Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters is making its MCU debut. Just this weekend at D23, Sadie Sink and Marvel Studios producer Kevin Feige announced the cast and movie release. Jake Schreir’s Thunderbolts* is attached to direct Marvel’s upcoming X-Men reboot, with Lee Sung Jin and Joanna Calo working on the screenplay following an earlier draft by Michael Lesslie.
As shown in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Sadie Sink will be taking on the role of the telepath Jean Grey. However, it has been revealed that Heartstopper’s Kit Connor will be Scott Summers aka Cyclops. Joining them are Samara Weaving as the gorgeous telepath Emma Frost, Inde Navarette fresh off the critically acclaimed film Obsession as Anne Marie aka Rogue, and theatre actress Maya Boyd (in her film debut) as the iconic Ororo Munroe aka Storm. Rounding out the cast are Christopher Abbott as the beloved telepath and team mentor Professor Charles Xavier aka Professor X.
Finally, two-time Academy Award nominee Adam Driver crashed the panel with one final video surprise, where he revealed that he will be playing a very sinister figure named Nathaniel Milbury.
“When Kevin told me to show up for X-Men, I assumed he meant on set,” Driver said. “So instead of being there in California, I’m here at Pinewood [Studios] on this very lonely soundstage. Kevin and I have been talking for years about maybe joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And I think we finally found the perfect film at the perfect time. So I’m very excited to be playing Mag…. Nope. Even better. Nathaniel Milbury. So I’ll be right here, waiting for everybody to show up.”
Nathaniel Millbury is better known as eugenicist Mister Sinister, officially bringing one of the X-Men’s most enduring villains into the MCU.
Feige added that there’s more X-Men casting news to come, but he couldn’t wait to introduce this first group of actors (many of whom met backstage at D23 for the first time). In fact, it is hinted that Emmy nominee Charles Melton is in talks to play Dr Hank McCoy aka Beast.
Marvel has already spent several projects preparing audiences for the arrival of mutantkind. Ms. Marvel revealed that Kamala Khan possesses a mutation, Black Panther: Wakanda Forever introduced Namor as a mutant, and The Marvels featured Kelsey Grammer’s Beast. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness brought Patrick Stewart back as Charles Xavier, while Deadpool & Wolverine revisited Fox’s mutant universe and brought Channing Tatum’s Gambit to the big screen. The new movie will finally give the MCU an X-Men team of its own.
The film will theatrically release May 5th, 2028. In the meantime, to me, my X-Men!
