Following the development of X-Men: Apocalypse so far has been fascinating in the larger context of the X-Men franchise, arguably more fascinating even than the franchise relaunch that was First Class. In many ways, it's poised to be the culmination of several years of X-Men moviemaking, an event that First Class and Days of Future Past both built to, a film that will coalesce Charles Xavier's X-Men like never before and possibly set up Magneto for good and all as their ultimate adversary. It's the final film in a trilogy, but it's also a kind of bridge between the First Class era and the X-Men universe that came before. It even stands in as a possible fresh start, the launching pad for superhero movie stardom for a new generation of stars, and that's all without even considering the impact the titular mega-powered villain will have on things.

That new generation of stars has been building over the last few months. We've got a new Cyclops (Tye Sheridan), a new Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) and a new Storm (Alexandra Shipp) that many fans are counting on to redeem the character after what they consider to be a lackluster take from Halle Berry. Now, director Bryan Singer has added another name to this new generation of X-Men, and if you grew up on these mutants in the '90s, you've already got fond memories of the character.

Singer revealed via his Instagram page that newcomer Lana Condor has joined Apocalypse as Jubilation "Jubilee" Lee. Jubilee, with her bright yellow coat, pink shades, sparkly powers and mall babe attitude, debuted in Uncanny X-Men #244 in 1989, and became a defining character for the X-line in the early '90s. If you're like me and countless other kids, though, you best know her from the '92 X-Men animated series, where she first met the rest of the team in a Sentinel-besieged shopping mall. The character's undergone some changes in the years since (she's a vampire with a kid now), but given that Apocalypse is set in the '80s, and given Condor's youth, we're hoping for some of that youthful enthusiasm that so defined her early years (and, of course, that she'll finally get more than the cameo appearances she got in the early films).



I'd officially like to welcome our newest mutant #JubilationLee, #Jubilee @LanaCondor to #XMEN #Apocalypse A photo posted by Bryan Singer (@bryanjaysinger) on Mar 25, 2015 at 11:57am PDT

X-Men: Apocalypse hits theaters May 27, 2016. Are we excited?

(Via CBR)