The Last of Us episode five left the audience heartbroken and terrified. In this episode, the story pushes Joel and Ellie to their limits. They have to collaborate with a pair of brothers, Henry, played by Lamar Johnson, and Sam, played by Keivonn Woodard, who help Joel and Ellie to get out of the city. Sam is a comic geek, and Woodard would be elated to know that the person playing his big brother appeared in X-Men.
Lamar Johnson played a small part in X-Men
In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Lamar Johnson revealed that he was in one of the X-Men movies, unfortunately, his part was cut due to script changes. He recalled,
“I was supposed to be one of the new students at Charles Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters, but the movie just took a completely different direction and that just didn’t happen.”
Johnson played Ben Hammil, codename Match. Match, as his name suggests, has mastery over fire. He’s one of the numerous pyrokinetic characters in the X-Men universe, including Pyro (Aaron Stanford) and Sunspot (Adan Canto) in Days of Future Past. Match debuted in 2003 as a member of the New Mutants, created by authors Nunzio DeFilippis, and Christina Weir, and artist Carlo Barberi. He is still a recurring character in X-Men comic books, but not an A-lister.
Johnson’s Match only appears in an anonymous cameo in the final edit of Dark Phoenix while Xavier’s kids are enjoying a campfire on school grounds. Naturally, he adds some fuel to the fire. Johnson’s part was not the only section of Dark Phoenix that was changed – once the Fox/Disney merger was complete, this changed the film, placing it on the altar for sacrifice.
Lamar Johnson does not regret shooting the X-Men film
Johnson’s solo appearance in the bonfire scene also features mutant pop-star Dazzler (Halston Sage), who exploits her control over the light in her performances. Dazzler initially appeared in the comic Dark Phoenix Saga, therefore her inclusion in the film might be a tribute to that. Her arrival, however, goes unnoticed, she is never named, and she does not emerge again.
Dazzler, like Match, was most likely part of the new generation of X-Men students tasked with carrying the flame forward. According to The Hollywood Reporter, at least one Fox official recognized during the filming of Dark Phoenix that they were creating the final X-Men film. So, why bother featuring fresh characters?
“It was a lot of fun, though, being able to see the school and to see how they shoot the film. I got to meet Jennifer Lawrence and Alexandra Shipp and James McAvoy and the full cast. I was like a kid in a candy store, especially growing up watching ‘X-Men’ and being a fan of the ‘X-Men’ comics.”
Even though Johnson’s career in superhero movies was cut short, The Last of Us might give him another chance. Specially with DC reinventing itself and Marvel constantly expanding it’s universe, looking for young actors to take the torch from The Avengers.
The Last of Us is airing weekly on HBO Max.
Source: EW
