During my most recent conversation with a Marvel Studios source, I was told that one of Professor Xavier's definite students in Fox's X-franchise relaunch,
First Class, will be Jaime Maddrox, known to most fans as Multiple Man. Considering that this is the same source which clued me in to Benjamin Walker's potential casting as the mutant student Henry McCoy (Beast) several weeks ago, I feel fairly certain this information is viable.
For those of you unfamiliar with the character, here is a brief biography according to
Marvel.com:
'Jamie Madrox's mutant ability was apparent at birth when a duplicate was created upon his being slapped by the doctor. Two weeks later, Jamie's father resigned from the Los Alamos Nuclear Research Center and moved his family to an intentionally isolated farm in Kansas at the suggestion of Professor Charles Xavier. From a young age, Madrox was given a special suit to wear that would neutralize his mutant power, but before this could be explained to him a freak tornado killed his parents when he was 15.'
The character has already appeared once on film in
X-Men 3: The Last Stand, and was portrayed by
Grey's Anatomy actor Eric Dane. So far, at least three young actors have been seriously approached to fill the role.
X-Men: First Class is being directed by Matthew Vaughn. The cast so far includes James McAvoy as Professor Xavier, Michael Fassbender as Magneto, Benjamin Walker as Henry McCoy and Alice Eve as Emma Frost. The film is slated for theatrical release on June 3rd, 2011.