At Disney’s D23 event, Marvel Studios announced several cast members for its upcoming “X-Men” film, but one name many fans had expected did not appear. Actor Charles Melton (“Riverdale,” “May December,” “Beef” Season 2) was rumored to be playing Beast/Hank McCoy, but he didn’t show, with new reports suggesting may Melton have turned the part down. We might have one reason why now.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Melton is in talks to appear in the live-action “Naruto” film that’s being directed by Destin Daniel Cretton (who recently scored the motherload of slam dunks with “Spider-Man: Brand New Day”). Melton’s role is reportedly Kakashi Hatake, a masked ninja and one of the main characters of the original “Naruto” manga by Mamashi Kishimoto. Kakashi is the sensei of the “Team 7” trio that make up the series’ three primary characters: Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha, and Sakura Haruno.
Melton, who is currently 35-years-old, is roughly the right age range for Kakashi (who is in his late 20s at the start of “Naruto”). He is also Korean American, which fits with the “Naruto” reportedly looking for an authentically Asian cast. Melton’s recent role as a vengeful police officer in Nicolas Winding Refn’s “Her Private Hell” shows he may want to become an action hero, and playing Kakashi in “Naruto” will give him the chance to do so in a much more mainstream film.
Kakashi Hatake’s essential role in Naruto, explained
“Naruto” is set in a fictional world that broadly resembles a fantastical feudal Japan (but with contemporary technologies, fashions, and architecture). There are five great nations, each protected by villages full of ninja. Naruto’s own home is the Hidden Leaf Village, or Konohagakure (“Konoha” for short), but the other Leaf ninja fear him. Shortly before Naruto’s birth, a nine-tailed fox demon (based on a mythical beast from Chinese folklore) attacked the village. It was stopped only when the village leader sealed the beast’s soul inside the infant Naruto, leaving him with great power (for good and ill).
Now, “Naruto” does not have a confirmed release date, while “X-Men” is shooting for 2028. How the production timelines would compare is unknown, but if Charles Melton signed up for both films, he would be (presumably) locked into two major franchises for at least a decade. Beast is a perennial X-Man, while Kakashi remains a major character across all 700 chapters of “Naruto.”
While Kakashi’s rarely-removed mask gives him a mysterious vibe, it’s actually not the most mysterious thing about him. That would be his left eye, which holds a red “Sharingan,” giving him the ability to copy and use the powers of other ninja (earning Kakashi the nickname “the Copy Ninja”). Without getting into specific spoilers, Kakashi’s backstory turns out to be crucial to the series’ endgame. If the first “Naruto” movie is successful, then continuing to adapt the story will require multiple sequels, and Melton/Kakashi will have to be there for all of them.
The potential loss of Melton as Beast for “X-Men” fans could stand to be a gain for “Naruto” fans.
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