Welcome to my first X-Men fancast! I’m not a movie producer so I’m sure none of this would work, but I also included a very loose layout of how I’d want a reboot of the X-Men movies to go. I know there's a lot of movies, but maybe they could come out once a year Harry Potter-style. Each character's actor has 2 face pictures and 1 body, and their description goes over thier major credits along with the reasoning behind my choice. Enjoy!



 

X-Men 1-2(-3?): Phase one. This structure is a bit more purist than the movies we have, so I’d want at least the first movie to only involve the first class. The REAL first class. Maybe the first film would pit them against Magneto, with X-Men 2 featuring the brotherhood? Here’s what the cast would look like. All of the actors are kind of young, but imagine them growing into their characters as the movies released.

MARVEL GIRL (Jean Grey) - Holland Roden

     

     

CYCLOPS (Scott Summers) - Brenton Thwaites

      

      

Brenton Thwaites (24) is an up-and-coming actor who’s only appeared in a few movies. His first big role will be as the lead in the adaptation of the novel The Giver. From what I’ve seen he seems like a compelling actor, and he happens to look a lot like a young Summers. Since I’m going with a more conservative adaptation of the X-Men, I wouldn’t want Scott to be very muscular at all. There’s a reason his nickname is Slim!



 

BEAST (Hank McCoy) - Dylan O'Brien

     

     

This is a complete coincidence, but Dylan O’Brien also stars in Teen Wolf. He does also have some bigger movies under his belt though. He’s the lead in this year’s The Maze Runner, as well as The Internship and The First Time. It’s safe to say he plays nerdy well, which I feel is the only necessary element to play Hank. Nicolas Hoult proved that you don’t need a natural Beast-like build to play the character. CGI and prosthetics can handle all of that. Given his upcoming titles and natural likability, I’d put money on O’Brien becoming a bigger movie actor in the next few years.



 

ICEMAN (Bobby Drake) - Ansel Elgort

     

     

Ansel Elgort is a very fresh actor (only 4 movies), but already has impressive credits. His first was the lead male in Carrie, which didn’t do much for him. The same can be said for his small role in Divergent, but he did prove worthy especially with what he was given. Elgort will really blow up when The Fault in Our Stars hits theaters. The hype is crazy for the movie (based off a best-selling novel), and also stars CBM-favorite Shailene Woodley (ha). The trailer alone show’s that he’ll be great. Looks-wise, he has one of those faces that will be youthful for a long time, which I always pictured Bobby having to match his goofy personality. 



 

ANGEL (Warren Worthington III) - Austin Butler

     

     

I chose Austin Butler mainly because of his previous roles. His main credit is a series regular on the critical success The Carrie Diaries, in which he plays a rich kid stuck in a normal high school. He’s also been a guest star on tons of TV shows as well as a few movies. His similar role on Carrie Diaries proves his potential and it helps that he happens to look exactly like Warren. 



 

PROFESSOR X (Charles Xavier) - Benedict Cumberbatch

    

     

Although I’ve never seen him fancast as Professor X, Benedict Cumberbatch is my most unoriginal. It’s hard to avoid when he’s displayed amazing acting ability in so many of his credits (Star Trek, Sherlock, 12 Years a Slave, etc). I chose him because he can play intelligent and cerebral really well. He’d also convincingly play a natural leader. Plus, how could would it be to see him play Onslaught? Appearance-wise, we all know the only thing any actor playing Chuck would need to do…



 

MAGNETO (Erik Lensherr) - Kevin McKidd

    

     

The adults were so much easiler to cast because they have so many credits.  McKidd has plenty that show off his talent. He has some action experience from playing Posideon in Percy Jackson, and has also led his own TV show as well as starring in a few others. Watch Trainspotting to witness his best. I think the villain-with-a-purpose type is right up his alley, and elements like hair color don't really matter with Magneto’s character. 

WOLVERINE (James "Logan" Howlett) - Rob Kazinsky

 

     

    

Storm (Ororo Monroe) - Lupita Nyong'o

     

     

Next was the easiest to cast. I’m definitely on the Lupita bandwagon right now. Nothing needs to be said to validate this Academy Award-winning actresses’ talent (12 Years a Slave). The only thing some might disagree with is that she’s a little older than the rest (31), but I think she looks mid-20s (black don’t crack!). Even so, I’ve always pictured the African queen to be a little older than the rest of the team, given her wisdom. Personally, I’d prefer a darker-skinned Ororo so that we could touch on her African roots (sorry, Halle). 



