10 Mutants We Need To See In X-Men: Apocalypse

4. X-23

Laura Kinney started her life as X-23 on the animated series X-Men: Evolution, and was created by Craig Kyle and Christopher Yost. A female clone of Wolverine, the character proved so popular she was soon adapted into the comics, making her first appearance in NYX #3. This was followed by her own mini-series that explained her backstory, and worked her into the X-Men's comic universe. Wolverine took her in as a member of the X-Men, where she quickly developed into a rich character as a member of the teenaged New X-Men and Wolverine's X-Force. Laura has yet to face the eternal mutant known as Apocalypse in the comics, but she does have an interesting counterpart in the Age of Apocalypse reality. Kirika Yashida was the daughter of Weapon X (AoA's Wolverine) and Mariko Yashida, and was born without Weapon X's knowledge. Somehow Kirika was taken by Sinister and kept in a stasis pod listed as X-23, where she was eventually found by the AoA's X-Men, who were led by Magneto. Exhibiting the same claws as her father, which Magneto had bonded adamantium to, Kirika helped Wolverine's X-Force in a battle with the new Apocalypse of their reality (more on him later). This battle cost Kirika her life at the hands of her father Weapon X, who had been corrupted and turned into the AoA's new Apocalypse.

With Hugh Jackman's time as Wolverine reaching an inevitable end, bringing in X-23 as a replacement to Wolverine would not only allow the franchise to move forward, it could do so with a younger and potentially even more popular version of the fan-favorite character. X-23 could help jumpstart new developing franchises without overshadowing other key X-Men members like Cyclops. Of course, the main reason X-23 needs to be in X-Men: Apocalypse is because we love the character, and she would make a more than suitable replacement for Jackman without having to recast the character of Wolverine too soon.