Marvel has finally revealed the team that will lead the X-Men into the MCU. After years of speculation and months of screen tests and negotiations, the studio introduced the film’s cast Friday night at D23.
The new X-Men movie will star Sadie Sink as Jean Grey, Kit Connor as Cyclops, Christopher Abbott as Prof. X, Samara Weaving as Emma Frost, Inde Navarrette as Rogue and Maya Boyd as Storm. Adam Driver will play the villain Mr. Sinister, and Marvel has set the film for release on May 5, 2028.
Adam Driver Joins the MCU
Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige introduced the cast onstage at D23. Driver joined the presentation by video and spoke about his long-running conversations with Feige about entering the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
“Kevin and I have been talking for years about me joining MCU,” Driver said. He added that they had “found something perfect with characters I feel very deeply about.”
Several Cast Members Were Already Taking Shape
Marvel had already revealed or been linked to several members of the new lineup before D23. Sink became the first major piece of the casting puzzle when her Jean Grey debuted in Spider-Man: Brand New Day last month.
Reports had also identified Heartstopper star Kit Connor as the new Cyclops and Ready or Not star Samara Weaving as Emma Frost. The Heat Vision newsletter reported last week that Tony-nominated actor Christopher Abbott had tested for Prof. X and had emerged as a strong contender for the role.
Rogue and Storm Join the Team
Inde Navarrette will step into the role of Rogue. Navarrette recently gained attention for starring in the summer breakout hit Obsession.
Maya Boyd will play Storm in the new film. Boyd comes from Broadway, where she led & Juliet.
Abbott brings experience from both television and film to the role of Prof. X. He broke through on Girls, appeared in last year’s Wolfman and earned a nomination at the most recent Tony Awards for Death of a Salesman.
Jake Schreier Takes On X-Men
Thunderbolts director Jake Schreier will direct the new X-Men movie. Schreier and Sink joined Feige onstage as Marvel officially introduced the cast.
Feige revealed that the actors were assembling as a group for the first time. He said “they just met backstage for the very first time.”
The announced cast will not represent the entire lineup. Feige cautioned that Marvel still has more members of the X-Men ensemble to reveal.
The X-Men Finally Enter Marvel’s New Era
Fans have waited years to see how Marvel would handle the X-Men after Disney purchased 20th Century Fox in 2019. The acquisition brought the film rights to the mutant characters under the same corporate roof as the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Stan Lee and Jack Kirby introduced the X-Men in 1963. The original team featured Prof. X leading Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Angel and Ice Man against Magneto, establishing characters who would become central to comic book culture.
A Franchise That Helped Change Superhero Movies
The characters made a major leap to the big screen with 2000’s X-Men. Bryan Singer directed the film, which helped launch the modern era of superhero movies and turned Hugh Jackman into a star through his performance as Wolverine.
Several actors from the 2000s films are now returning for Avengers: Doomsday. Patrick Stewart will appear as Professor X, Ian McKellen as Magneto, James Marsden as Cyclops, Rebecca Romijn as Mystique, Alan Cumming as Nightcrawler and Kelsey Grammer as Beast.
Channing Tatum will also appear in Doomsday. He previously played the card-throwing mutant Gambit in Deadpool & Wolverine.
A New Generation Takes Over
The franchise received another major overhaul during the 2010s. Those films starred James McAvoy as Prof. X, Michael Fassbender as Magneto, Jennifer Lawrence as Mystique and Nicholas Hoult as Beast.
That generation of stars has not entered the MCU in the same way the actors from the 2000s films have. Marvel is instead building a new team around Sink, Connor, Abbott, Weaving, Navarrette and Boyd, with Driver positioned as Mr. Sinister when X-Men arrives on May 5, 2028.
