At D23 on Friday, Marvel Studios confirmed that Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker star Adam Driver will play the MCU's Nathaniel Milbury. As we recently explained, that's a particularly notable alias of Mister Sinister, a villain we've yet to see on the big screen.
However, Sinister may not be the Mutant Saga's big bad. According to insider @MyTimeToShineH, Milbury will be working for the true lead villain of the next Saga, and Marvel Studios is hoping to cast a "big name" to play that character.
There's no word on who they are, but if the MCU is following the comics, then Mister Sinister is likely reporting to Apocalypse. That's a character who opens the door to all manner of stories, and he's definitely capable of being a Thanos- or Doctor Doom-level threat.
It seems very early for news like this to leak, but it's not impossible, especially as X-Men nears the start of production. The script has been worked on for a while now, and the cast is taking shape. It has, however, been confirmed that those revealed at D23 will not be the movie's only leads.
We expect at least one or two more members of the X-Men to be revealed (Beast looks likely), along with various supporting characters who will help flesh out this exciting new corner of the MCU, post-Avengers: Secret Wars.
"Having 85, almost 90 years of comic book history, there are so many stories yet to tell," Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige said over the weekend. "We announced a very young, new cast for a property called X-Men the other day. And that's great, because there's been 10 great X-Men movies [but] there can be 100 more."
"There's sagas, upon sagas, with these comics that haven't been told yet," he continued. "And that's great because the stories that inspired me to want to make these kinds of movies haven't been told yet. I'm quite excited about doing them."
Directed by Jake Schreier (Thunderbolts*), the untitled X-Men movie stars Kit Connor (Heartstopper) as Scott Summers, Sadie Sink (Spider-Man: Brand New Day) as Jean Grey, Christopher Abbott (Catch-22) as Professor Charles Xavier, Samara Weaving (Ready or Not) as Emma Frost, Inde Navarrette (Obsession) as Rogue, and Maya Boyd (& Juliet) as Storm. Adam Driver (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) will play Nathaniel Milbury.
X-Men will be released exclusively in theaters May 5, 2028.