I like to start by sharing why I don't believe Thunderbird should have in own movie. What you will read is copied from Wiki.
Recruited to join the X-Men, he was reluctant to join another white man's crusade (after his stint as a marine in which he was disorderly towards his fellow soldiers)
Turned out to be so volatile and ill-mannered that he constantly disrupted the team's synchronization
On the team's second mission to combat the Count Nefaria he leaped onto an airplane that was carrying Count Nefaria. Thunderbird refused to get off the plane, stating that he would show that he was a true Apache warrior. The plane exploded, killing Proudstar. Thunderbird has so far been considered dead as the result of his headstrong action.
In the X-Men cartoon Thunderbird is featured with Magneto's evil mutants in the title sequence (which gives me an idea to think about for a later fancast)
However, if you are a fan of the guy please check out the closest I'll get to spotlighting the character in my Warpath fancast
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/ager/news/?a=25078
I'd also like to bring attention to the prior 3 Giant-size origins: Banshee, Nightcrawler and Colossus
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/ager/news/?a=38428
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/ager/news/?a=38746
http://www.comicbookmovie.com/fansites/ager/news/?a=38980
I can see the codename Thunderbird being thrown out as an option and Forge deadpanning a simple "No."
The Story of Forge
As Forge embraces his mutant intellect, he has a falling out with Naze, a tribe elder. Late in his 20's and seen as the next generation of the tribe he is forbidden to rely on his technologically-based intelligence. He tries to convince Naze and the other elders that the spirits must have given him this power as a way to show the elders it is time to move on and forget the "old" methods. "Magic tricks are no longer the answer."
He is asked to leave the tribe due to his dishonor. He joins the army and by his second tour, has reached the rank of SGT (with no one ever knowing of his mutant power). During the tour most of his squad was overtaken and killed by the enemy. The surviving soldier, CPL Creed, ordered a B-52 bombing on his position to save the lives of himself and his SGT. This action wasn't without a heavy price, as Forge lost his right leg and right hand. A bond had formed between the 2 survivors, Forge and Creed. Within weeks Forge had created cybernetic replacements for his lost limbs.
This act made the government suspicious and they sent Agent Valerie Cooper to question the soldier on his expedience and so forth. When questioned, he innocently told the truth, quietly angering Creed to no end. Cooper asks for his assistance in calming a crisis involving a anti-mutant group known as the Right. "only if my CPL comes along. He is the best soldier I've ever had the privilege..."
The 3 are met by Trask, an engineer for the gov. The 4 go on to encounter more than what was originally thought. There is an "unknown" trying to kill the Right's leader, Cameron Hodge. She is Raven Darkholme. Cooper brings her into the fold and tries to use her to get the job done, but keep her from going overboard. With her in the ranks Creed disappears. Confused (sans Mystique) they drive forward with the plan.
Trask and Forge build 15 foot robots to help take down their armored enemies. With Forge helping, it takes hours instead of years.
A romance begins between the anti-hero, Raven, and Forge as well, Trask finds himself hot for Cooper. Eventually, she double crosses them in order to kill Hodge. Creed pops up and goes to take the shape-shifter out but Forge stops him. Mystique returns the gesture by putting a bullet in his side. "I won't hold back next time, darling" she says. She then puts a bullet through Cooper, killer her. "I'm no government pawn, never was" she says. With that she's gone.
Having accomplished the task by breaking up, and ending the threat of, the Right, Forge, Trask and Creed are done with their mission. Forge combines his invention powers with his mystical powers he originally shunned in order to save the life of Creed (it was too late for Cooper). Enraged, the humans convince Forge to upgrade the robots so that they can track mutants like Raven. "We need sentinels of justice, peace-keepers..." they say. He refuses and they part ways with no more bloodshed out of a fading mutual respect for the other.
On his way back to the tribe, wanting nothing to do with a world so intent on technology and using it to conquer. tear apart and destroy each other he is stopped by Professor X and asked for help in locating his missing students. Professor asks if he believes Raven would assist them as well and Forge sadly says she has a different agenda.
The cast
Eddie Spears as Forge
Black Cloud
ABOUT THE CHARACTER: A mutant with an unsurpassed brilliance in technology, Forge has had a lengthy career as a government weapons contractor. He shared a romantic relationship with Storm, and a brief affair with Mystique which led him to associate with the X-Men, beefing-up the technology at the X-Mansion. He was also a member of the Pentagon-funded mutant group X-Factor. Forge is a mutant with an innate superhuman talent for invention - an intuitive genius, it is as natural as breathing for him. He is a Native American of the Cheyenne nation. Although he was trained as a medicine man, he has primarily relied upon technology rather than mysticism to accomplish his tasks. This rift between Forge and his elder teacher, Naze, made Forge leave his past behind and join the military. Forge was hired as an employee of the Defense Department
WHY HIM: 6'1" and a true Native-American. If you know or just checked out my Warpath fancast you'll see that I chose him for Warpath as well. Initially I wanted someone else but I just kept coming back to him. He was the right age, as I like Forge to be a bit older (he always was) but younger than Banshee (so that gives Banshee a distinction). He is 28 years old.
