So to begin this fancasting session, I'd like to state what the ideal roster for X-Men would be, for myself at least. Since they are the "X"-Men, and X is the Roman numeral for 10, I thought it would be neat to have 10 main members of the team. Now obviously I wouldn't have the team start out with 10 members right away, but by the 2nd or 3rd movie I think it would be doable. Also, I will not be fancasting Professor X or the villains, because they don't count as part of the X-Men lineup. Maybe another time. The roster goes as follows:
Cyclops / Scott Summers
Jean Grey
Beast / Hank McCoy
Ice-Man / Bobby Drake
Angel / Warren Worthington III
Wolverine / Logan
Storm / Ororo Munroe
Nightcrawler / Kurt Wagner
Colossus / Piotr Rasputin
Rogue / Anna Marie
I should note that this is just the "main" team. Obviously I'd love for characters like Kitty Pryde, Psylocke, and Gambit to appear, but I personally feel like these are the most crucial team members for the X-Men franchise. These members allow for a diverse team, both in terms of their identities and their powers, as well as their ages, since I'd like some of the X-Men to be younger than others. Also the order of the list above has no bearing on their importance within the team, it's a somewhat random ordering.
On to the fancasting segment!
Let's start with the team leader,
Cyclops / Scott Summers
For Scott, I personally feel as though Taron Egerton is a great choice. He's proven that he can hold his own in a action/adventure franchise with the Kingsmen films, and exhibits leadership qualities in those films as well. I think casting a charismatic actor like Taron could be the key in making Cyclops a likeable member of the team and its respected leader, rather than another obstacle for Logan.
Jean Grey
Any Game of Thrones watchers probably recognizes this actress, and I think she'd make a great Jean Grey. Rose Leslie is a natural redhead, and just looks like Jean Grey in general. From her time in Game of Thrones, audiences know that Leslie is a capable actress, and can handle emotion, humor, and physicality. Casting a talented actress like Rose would be a good choice for an unstable character like Jean, and I feel like she has the range to make for a great performance.
Wolverine / Logan
Anyone who's listened to Wolverine: The Long Night knows exactly why I have Richard Armitage for Logan. This man nails the voice for Wolverine and with his performance as Thorin Oakenshield in the Hobbit Trilogy, we also know that he can handle the physicality the role demands. The actors age is also good, as I feel that having Logan be middle-aged sets him apart from the others and makes his rugged personality more believable. The fact that Richard Armitage also kinda looks like Hugh Jackman doesn't hurt either...
Rogue / Anna Marie
I know what you're thinking. "There's no way that Daisy Ridley would go for X-Men after being in Star Wars". You're probably right, but it's a fancast, so there's that. Daisy Ridley is a good actress and I feel as though she could really bring the role of Rogue to life. Rogue is meant to be a Southern belle, and while she isn't from the South, Ridley has the "belle" part down pat. She not only looks the part, but she also has the acting ability to pull it all together.
Beast / Hank McCoy
I think Jeffrey Wright is an excellent choice for Beast. His role as Bernard Lowe in Westworld shows that he is right at home playing a scientific and intellectually gifted character, such as Hank McCoy. My main doubt lies in the physicality of the role, but it's likely that Marvel would use CG for Beast's acrobatic moments anyhow. That or just make him a performance capture character. In any case, I think that Wright is the way to go with this one.
Colossus / Piotr Rasputin
Here's the thing. Stefan Kapicic does a great Colossus in both Deadpool and its sequel. So why not make his version, the MCU version of the character? The reality of Colossus is that he is incredibly hard to cast. His bulk, height, and voice make it nearly impossible to find someone with all three qualities. So I think Marvel should go the Deadpool route and have him be a motion-capture character who stays in his metal form all the time. That way you get to have the Colossus we all envision without making major sacrifices for the character.
Nightcrawler / Kurt Wagner
I think that Rami Malek could make for a great Nightcrawler. His roles in both Mr. Robot and Until Dawn show that he is a capable actor. His role in Until Dawn also shows that he is at least somewhat familiar with playing a motion-capture character, and given Kurt Wagner's appearance, it would almost certainly have to be done in such a way.
Iceman / Bobby Drake
I'll be honest. I'm not super familiar with Ludi Lin. But after seeing the 2017 Power Rangers movie, I thought he could make for a good Bobby Drake. I'm sure that some people will get upset with racebending a character, but I don't think that Iceman's ethnicity is particularly relevant to his character and thus doesn't matter. I think that Lin would be able to capture a fun characterization for Iceman, similar to they take shown in the Wolverine and the X-Men animated series.
Storm / Ororo Munroe
Time for some more honesty. I've never seen anything that Rutina Wesley has been in. From what I can tell, she's never had a major role in anything, which would explain why I'm so unfamiliar with her. That being said, I think that she certainly looks the part, and that's worth something. Also, big shout out to Ryan Coogler and the Black Panther team for stealing my two main choices for Storm, with Angela Bassett being my older take on Storm and Lupita Nyong'o being my choice for a younger Storm. Super cool of them...
And lastly,
Angel / Warren Worthington III
I'm going to go with Justin Hartley for Warren. If you've watched This Is Us or even the Young and the Restless, you'd know how good of an actor Justin is. I think he would be able to perfectly capture Angel's damaged character given his father's hatred of mutants, and would be able to do justice to the Archangel storyline later on.
And those are my choices for the MCU's version of the X-Men! Let me know what you think about these choices, and who you might choose in their place. I might do a different article about my choices for some of the other X-Men characters later on, but this is it for right now.
Anyways, thanks for reading my first article!