Alita: Battle Angel Has Added An X-Men: Apocalypse Actor

Avatar mastermind James Cameron spent years trying to adapt the '90s manga Battle Angel Alita into the theatrical movie, only for the project to be continually delayed. 2016 finally marks the year this adaptation is getting underway, now with Robert Rodriguez in the director's chair. Alita: Battle Angel has been building its main cast over the last several months, and the latest addition to the lineup is X-Men: Apocalypse actress Lana Condor.

Deadline is reporting that Lana Condor will play Koyomi in Alita: Battle Angel. No other details were provided about her character, but she is the ninth actor to be added to the cast. Some of her other co-stars include Rosa Salazar as the eponymous protagonist, Christoph Waltz as Dr. Dyson Ido, Ed Skrein as Japan and Mahershala Ali as Vector. Just like the original manga, Alita: Battle Angel will tell the story of Alita, a cyborg who wakes up in a scrap yard one day with no memory of her previous life, but still retaining her badass martial arts skills. She'll put those to could use by becoming a "hunter-warrior" so she can track down and eliminate dangerous criminals.

Judging by the original source material, it sounds like Alita: Battle Angel might be taking some creative liberties with Lana Condor's Woyomi for the sake of condensing the timeline. In the Battle Angel Alita manga, Woyomi was a baby when Alita and Dr. Ido, her mentor, first met her, and at the time, Woyomi had been adopted by the proprietor of the Bar Kansas. The manga, as well as its sequel Last Order, charted her growing up, to the point that she reached adulthood by the time this length story ended. As a teenager, Woyomi ran away from home, only to become more deeply embroiled in the story's main events. Considering that this movie only has a two-hour period to work with (unless of course a sequel is ordered), it will be interesting to see which of Woyomi's traits or history will be retained in live action.

Lana Condor rose to prominence earlier this year playing Jubilee, a student at Professor Charles Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters, in X-Men: Apocalypse. Condor's Jubilee hung out with Cyclops, Jean Grey and Nightcrawler when they left the mansion to hang out at the mall, but she was left behind when the other three sneaked away to rescue to try to rescue the older protagonists. The movie's deleted scenes provided her a few extra moments to shine, including showing off her special mutant ability. Condor will next be seen in the Mark Wahlberg-led feature Patriots Day, and her inclusion in Alita: Battle Angel is another step towards her becoming more well known among the general audience.

Alita: Battle Angel hits theaters on July 20, 2018. Let us know what you think of Lana Condor's casting in the comments below.