By James Pearson on
Spoilers ahead for Spider-Man: Brand New Day, as well as the possible future of the MCU. You’ve been warned; don’t blame me if I spoil it for you!
Yes, it truly feels like we have returned to the grand old days of the MCU, when the casting rumour mill was on fire and anything was possible! Since the release of Spider-Man: Brand New Day and the suspicious absence of new casting reveals at SDCC, many fans have been left wondering, where are the X-Men?
Now of course we have the triumphant return of the OG early 2000s Fox X-Men as they prepare for battle with Doom later this year in Avengers: Doomsday, but many fans are eagerly looking towards the future of the franchise and are wondering when and if we will be meeting a new team of super-powered mutants soon?
Partial answers were given in the form of Sadie Sink in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, where the movie revealed her character to be the infamous Red Head of the X-Men, Jean Grey. An omega-level telepath and an original team member of the X-Men.
Her casting, like many MCU choices lately, has met a mixed reception. But over all it had left many wondering what Kevin Feige and Marvel have planned for the rest of the team?
With many anticipating the whole team’s reveal later this month at D23, many rumoured casting choices have been circulating online. Some credible… others not so much. But before we dive into rumours, let’s cover what we do know.
An X-Men film is coming, and it’s coming sooner rather than later.
After the mild success of ‘ThunderBolts*’ and the even better success of the Netflix TV anthology ‘Beef’, the dream team of Jake Schreier, Lee Sung Jin and Joanna Calo has been formed to helm our favourite mutants’ next leap into live action. Both writers have proved they can write thrilling and compelling stories, highly focused on relationship drama (a core of any good X-Men story), and Schreier, having already played in the MCU sandbox, has a good foundation of knowledge to build on. Like many, I feel confident in this team, and with Kevin Feige being such an X-Man fan, I hope he helps steer them in the right direction.
Sadie Sink IS Jean Grey. Despite how many fans feel online.
Yes, Sink’s long rumoured and secretive role in the newest Spider-Man movie was finally revealed, to the shock of… some fans. It had been heavily rumoured for years (really all the way back to when Disney first got the rights for the X-Men back) that Sink would take on this role, and then the announcement of her inclusion in this film only strengthened the fire. Then, with credible leaks emerging, many fans were convinced by the casting.
But why hasn’t she been received as well as Disney might have hoped? Well, I think it’s mainly due to two things: one, it feels like stunt casting. She’s a young ginger, up-and-coming actress that fans have cast in this role for years (much like Joe Locke from ‘Agatha All Along’). Two, she’s not quite the Jean Grey most remember. The MCU has taken some liberties with their version of Jean and changed some aspects of her backstory. She’s also a hardened character. We meet an angry Jean, fending for her life. A contrast to her usual softer, gentle nature. But as many fans have pointed out, this is a Jean in a world where, as far as we are aware, mutants seem to be near non-existent. She’s also young; she isn’t yet the version of Jean that’s a hero, a mother, or a Phoenix.
Jean Grey, in the comics, was one of the founding members of the X-Men, alongside her husband Scott Summers (AKA Cyclops), Bobby Drake (AKA Iceman), Hank McCoy (AKA Beast) and Warren Worthington (AKA Angel). A team we actually haven’t seen all together as of yet in live-action, and it seems this is the router the MCU will be taking. Which becomes apparent as we move into rumour territory.
So let’s start with the more credible rumours, shall we? Two ‘official’ casting claims have been made in the last two weeks. The first being Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, quickly followed by Kit Connor as the OG leader of the X-Men, Scott Summers. Both castings have been near enough confirmed, with multiple trades claiming the castings to be official. Marble has yet to put out an official statement, but many believe that will come at D23, with the movie’s full line-up revealed.
In terms of these two castings, I love them. Much like the rest of the internet, I believe Weaving is a near-perfect actor for the role of the White Queen herself. And if her age compared to the rest of the confirmed cast (so far) is anything to go by, I believe two things are clear: one, we might be skipping the whole love triangle between Scott, Emma, and Jean (I know many fans will be sad about this). And Two: I believe the MCU will be adapting Emma’s role as headmistress of her own school – Massachusetts Academy – possibly as a rival to Xavier? Maybe Jean has to choose?
Then there is Kit Connor. I think this is great casting. He definitely looks the part, as many online have been proving with the fan edits out there, and he has the acting chops to pull off the journey I believe Feige plans on putting his Scott on. From a reluctant hero to a gracious leader. Connor is no stranger to the big screen, but his real fame comes from his amazing role as Nick Nelson in the Netflix series ‘Heartstopper’. His co-star from that show – Joe Locke – recently joined the MCU as well as the queer character Billy Maximoff. Which has sparked debates online that his history with his co-star, as well as him identifying as bisexual, could confuse fans. (With others weirdly already shipping the pair’s characters, despite no such connection existing in the source material.) While I understand it is often hard to separate actors from their iconic role, I don’t believe this to be a reason why Connor should be discredited in this new role. For one, we haven’t seen him do anything as Cyclops yet; secondly, their characters have very little connection, the only one being that they are both mutants in the comics. Finally, despite the fact that an actor’s sexual orientation shouldn’t matter when they portray a character on screen, the role of Scott Summers isn’t exactly without his queer undertones. With many fans as well as comic book writers believing and even hinting at Summer’s own bisexuality. Especially when it comes to his wife’s other pouting puppy dog Wolverine.
Despite the discourse of this casting, I hope fans will rally behind Connors. He is definitely leading man material, and I hope the team behind the movie can help restore Cyclops to his rightful status he had in the comics. (After some less than stellar portrayals on screen thus far.)
So if those are near enough confirmed, what about the less-than-trustworthy rumours? Well, there are plenty. But to save time, here is a list of the most frequent and popular and what roles they are rumoured to play and what roles I think they could be a good fit for:
Charles Melton is rumoured to be playing Beast. Personally I think he would make a great Angel or, dare I say, Gambit? Especially paired with the next rumoured casting.
Cailee Spaeny is rumoured to be playing Rogue. A role I can definitely see her in, especially if she is paired with Melton. Continuing their amazing chemistry from season two of ‘Beef’. But I’m going to throw a spanner in the works and say Mystique?
One of the more important roles to cast is, of course, Professor X. Proceeding the great Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy isn’t an easy job, but a name heavily rumoured to be stepping up to the plate is Bill Skarsgård. Though new rumours (less credible but fun to speculate about) suggest that McAvoy could be back for a second go-around? Maybe even joined by his co-star Michael Fassbender.
Other roles such as Magneto, Wolverine and Storm have many fans speculating on who could be taking on these iconic roles, but nothing credible enough has surfaced.
D23 takes place over the course of August 14th till August 16th, with many fans eager for the many announcements to come from the expo; hopefully one of those announcements will be the full cast reveal of the X-Men, as well as a release date for the movie. The X-Men are coming back, but will fans accept? Only time will tell.