Jon Hamm has been rumoured or suggested for countless comic book movie roles over the years, but nothing has ever come to fruition. However, his name did come up in a somewhat more definitive way for Mister Sinister in 20th Century Fox's X-Men franchise, and the actor has now confirmed that he was indeed in talks to bring the iconic villain to life on screen.
"I never shot anything," Hamm made clear in an interview with Yahoo. "I remember having a conversation with people: I'm a huge comic book fan, especially of the X-Men and The New Mutants, so I was excited to be considered. But these conversations happen and then life intervenes."
X-Men: Apocalypse dropped a big hint about Mister Sinister with that climactic "Essex Corp" tease, but it was never followed up on (despite a few more teases here and there).
It's previously been revealed that a change in leadership at Fox saw the franchise pulled out of a period setting, and that meant The New Mutants moved from the 1980s to the present day. As a result, Storm's planned role was scrapped, and it appears Mister Sinister was also dropped.
In previous interviews, filmmaker Josh Boone has revealed that Antonio Banderas was going to show up in a post-credits scene as Sunspot's father and the franchise's big bad. However, the Disney/Fox merger meant they never shot anything, and there was no mention of Mister Sinister. Once again, Fox dropped the ball in a big way, but the characters are now back with Marvel Studios.
As a result, we can only hope they give Hamm a shot at playing the formidable X-Men villain...