Several names have been rumoured for Marvel Studios' upcoming X-Men reboot, including Jack Champion, Hunter Schafer, and Margaret Qualley. While the studio is bound to have its eye on certain names it would like to bring into the MCU, it also feels far too soon for the casting process to have begun.
Still, you never know what Kevin Feige and company are up to, and we're not discounting the possibility of the new X-Men making a cameo appearance at the end of Avengers: Secret Wars (when we inevitably get our first glimpse at the all-new, all-different MCU).
The latest X-Men rumour comes our way from Jeff Sneider on the latest edition of The Hot Mic. Asked by co-host John Rocha if he's heard any rumblings about the movie, Sneider said to keep an eye on Barbie, Ella McCay, and Sex Education star Emma Mackey.
The 29-year-old British-French actress has yet to enter the blockbuster realm, but she does have Narnia: The Magician's Nephew on the way. Often likened to Margot Robbie due to their similar appearance, Mackey has earned plenty of critical acclaim for her work and would be a good fit for anyone from Emma Frost to Rogue.
It's previously been reported that she was a frontrunner for the role of Lois Lane in James Gunn's Superman. That suggests Mackey is open to exploring the genre, so let's see if this pans out over the next couple of years.
Rumours have swirled for months about Marvel Studios' plans for the X-Men. Those have included Mister Sinister and Apocalypse being the main threats to the mutant team, with the Department of Damage Control potentially coming into play, as well.
Cyclops and Jean Grey could be co-leaders of the team, with Angel, Beast, Gambit, Rogue, Kitty Pryde, and Nightcrawler among those reported to be part of the post-Avengers: Secret Wars X-Men team.
Back in August, Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier confirmed that he's officially begun working on the reboot. "I can’t say anything about it, but we’ve started work on X-Men, and that’s obviously very, very exciting," he revealed.
"There are so many things that I didn’t know about before I started [Thunderbolts*]," the filmmaker added, explaining how his previous experience in the MCU will benefit the long-awaited debut of the mutant team in the franchise that began in 2008 with Iron Man.
Schreier continued, "The biggest learning curve for me was the proportion of the action to the more emotional, character-driven scenes, and how, even though it’s more shooting days than I’ve ever had, they get eaten up quite quickly by the action stuff. By the time we got to the end of it, it felt like, 'Oh, now I feel like we get how to do this a little bit better.'"
That came after he said the "core idea" of X-Men is "complexity," describing the movie as "an incredible opportunity with super interesting characters and [much] internal conflict. These characters are wrestling with their identity and place in the world—that’s inherently interesting and complex material."
While a release date has not been confirmed, the X-Men reboot is expected to be released theatrically in 2028.