“Alice Through The Looking Glass” and “X-Men: Apocalypse” turned in disappointing box-office performances on a Memorial Day weekend that left studios with little to celebrate. Mark Kelly reports. Image: Everett Collection

TWENTIETH Century Fox has apologised for a billboard that features Jennifer Lawrence’s X-Men: Apocalypse character Mystique being throttled.

The billboard has been criticised by some who are offended by the imagery of Oscar Isaac’s Apocalypse choking Mystique.

Actress and filmmaker Rose McGowan says there’s “a major problem when the men and women at 20th Century Fox think casual violence against women is a way to market a film”.

In a statement, Fox says that in highlighting the villainy of Apocalypse, “we didn’t immediately realise the upsetting connotation of this image in print form”.

The studio apologised and said it was removing promotional materials with the image. Fox added it “would never condone violence against women”.

The poster shows Oscar Isaac’s Apocalypse choking Jennifer Lawrence’s Mystique.

“Only the strong will survive,” runs the tagline for the violent image.

Outspoken actress Rose McGowan — best known for her long-running role in TV show Charmed — led the chorus of criticism for the poster.

“There is a major problem when the men and women at 20th Century Fox think casual violence against women is the way to market a film. There is no context in the ad, just a woman getting strangled. The fact that no one flagged this is offensive and frankly, stupid,” she said in a statement to The Hollywood Reporter.

“The geniuses behind this, and I use that term lightly, need to take a long hard look at the mirror and see how they are contributing to society. Imagine if it were a black man being strangled by a white man, or a gay male being strangled by a hetero? The outcry would be enormous. So let’s right this wrong. 20th Century Fox, since you can’t manage to put any women directors on your slate for the next two years, how about you at least replace your ad?”

She continued: “I’ll close with a text my friend sent, a conversation with his daughter. It follows: ‘My daughter and I were just having a deep discussion on the brutality of that hideous X-Men poster yesterday. Her words: ‘Dad, why is that monster man committing violence against a woman?’ This from a 9-year-old. If she can see it, why can’t Fox?”

Others on social media said they were ‘disturbed’ by the marketing push for the film focusing so heavily on violence against a female character:

Am I the only one disturbed by the X-Men billboards with the pic of Ultron choking out Mystique? — Captain Kirkeisha (@CaptKirkeisha) May 30, 2016

Exec #1: This is a great poster!

Exec #2: I agree! It's not problematic at all! pic.twitter.com/roRDiTIeml — Sasha (@ThatSashaJames) May 24, 2016

I really hate that the marketing for X-Men: Apocalypse is focused entirely around that shot of Apocalypse choking Mystique. — Alisha Grauso (@AlishaGrauso) May 13, 2016

Is anyone else as bothered by the X-Men Apocalypse choking ad as I am? 😖 — Whitney Renner (@WhitRenner) May 25, 2016