On Friday, August 24, President of Marvel Studios Kevin Feige invited director Jake Schreier onstage at the Disney Entertainment Showcase Panel at D23 to finally announce the cast of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s version of the X-Men, now scheduled to be released in theaters on May 5, 2028.
The cast was led by Sadie Sink, who made her debut as the powerful mutant Jean Grey in this summer’s record-breaking hit “Spider-Man: Brand New Day,” and previously announced actors Kit Connor and Samara Weaving, who will be playing the characters Cyclops and Emma Frost, respectively. The big new additions to the team and to the D23 stage were recent “The Testament of Ann Lee” star Christopher Abbott cast as Professor Charles Xavier, founder of the X-Men, “Obsession” breakout Inde Navarette cast as Rogue, newcomer Maya Boyd cast as Storm, and two-time Oscar nominee Adam Driver cast as the villain Mr. Sinister.
The news was a major step in a very long, very anticipated process of bringing the team to the MCU, with the Disney/Fox merger having been announced nearly a decade ago. Since finally inheriting the rights to the X-Men as part of the deal, Marvel films have, for the most part, only cast actors from the previous “X-Men” film franchise under Fox, from Patrick Stewart appearing in “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” as Professor X, to Kelsey Grammer reprising his role as Beast in the final scene of “The Marvels.”
The real tipping point merging in two worlds was the 2024 film “Deadpool and Wolverine,” the third film in the Ryan Reynolds-led former Fox franchise, which used a mix of actors from Fox’s Marvel films, like Jennifer Garner as Elektra from “Daredevil,” and Dafne Keen as X-23 from “Logan,” with new characters from the world of the “X-Men” comics, like Channing Tatum as the mutant Gambit, and Emma Corrin as the villainous Cassandra Nova.
What is still unclear is how the MCU will usher out many of those Fox “X-Men” characters like Stewart as Professor X, or James Marsden as Cyclops that have already been announced as cast members in the upcoming December release “Avengers: Doomsday,” and begin replacing them with Abbott and Connor. Also to be answered: if there will be any actors from previous films staying on to play extremely popular characters that are as yet unannounced, like Wolverine and Magneto.
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