If you blinked during X-Men: Apocalypse, you probably missed her. Honestly, the way Fox handled Lana Condor in X-Men is one of the most frustrating "what ifs" in modern superhero cinema. It wasn't just a minor casting choice. It was a moment where the stars aligned—a perfect actress for a fan-favorite character—only for the final product to leave her on the cutting room floor.
Lana Condor was 18 when she landed the role of Jubilation Lee. It was her first-ever professional acting gig. Most actors start with a commercial or a bit part on a procedural drama. She started with a yellow leather jacket and a $178 million budget. But if you watch the theatrical cut today, Jubilee is basically a glorified extra with a few lines of dialogue.
👉 See also: Lord I Need You Lyrics: Kanye West’s Rawest Moment of the Donda Era
So, what happened? Why did a character who dominated the 1990s animated series get sidelined so aggressively?
The Mall Scene and the Disappearing Act
The heart of the Lana Condor X-Men controversy lies in a deleted sequence known as the "Mall Scene."
In the finished film, we see Scott Summers (Cyclops), Jean Grey, Nightcrawler, and Jubilee hanging out at a mall after watching Return of the Jedi. They walk out, Scott makes a snarky comment about the third movie always being the worst, and that’s it. But that wasn't the original plan.
The full sequence was a neon-soaked 80s montage. It showed the four teens actually being kids. Nightcrawler gets a brain freeze. Jubilee uses her powers to restart an arcade cabinet. It was supposed to ground the movie and show why these characters cared about each other. Instead, director Bryan Singer cut the vast majority of it to keep the "pacing" focused on the global stakes of Apocalypse.
Condor spent roughly three months on set. She trained. She bought Jubilee comics. She even watched the old cartoons to nail the "mall rat" vibe. According to interviews she gave later, she had about twelve lines of dialogue and four to five minutes of actual screen time in the original script. By the time the movie hit theaters in 2016, she didn't even get to show off her "fireworks" powers once.
Why She Didn't Return for Dark Phoenix
When X-Men: Dark Phoenix started production, fans expected Jubilee to finally join the field team. She was part of the "new class" established at the end of the previous movie, after all. But when the trailers dropped, Condor was nowhere to be found.
The reason was actually pretty simple: scheduling. While the X-Men franchise was stalling, Lana Condor’s career was exploding. She had booked the lead role in a little Netflix movie called To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before. It’s sort of ironic. The very franchise that failed to use her talent ended up losing her because she became a massive star elsewhere.
She later told Collider that she couldn't do Dark Phoenix because the filming schedules overlapped. Looking back, it was the best thing that could have happened to her. Dark Phoenix was a critical and commercial disaster, while To All the Boys turned her into a household name.
The Injustice of the "Recruitment" Video
One of the weirdest parts of the Lana Condor X-Men era was the marketing. If you were online in 2016, you might remember a retro-style "Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters" recruitment video.
Jubilee was the star of it. She acted as the tour guide, showing off the mansion and looking exactly like she’d stepped out of a 1991 Jim Lee comic. It was a brilliant piece of marketing that promised a version of the movie we never actually got.
It felt like a "bait and switch" for many fans. You don't put a character front and center in the promos, send the actress to Comic-Con panels, and have her do a marathon of press junkets if you only plan on giving her two lines.
What Lana Condor Actually Said About It
For a long time, Condor was very diplomatic. She was a newcomer in a massive machine. But as she gained more leverage in the industry, she started to get more honest.
Speaking to StyleCaster in 2020, she admitted that if that same experience happened to her today, she would feel there was an "injustice." She noted that she wasn't aware how much her role would be diminished until the movie was practically finished. There was even a special effects device on her hands that would actually shock her to help her simulate the pain of her powers. She suffered through literal physical shocks for a scene that people only saw as a DVD extra.
The Future: Could She Return in the MCU?
Now that the X-Men rights are back with Marvel Studios and Kevin Feige, the conversation has shifted. Everyone is asking who stays and who goes.
✨ Don't miss: How Tall Was Edward G. Robinson? The Truth About the Little Caesar’s Stature
Lana Condor hasn't been shy. She has openly told Disney executives—specifically at a Vanity Fair Oscar party—not to "sleep on" Jubilee. She still wants the role. She wants to do the character justice because, in her words, Jubilee has never really had her moment on screen.
There is a precedent for this. Marvel brought back Evan Peters (though as a "fake" Quicksilver) and obviously Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman. While the MCU will likely reboot most of the team, Condor is in a unique position. She’s the right age, she’s a much bigger star now than she was in 2016, and fans are already on her side because they feel she was "robbed" the first time.
A Quick Breakdown of the "Jubilee Curse"
Jubilee has actually appeared in the X-Men movies four times, played by three different actresses.
- X-Men (2000): Played by Katrina Florence (Cameo).
- X2 (2003) & X-Men: The Last Stand (2006): Played by Kea Wong (Mostly background).
- X-Men: Apocalypse (2016): Played by Lana Condor (The most "developed" version, which says a lot).
How to Support the Character Today
If you’re a fan of what Lana Condor tried to do with the role, there are a few things that actually move the needle in the current "fan-driven" era of the MCU:
- Watch the "Mall Scene" on the Blu-ray: It’s the only way to see her actual performance. It proves she had the chemistry with Tye Sheridan (Cyclops) and Sophie Turner (Jean Grey) that the movie sorely lacked.
- Support her current projects: Showing that she has "box office draw" makes it easier for Marvel Studios to justify bringing her back.
- Engagement on Social Media: It sounds silly, but Marvel keeps a very close eye on which "legacy" actors fans are still talking about. The 1990s nostalgia is at an all-time high right now (thanks to X-Men '97), and Jubilee is the face of that era.
The bottom line? Lana Condor didn't fail Jubilee. The production failed her. Whether she gets another shot in the yellow jacket or moves on to a different Marvel role (she’s also expressed interest in playing a female Spider-Man/Silk), her brief stint in the X-Mansion remains a fascinating case study in how the Fox era often struggled to juggle its massive cast.
If you want to see what we missed, track down the X-Men: Apocalypse deleted scenes. You'll see a version of Jubilee that was vibrant, funny, and exactly what the franchise needed at the time.
Next Steps for Fans: Check out the official "Xavier’s School" recruitment video on YouTube to see Lana's most substantial work in the role. Then, look into the X-Men '97 revival on Disney+, which has successfully revitalized the character of Jubilee for a new generation, proving the character's lasting appeal.