Marvel Studios has finally put faces to its new generation of mutants. After years of rumours, wish lists and seemingly endless casting speculation, Kevin Feige used the D23 stage to unveil the core cast of the MCU’s upcoming X-Men movie — and there are some very interesting choices in the mix.
Sadie Sink (Stranger Things) will continue as Jean Grey following her introduction in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, while Kit Connor (Heartstopper) has been confirmed as Scott Summers/Cyclops, with Samara Weaving (Ready or Not) as Emma Frost.
Also joining the line-up: Christopher Abbott (East of Eden) as Professor Charles Xavier, Inde Navarrette (Obsession) as Rogue and Maya Boyd (Broadway’s & Juliet) as Storm.
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Then there’s Adam Driver (Star Wars), who is finally making the leap to the Marvel Cinematic Universe — and had some fun with one of the biggest rumours surrounding him along the way.
Driver appeared remotely during the presentation and revealed that he and Feige had been discussing an MCU role for years. He then seemingly confirmed what many fans had been predicting.
“So I’m very excited to be playing the role of Maaagneto!” Driver teased, before quickly correcting himself: “Even better, Nathaniel Milbury.”
That name isn’t random. Nathaniel Milbury is an alias used by Nathaniel Essex, better known as longtime X-Men villain Mister Sinister. So, yes, the Magneto casting speculation was wrong — but Driver still landed himself one hell of an X-Men villain.
Meet Marvel’s New X-Men
It’s a line-up that gives Marvel a mixture of established names and rising talent as the studio begins properly rebuilding the X-Men for the MCU.
Sink’s Jean Grey is already the familiar face of the group thanks to Spider-Man: Brand New Day. Connor steps into a role previously played on the big screen by James Marsden and Tye Sheridan, while Abbott follows Patrick Stewart and James McAvoy as Charles Xavier.
Weaving, meanwhile, becomes the latest live-action Emma Frost after January Jones played the telepathic mutant in X-Men: First Class. Navarrette follows Anna Paquin as Rogue, while Boyd inherits Storm, a character most famously portrayed by Halle Berry in the earlier films.
The new team is quite literally only just getting acquainted. “They’ve just met backstage for the very first time,” Feige said.
So while audiences now know who Marvel’s new X-Men are, it sounds like the mutants themselves are only just beginning to assemble.
So, Adam Driver Is Mister Sinister… Right?
Driver may be the casting that generates the most conversation. His name has circled Marvel projects for years, with Magneto among the roles frequently linked to him. D23 even allowed Driver to lean straight into those rumours before pulling the rug out from underneath them.
Instead, he’s playing Nathaniel Milbury — an identity used by Mister Sinister, aka Nathaniel Essex, the brilliant and deeply twisted geneticist who has spent decades experimenting on mutants, manipulating bloodlines and making life miserable for the X-Men in Marvel Comics.
It also gives the reboot a villain the previous X-Men film series repeatedly flirted with but never properly delivered. The Fox movies dropped several Sinister-related teases over the years, including references to Essex Corp., without ultimately putting the character at the centre of a film.
Driver finally bringing Mister Sinister to the big screen would therefore tick off a fairly major piece of unfinished X-Men business.
The MCU’s X-Men Era Is Taking Shape
The casting announcement arrives after Marvel has spent several years gradually bringing mutants and familiar X-Men faces into the MCU.
Patrick Stewart returned as a variant of Professor Xavier in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness, Kelsey Grammer reprised Beast in The Marvels, and Deadpool & Wolverine threw the doors open even wider to the Fox-era universe. Several veteran X-Men actors are also returning in Avengers: Doomsday.
This new film, however, is where Marvel Studios begins establishing its own core X-Men team for the years ahead. And there are still some very conspicuous gaps in the roster. Assuming there are new iterations of these characters on the horizon, Marvel has yet to unveil its new Wolverine, Magneto, Mystique, Beast or Gambit, among several other major mutants.
Thunderbolts* filmmaker Jake Schreier is directing, with Beef creator Lee Sung Jin and The Bear co-showrunner Joanna Calo working on the screenplay.
Marvel Studios’ X-Men is scheduled to open in cinemas on May 5, 2028.
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