Last night, the news broke that Thunderbolts* director Jake Schreier is in line to helm Marvel Studios' X-Men reboot, and we now have some (rumored) casting updates along with a new name reportedly in the mix to play Jubilee.
Though Schreier is said to be in early talks, the fact that multiple trades ran the story at the same time and reported that the filmmaker recently turned down several high-profile jobs may indicate that it's a done deal. Things could always change, of course, but Jeff Sneider believes that Schreier will ultimately be announced as the director of X-Men.
Sneider is also hearing 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. Bliss has also appeared in Mr. Corman, The Garcias, and Really Loud House.
Other names that have popped up in the rumor mill include Hunter Schafer (Mystique), Ayo Edebiri (Storm) and Javier Bardem (Mr. Sinister).
Despite new actors being brought in for the reboot, most of the cast of the 20th Century Fox-era films are set to return for Avengers: Doomsday. They are also expected to appear in Secret Wars, so the OG team might factor in to the new X-Men's debut in some capacity.
Sneider reiterates that "some X-Men team members are expected to debut in the two-part finale of the Avengers Saga."
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.