RUMOR: The X-MEN Will Face Off Against These Villains In Marvel Studios' Reboot

RUMOR: The X-MEN Will Face Off Against These Villains In Marvel Studios' Reboot

Previous rumors have claimed that the X-Men will face off against Mr. Sinister in Marvel Studios' reboot, but the evil geneticist may not be the only foe the mutants will encounter...

By MarkCassidy - May 30, 2025 03:05 PM EST
Filed Under: X-Men

By all accounts, Mr. Sinister will be the big bad of Marvel Studios' long-awaited X-Men reboot, but the powerful geneticist may not be the only villain our team of mutant heroes are set to face-off against.

Alex Perez dropped a few X-Men related tidbits in his latest Q&A, and he believes Sinister, aka Dr. Nathaniel Essex, will be joined by Senator Kelly and Bolivar Trask as "the first antagonist elements they’d want to use for the first X-Men film."

With Sinister and (possibly) the Sentinels involved, it's not entirely surprising that Trask and Kelly would also factor into the story, but we can see some fans being a little disappointed if Marvel does decide to revisit these characters after they both appeared in 20th Century Studios' X-Men franchise. That said, those movies really only scratched the surface of what these ruthless humans are capable of, and their introduction could pave the way for some major comic book storylines.

Quite a few of the OG X-Men are set to return for Avengers: Doomsday, and Perez sounds certain that they won't be the only ones. Though we're not sure if all of these characters will appear, Storm, Jean Grey, Wolverine, Deadpool, X-23 and Colossus seem likely.

We recently got word that Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier is in line to helm the reboot, though this has yet to be made official.

Casting is not yet underway (as far as we know), but the likes of Harris Dickinson, Margaret Qualley, and Julia Butters are said to be on the studio's radar (they were reportedly in contention to play Cyclops, Rogue and Kitty Pryde, but we don't know if this is still the case), along with Alien: Romulus star David Jonsson and Trinity Bliss, who may 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.

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TheFinestSmack
TheFinestSmack - 5/30/2025, 3:19 PM
They'd be a welcome change. Give us something new for live action aside from Magneto again.
dragon316
dragon316 - 5/30/2025, 5:12 PM
@TheFinestSmack - and Spider-Man vs green goblin Batman vs joker Superman vs lex
cyclopsprime
cyclopsprime - 5/30/2025, 5:37 PM
@TheFinestSmack - they'll still shoehorn magneto in a post or after credit
Ryguy88
Ryguy88 - 5/30/2025, 8:30 PM
@TheFinestSmack - saying "not magneto again" is kinda like saying "not spiderman again"
TheFinestSmack
TheFinestSmack - 5/30/2025, 9:15 PM
@Ryguy88 - in a way. But he's still a villain. He doesn't need to be treated as more than that all the time. The early X-Men comics had a lot of great content before Magneto was brought to the forefront in the 90's
90caliber
90caliber - 5/31/2025, 1:40 AM
@TheFinestSmack - If they did Magneto like Thanos,I wouldn't mind that at all. What I mean is making him the big bad that you build up after a series of films. The overall scheme has to make sense, but I wouldn't mind that. He is a world level threat after all.
MarvelZombie616
MarvelZombie616 - 5/30/2025, 3:20 PM
Sinister should only be hinted at and stay in the shadows.
He could send some marauding goons though.
AgentofSH1ELD
AgentofSH1ELD - 5/31/2025, 6:00 AM
@MarvelZombie616 - yeah way too important to be a one-off. Needs to be a background villain for a while. Same as Magneto properly.
MCUKnight11
MCUKnight11 - 5/30/2025, 3:22 PM
Sounds good to me. Drop some hints to Magneto and Apocalypse as well.
CorndogBurglar
CorndogBurglar - 5/30/2025, 3:23 PM
Dude, Sinister and Trask were my picks for the villains of the first X-Men movie in my write-up from a few years ago.

I would crap my britches in the new movie wqs anything close to mine.

https://comicbookmovie.com/x_men/x-men-in-the-mcu---part-2-sinister-implications---the-first-trilogy-a198865#gs.mnufu9
Ryguy88
Ryguy88 - 5/30/2025, 8:32 PM
@CorndogBurglar - sinister would be great. And hopefully we get an epic Apocalypse not too far down the line.
Jackraow21
Jackraow21 - 5/30/2025, 3:26 PM
Could be interesting. I’ll reserve judgment. Truth be told I’m far more interested in Doomsday, Secret Wars and Ryan Reynolds’ X-project than I am younger, rebooted PG-13 X-men. But to each their own.
harryba11zack
harryba11zack - 5/30/2025, 3:31 PM
thought u could escape from me
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Fogs
Fogs - 5/30/2025, 3:38 PM
Sinister, easy.
TheVisionary25
TheVisionary25 - 5/30/2025, 4:22 PM
If true then I’m cool with it…

I could see Kelly & Trask maybe even forge an unknown alliance with Sinister whose true identity they are unaware of and think he supports their cause until he’s ultimately revealed thus being the big bad.

