Following the recent news that Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier is in early talks to helm Marvel Studios' X-Men, we have a casting rumor relating to a popular mutant character who has yet to appear on the big screen.
According to scooper MTTSH, Scream star Neve Campbell has been cast as Polaris.
There have been numerous rumors claiming that certain actors are being eyed for specific roles in the movie, but this is the first time we've heard that someone has actually been cast.
Dr. Lorna Sally Dane, aka Polaris, was introduced in the late '60s, before being revealed to be Magneto's daughter many years later. She has similar powers to her father, and suffers from mental health issues which frequently lead to her losing control and turning on her fellow mutant heroes. She has also been known as Malice, and one of Apocalypse's Four Horsemen, Pestilence.
Polaris made her live-action debut in 2018's The Gifted series, where she was played by Emma Dumont.
If this is accurate (the trades should weigh in soon if it's on the level), Campbell (51) would likely be introduced as one of the first generation of X-Men, possibly making her debut alongside members of the original 20th Century Fox era cast that are set to return for Avengers: Doomsday or Secret Wars before going on to have a larger part in the X-Men movie.
In related news, photographer UnBoxHD is claiming that this is a shot of Patrick Schwarzenegger as Scott Summers, aka Cyclops, on the set of (presumably) Avengers: Doomsday (no, we're not buying it either_.
The Hot Mic's Jeff Sneider recently reported that Harris Dickinson, Margaret Qualley, and Julia Butters are still on the studio's radar (they were said to be in contention to play Cyclops, Rogue and Kitty Pryde, but we don't know if this is still the case), and believes Alien: Romulus star David Jonsson could be "back in play" for an unknown part. He also reports that 15-year-old Trinity Bliss, who made her big-screen debut as Tuk in James Cameron's Avatar: The Way of Water, might be in line to play Jubilee.
Other names that have popped up in the rumor mill include Hunter Schafer (Mystique), Ayo Edebiri (Storm) and Javier Bardem (Mr. Sinister).
Here's what Kevin Feige had to say about his "10-year plan" for the Mutant Saga in a recent interview.
"I think you will see that continues in our next few movies with some X-Men players that you might recognize. Right after that, the whole story of Secret Wars really leads us into a new age of mutants and of the X-Men. Again, [it’s] one of those dreams come true. We finally have the X-Men back."
Macbeth (2015), The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes (2023) and Assassin's Creed (2016) scribe Michael Lesslie penned the script, but we wouldn't be surprised if another writer (or two) were brought in to give it another pass before the movie enters production.
No release date has been set.