Graham Greene as Naze
Thunderheart
ABOUT: A shaman of the Cheyenne Indians, Naze instructed Forge in the use magic, so that Forge could one day fight the Adversary. Forge shirked this duty and joined the military.
WHY: Even though he looks nothing like Naze, I immediately thought of him. He is a superb actor and I've always enjoyed him in his movies.
Matthew Bomer as CPL Graydon Creed
White Collar
ABOUT: Posing as German a spy, Mystique seduced freelance assassin Victor Creed while he was in Germany on a mission. Mystique later gave birth to a normal human child - Graydon - whom she gave up for adoption. When Graydon learned that he was the son of two mutants who had abandoned him as an inconvenience, he grew resentful of all mutants, and that resentment colored his outlook for the rest of his life. In his adult years, Graydon formed a group called the Friends of Humanity, dedicated to opposing mutant civil rights by committing acts of terrorism against peaceful mutants and mutant sympathizers, and using the acts of violent mutants such as Magneto to rally support for their cause.
WHY: 1st, off, I decided it would be interesting to tie these characters into Forge like this. I sqeesed Creed in there as a soldier to further this connection. I left him alive to let viewers assume he would evolve to Right into the FoH.
I chose Bomer because he can play arrogant and I would like for him to return in another movie. While his face is a bit similar to Jordans Brewster's Mystique his body is radically different from the traditional body of Sabretooth.
Piper Perabo as Valerie Cooper
Covert Affairs
ABOUT: She works for the Office of National Emergency. She is most notable for her work as the liaison for mutant affairs in the United States government. Dr. Valerie Cooper was originally a special National Security Advisor on national security issues, which include metahuman affairs. Originally, Valerie Cooper took a hard-line concern on the problem of the threat that superhumans and mutants posed to the United States. Valerie Cooper's next duty was to hire Forge, to create a machine to detect mutant powers. Cooper handed leadership of the team to Forge. With the world getting more dangerous around her and the departure of some of the members, Cooper was forced by the government to allow Mystique to join. Her relationship with Forge was damaged when it was revealed that she knew of Project Wideawake, a new Sentinel project being developed by the U.S. Government. Val is then shot.
WHY: I just like her. I liked her in Coyote Ugly, and I really like her in Covert Affairs. She's very pretty and has charisma that one can enjoy.
Adam Baldwin as Bolivar Trask
Chuck
ABOUT: He creates the Sentinels. I chose to have Forge do this with/for him to add drama.
WHY: Baldwin reminds me a lot of Trask, albeit a younger version.
Jordana Brewster as Mystique
Fast and the Furious franchise
ABOUT: Throughout most of her history, Mystique has been a anti-hero, founding her own Brotherhood of Mutants and assassinating several important people involved in mutant affairs. Mystique herself is a shapeshifter whose natural appearance includes blue skin and yellow eyes. At one point, she mentions that she is over 100 years old. Mystique is the mother of the villain Graydon Creed and the X-Men hero Nightcrawler. Raven meets Sabretooth. Both she and Victor had been assigned with the assassination of a scientist in East Berlin. They became lovers, but she soon fakes her death in order to leave him. The result of this short-lived affair is the birth of Graydon Creed, her earliest known child. Later, anti-mutant sentiment among normal humans rises and the federal government launches its own covert anti-mutant program, Project Wideawake. Believing that the times have become too dangerous, Mystique goes to Valerie Cooper, special assistant to the head of the National Security Council, and offers services to the government. She slowly develops a romantic relationship with team-leader Forge (though he later thought that she was just using him).
WHY: As explained in preceding fancasts, I like her and think that she can do justice in portraying Mystique as she should be done.
Edward Norton as Cameron Hodge
American History X
ABOUT: Hodge had secretly been Commander of the Right, an anti-mutant terrorist group. He had fully intended to exacerbate anti-mutant tensions through his advertising campaign.
WHY: He is an amazing chameleon actor and can do anything. He would command an army to follow him. Norton could start WWIII against puppies if he wanted to.
Daniel Craig as Professor X
Bond films
Im sticking with the American-accented, tough looking, middle-aged professor from (originally my non-cannon Warpath fancast as well as)the previous Giant-size X-Men origins mentioned above