 

Colossus (Piotr Rasputin) - Theo James

     

      

I don’t think much is needed to play the Russian brute other than some screen presence. Read any review of Divergent and they’ll tell you that Theo James has just that. He’s fairly muscular and really can connect with the audience. He also had a brief but critically acclaimed role in Downton Abbey. The accent is a must though. 



 

Nightcrawler (Kurt Wagner) - Avan Jogia 

     

      

Jogia hasn’t been in many titles either, but he plays weird and myserious really well. He’s currently leading a show on ABC called Twisted, in which he plays a high school student accused of murder. When he was younger he starred in a few Nickelodeon shows. Combining the two character types would somehow equal Nightcrawler in my mind. Like most of my fancast (with some blue body paint), I think he looks just like Kurt.



 

Shadowcat (Kitty Pryde) - Hailee Steinfeld 

      

     

Due to overcrowding and the fact that she joined the team later on, I’m not sure I’d want Kitty in the movie. On the other hand, I feel like it would be refreshing to give her a larger role and look at the X-Men through Kitty’s fresh eyes as she joined (similar to Rogue in X-Men 1, or 1989’s X-Men: Pryde of the X-Men for true fans). Introducing Shadowcat could also set up a proper X-Men Days of Future Past movie. As for Steinfeld, she proved herself on day one with her Oscar-nominated role in True Grit. She was also great in last year’s Ender’s Game. 





 

X-Men 6-7: Phase three. This phase would follow what I consider the best era of the X-Men, the 90s. That means new characters like Gambit and Rogue. At this point some heroes from previous films would be sidelined in order to make room, much like the comics (Do you see a trend here?). 

GAMBIT (Remy Lebeau) - Ian Somerhalder

 

     

      

Ian Somerhalder has admittedly been typecast into roles of handsome, bad boy types (Lost, Vampire Diaries, Pulse). Give him mutant powers and a Cajun accent, and I don’t the role would be stale anymore. Gambit’s character has depth because of his past before he joined the team. In his roles, Somerhalder is somehow able to convey this with only his eyes, in my opinion. His looks also allow him to play a perfect Remy. 



 

ROGUE (Anna Marie) - Tracy Spiridakos

    

   

Tracy Spiridakos would be a risk to cast because of her lack of experience, but as the main character of NBC’s Revolution, I feel that she’s demonstrated the ability to pull off a tough, badass Rogue. She’s drop dead gorgeous, and hopefully would be able to do a convincing southern accent. Story-wise, I’d want them to just start Rogue off with her super strength, durability, and flight. This would set her apart from Singer’s films as well as make her really the first “super” female in a movie.



 

PSYLOCKE (Elizabeth Braddock) - Jamie Chung

      

     

There’s unfortunately a lack of diversity in the acting world, especially for Asians. All of the diversity in X-Men makes it difficult to cast, but luckily Jamie Chung has stepped into the game. Watch Sucker Punch to witness her action skills, and watch Eden to see her crush a dramatic role. Much like Rogue, I’d want them to start off with the Psylocke we’ve come to know. Maybe just make her British/Japanese and avoid the confusing backstory? 



 

JUBILEE (Jubilation Lee) - Nicole Gale Anderson

     

      

I’d want the movie series to end with Jubilee joining and representing a new generation of mutants to go through the school. Maybe a nice interaction between Professor Pryde and Jubilee would do just that. Realistically, by the time the last movie would come out this actress would be way too old, but for the fancast’s sake this is what I’d want her to look like. This actress has starred in Beauty and the Beast as well as ABC Family’s Ravenswood. She’s half Asian, has a fresh/youthful face, and rocks short hair. There’s probably an Asian actress somewhere out there who is better suited, but I haven’t seen any teenaged Asian-American girls in movies recently. 





The end! Thank you for reading skimming over my X-Men fancast! In true CBM fashion, I expect mildly-insulting comments due to my misguided opinions on which actors should play your favorite X-Men characters!
 

Thumbs up if you enjoyed it!