Kelly could be the political arm of Essex’s ,Trask the inventor and Sinister himself as the genetiscist…

Hell , you could even do that for a trilogy as our heroes take down Trask & Kelly while building up to Sinister revealed fully in the third while you just hear about him in the first , see him briefly in the second etc.
MuadDib
MuadDib - 5/30/2025, 4:36 PM
I have some big apprehensions about how Marvel is going about this X-Men reboot. I’m praying they don’t mess this up.

As big as The Avengers were, X-Men could be 10x bigger. This should be the crown jewel of the MCU.

Don’t get too fancy, trying to modernize it or add diversity to an already well known diverse team. Keep it simple, keep it close to the source material and personally, I’d prefer more unknown actors getting cast to big names. Cast young, so we can keep the group together for a decade or two, think long term not short term. I know Marvel can pull this off, but it’s not a guarantee.
RolandD
RolandD - 5/30/2025, 7:33 PM
@MuadDib - As someone who is okay with an emphasis on diversity, you are right. I agree with your other points as well. The X-Men have always had diversity built in since Giant -Size X-Men # 1, which I never should have sold, btw.
MuadDib
MuadDib - 5/30/2025, 7:53 PM
@RolandD - It’s true, if they want to push the diversity angle they should choose from the extensive roster of characters who’ve been X-Men at one point or another. What they shouldn't do is race swap or gender swap existing characters. By hand choosing the team, they can have as much diversity as they want, without rubbing fans the wrong way by altering established characters.

It’s one of many concerns I have with how they’ll implement this reboot of the X-Men.
RolandD
RolandD - 5/30/2025, 9:42 PM
@MuadDib -I would like them to start off with the history of the original five even if they are not featured in the movie with a number of Giant Size X-Men 1 characters added to the team. I wouldn’t be surprised if they go with the X-Men 97 team but I really think we could do with a break from Wolverine since he has been so overdone. That said, I thought he was the best thing about Deadpool and Wolverine.
RolandD
RolandD - 5/30/2025, 9:43 PM
@MuadDib - But yeah, I agree with you 100%.
MakeAmericaGrea
MakeAmericaGrea - 5/30/2025, 4:43 PM
If any A or B list X-Men world character is raceswapped, genderswapped, or sexualityswapped - instant boycott.
bobevanz
bobevanz - 5/30/2025, 10:59 PM
@MakeAmericaGrea - can't you ever talk about the [frick]ing article? You're such a one trick pony. You're lucky important people like you. Everyone else doesn't have the same sympathy
dragon316
dragon316 - 5/30/2025, 5:13 PM
I love look of juggernaught in Deadpool two but juggernaught had better quotes in X-men 3 think it was
ModHaterSLADE
ModHaterSLADE - 5/30/2025, 5:45 PM
Sinister would be great, it would give Cyclops a lot more focus since he's obsessed with his genetics.
gambgel
gambgel - 5/30/2025, 6:09 PM
Mr. Sinister and Trask/Sentinels was a similar idea to how I envisioned Marvel Studios first X-Men film...

if this ends being true, this reboot can be something really huge and different, imo.
TK420
TK420 - 5/30/2025, 6:59 PM
No way they do this any justice. The Mutant Massacre is untouchable.
AdamZer0
AdamZer0 - 5/30/2025, 7:05 PM
I’d still like to see Jon Hamm as a full fledged Mr. Sinister.
That guy is great in everything
gambgel
gambgel - 5/30/2025, 8:17 PM
@AdamZer0 - sadly everyone gets old, and he is no different. He would have looked amazing some years ago, but the guy is aging as most actors around his age, so Im afraid he wouldnt look good with all the Mr. Sinister make up now. my honest opinion
bobevanz
bobevanz - 5/30/2025, 11:03 PM
Just give me Claremont origins and we'll be fine. He gave them depth and way more interesting backstories. Plus I'd like to see how the usual suspects flip out over oppressed Magneto with his Jewish background. So many "Friends of Humanity" in the comments lmao
RedEyeJedi5
RedEyeJedi5 - 5/31/2025, 12:11 AM
Daniel Day Lewis for Mr. Sinister!
Biggums
Biggums - 5/31/2025, 1:32 AM
Always wanted a live-action Omega-red.
Doubt it'll happen, if ever
AgentofSH1ELD
AgentofSH1ELD - 5/31/2025, 6:03 AM
@Biggums - If its going to happen, it will be now. And Dolph Lundgren for Omega-Red!!!!!
Biggums
Biggums - 5/31/2025, 9:30 AM
@AgentofSH1ELD - solid pick actually
AgentofSH1ELD
AgentofSH1ELD - 5/31/2025, 6:02 AM
So here's my question...

Is Cable involved at all??! Hugely important to Xmen-Cyclops/Sinister storylines... and will it be Brolin?
WEAPONXOXOXO
WEAPONXOXOXO - 5/31/2025, 9:19 AM
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WEAPONXOXOXO
WEAPONXOXOXO - 5/31/2025, 9:22 AM
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