Since Disney acquired Fox in 2019, fans have been drooling at the prospect of getting the X-Men into the Marvel Cinematic Universe. After years of waiting, this month might finally give audiences something to get excited about. With San Diego Comic-Con just one week away, casting rumors are popping up all over the place. The most eye-catching name that has been attached to the project is Adam Driver (Girls, the Star Wars sequel trilogy) as the master of magnetism himself, Magneto. While these leaks should be taken with a hunk of salt, it does reinforce some of what fans already expect from the X-Men in the MCU.
In the case of Driver, who a rumormongerer initially said would play an X-Men villain before another leaker specified he is playing Magneto, the news is something of a double-edged sword. Driver is one of the most impressive actors working right now, nailing the role of Kylo Ren in the Star Wars sequels as well as delivering emotional performances that have earned him two Oscar nominations. And yet Driver does not feel like the perfect fit for Magneto. That is partly because Driver would have some big shoes to fill. Magneto has been perfectly portrayed on the big screen twice: first by Ian McKellen and second by Michael Fassbender. While “third time’s the charm” is a saying, it is hard to believe Marvel can strike gold once again.
Another response to Driver’s rumored casting is that while he is the perfect person to embody an iconic X-Men villain, just not Magneto. Fans have pointed out endlessly in response to the initial leak that Driver should instead play Nathaniel Essex, better known as Mister Sinister. While Sinister has not appeared on the big screen, he was supposed to appear as the big bad in 2020’s The New Mutants. A post-credits tease at the end of X-Men Apocalypse also suggested Sinister would appear in later Fox films, though that didn’t work out either. Sinister is one of the most interesting villains in X-Men history and offers plenty of fresh storylines that general audiences may be unfamiliar with. While Magneto may always be the most iconic X-Men villain, that also comes at the potential cost of him feeling fresh in new iterations.
Driver’s casting isn’t the only rumor floating around. Other reports indicate he will be joined by Patrick Wilson (Aquaman) as Charles Xavier and Odessa A’zion (Marty Supreme) as Rogue. Other names thrown around are Peter Claffey (A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms), Charles Melton (Beef), Nicholas Alexander Chavez (Monster), and Obsession‘s breakout star Inde Navarrette. The latter revealed she had met with MCU X-Men director Jake Schreier, which fanned the flames of the rumor mill. Whoever ends up in the final X-Men cast is likely to join Sadie Sink. Her role in the upcoming Spider-Man: Brand New Day has been kept under wraps, fueling fan theories that she is playing the X-Men’s Jean Grey.
With all these unconfirmed reports swirling, the only thing that is undeniably true is that fans are more desperate than ever for some hard information on the X-Men’s future in the MCU. Hopefully, Marvel will address this at San Diego Comic-Con, though any official casting will feel slightly bogged down by Avengers: Doomsday, in which many of the Fox X-Men will return. If Marvel is still trying to cash in on nostalgia for the old X-Men movies, it raises the question of how the new mutants of the MCU will be able to carve out their own place.
Marvel Studios will have its official San Diego Comic-Con presentation in Hall H on Saturday, July 25 at 5:30 p.m. PDT. Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige will be joined by unannounced special guests “from across the Marvel Cinematic Universe with a look at what’s next from Marvel Studios.”
