Marvel has most of its X-Men team lined up, but a new rumor says the casting isn’t done.
The studio announced its main cast at D23 in August. Sadie Sink, who plays Jean Grey in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, is taking the part again here. Inde Navarrette was cast as Rogue, Kit Connor as Cyclops, Christopher Abbott as Professor X, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, and Maya Boyd as Storm. Adam Driver will be Nathan Milbury, also known as Mr. Sinister. Asa Germann, who you might recognize from Gen V and Scream 7, was recently announced to play Angel.
Fans should expect the original five X-Men from the comics to appear. Cyclops, Jean, and Angel are covered, so Beast and Ice-Man still need actors.
Rumor has it that Marvel is looking to cast 3 more mutants. One’s a woman with a small part in the first film and a bigger one in the sequel. Another is a male supporting character who’s either Native American or Latino; they still haven’t decided between the two. The third is an Asian woman in a supporting role. Marvel hasn’t confirmed any of this, but it’s fun to speculate.
The sequel detail stands out. Marvel seems to be mapping out the next movie while the first one is still being cast, which fits the plan to build a larger Mutant Saga.
There are plenty of candidates. If the studio goes with a Native American man, Forge, Thunderbird, and Warpath are the likeliest picks. Sunspot is the best-known Latino mutant in the comics, though Empath and El Águila are options too. For the Asian woman, Psylocke and Jubilee are the first names most fans will think of. All of it assumes these characters end up on the team, and they could just as easily show up as villains or ordinary humans.
While the rumored casting for a Native American asks for a man, nobody’s stopping fans from hoping for something different. Dani Moonstar has been a core New Mutants character for decades, which makes her an easy favorite. Echo already debuted in the MCU, so Marvel knows what she can do on screen. Snowbird of Alpha Flight, whose comic origins draw on Inuit legend, would be a nice surprise for longtime readers. Nobody has reported any of these names, so it’s all wishful thinking for now.
Jake Schreier, who directed Thunderbolts, is set to direct. Sonny Lee Sung Jin from Beef and Joanna Calo from The Bear recently joined to rewrite Michael Lesslie’s script. Calo also co-wrote Thunderbolts, so she and Schreier have worked together before.
Kevin Feige talked about the X-Men plans shortly after San Diego Comic-Con. He said getting the rights isn’t only about Wolverine, who Marvel has already paired with Deadpool. In his view, the X-Men are a whole universe with room for a multi-stage saga. He also admitted the franchise has had ten movies so far, with some very good and others that missed expectations, and said Marvel hopes to do better through careful planning of the Mutant Saga.
Marvel’s schedule is already booked through 2042, he said, with the X-Men taking up a big share of it. Many characters are still unexplored, including ones from the Asia-Pacific region and especially China, and he’s excited to show the world different kinds of heroes. His comments line up with the rumored search for an Asian actress.
More official casting news should arrive soon, but what Native mutants would you like to see on the big screen next?
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