The credits on “X-Men” are unfortunately incomplete (after season 1, the final credits list only the main voice cast), so sources differ on when the recasting took place. As far as I can tell, Colicos voiced Apocalypse in four episodes: “The Cure” and “Come The Apocalypse” in season 1, and the two-parter “Time Fugitives” in season 2. Even with limited time, Colicos had to deliver. some memorable lines:
“I know more about this world than you can imagine! So I must destroy it!”
“The old world is passing away. Together we will create a new one in fire and blood! I will build a better one from the ashes of this world!”
“Go forth my Riders and let Chaos cleanse the world!”
In my favorite movie, The Time Runners, a man stares at Apocalypse in horror and shouts, “Mutant!” A steely-eyed Apocalypse frowns and says, “I'm as far from mutants as they are from you!”
Apocalypse had only debuted in the comics six years earlier when “X-Men” premiered; Louise Simonson and Jackson Guice created him as a villain for the 1986 X-Factor comic. Apocalypse's first appearance in “X-Men” adapts the only thing he was known for at the time: transforming the X-Men character Angel into one of the Four Horsemen with his new steel wings.
As the first actor to play Apocalypse while the character was still very young, Colicos' voice set the standard—for Blendick, of course, but also for future Apocalypse actors like David Kaye and Oscar Isaac. That voice became a staple of young “X-Men” fans' (and even some future “X-Men” writers') memories of Apocalypse, whose dominance in the animated series ensured his continued A-list role in the comics.
Apocalypse's real name is En Sabah Nur, which supposedly means “the first” in Marvel Comics. (These three words are actually Arabic for “Seven Lights,” meaning dawn.) As Apocalypse marks the dawn of the mutant race, every future Apocalypse actor draws on the exemplary work of John Colicos to bring the character to life.
