It's almost just over a year to the day since rumours about Bryan Cranston meeting with Marvel Studios first surfaced. Now, we may have news on at least one of the characters the Breaking Bad and Malcolm in the Middle star is being eyed to play.
The actor has never shied away from expressing interest in the superhero genre. However, while he's frequently been fan-cast as villains like Lex Luthor and Mister Sinister, it's simply never happened for him (there's even some awesome fan art out there depicting Cranston as Stan "The Man" Lee in a biopic that's yet to be made).
Today, scooper @MyTimeToShineH is reporting that Cranston is being eyed for the role of Professor X in Marvel Studios' upcoming X-Men reboot.
This isn't official, and just because Kevin Feige may be eager to see Cranston play Charles Xavier, it doesn't mean he'll enter talks or even consider lending his talents to a role made iconic by Sir Patrick Stewart.
"I want to play an antagonist a fraction smarter than the protagonist, never dumbed down to give the hero an easy win," Cranston previously said while sharing his interest in potentially boarding a comic book adaptation. "That's frustrating and boring to watch. Actually, that was the character, I’ll admit. Mister Sinister was the character I was thinking about."
After sharing his interest in playing the X-Men '97 villain, Cranston explained why he has little to no interest in playing anyone we've already seen on screen. "I guess it’s a selfish standpoint. I don’t want to do a character that has been done several times before. I don’t want to be compared like 'Well, his Commissioner Gordon was yada yada yada...'"
"I don't want to do that. I want to take something that hasn’t been done," he concluded, making it seem doubtful that he'd agree to play Professor X in the MCU. After all, following in Stewart's footsteps won't be easy for any actor.
However, Jonathan Hickman's X-Men run could change things. In the Krakoan Age, the world's mutants mastered resurrection and took refuge on an island nation, Krakoa, of their own making. Professor X regained the ability to walk and donned a Cerebro-like helmet, becoming a vastly different character from the wise, wheelchair-bound leader of the X-Men we were so used to seeing.
It remains to be seen whether Cranston could be convinced to put a new spin on the hero, but it's good to know that Marvel Studios and filmmaker Jake Schreier are swinging for the fences when it comes to attracting top-tier talent for X-Men.
Who would you like to see Cranston play in the MCU? As always, let us know in the comments section.