned down a role in Deadpool to play the telepathic superhero Psylocke in the upcoming X-Men: Apocalypse. Munn was offered the role of Ryan Reynold's girlfriend Vanessa that was eventually played by Morena Baccarin.

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The 35-year-old actress selected Apocalypse over Deadpool because the filmmakers assured her that her character would have "an important presence" in the movie. The Newsroom actress, who graced the cover of American Way Magazine, said, "I said, 'Is there a fight scene?' The fight scene could be her monologue. I thought Psylocke was always one of the most lethal characters, and I said, 'Yes, as long as you're not using her to be the eye candy. She has really powerful abilities.' And they said, 'Yes, that's an important part.'"

Munn's character Psylocke is a telepathic, sword-swinging mutant soldier in the Bryan Singer-directed movie. The movie plot revolves around the emergence of the world's first mutant, Apocalypse, and the X-Men must unite to defeat his extinction level plan.

Here is the full synopsis released by 20th Century Fox:

The cast includes James McAvoy as Charles Xavier, Michael Fassbender as Erik Lensherr aka Magneto, Hugh Jackman as Logan aka Wolverine. Jennifer Lawrence will appear as Raven aka Mystique, Nicholas Hoult as Hank McCoy aka Beast, Rose Byrne as Moira MacTaggert, Tye Sheridan as Scott Summers aka Cyclop, Sophie Turner as Jean Grey, and Oscar Isaac as Apocalypse.

X-Men: Apocalypse is set for release in the UK on 18 May 2016.