9 Major Mutants Marvel Still Needs to Cast for the MCU X-Men Reboot

This past weekend at Disney’s fan event D23, Marvel Studios announced a sizable portion of its upcoming X-Men lineup, which will debut in 2028. Along with Sadie Sink reprising her role as Jean Grey, which she debuted in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, Kit Connor will be playing Scott Summers, Inde Navarrette will be Rogue, Maya Boyd will be Storm, and X-Men founder Charles Xavier will be played by Christopher Abbott. Samara Weaving was also announced as Emma Frost, though I seriously wonder if she’ll be on the X-Men team in this film or in a more villainous role, as she is just as often depicted as a bad guy. Finally, Adam Driver was announced as Nathaniel Milbury, which is an alias of X-Men villain Mr. Sinister. Getting all those announcements at once certainly was impressive, though there definitely still seems to be a few gaps in the roster. Studio head Kevin Feige even confirmed as much during the announcement, saying, “This is not all the cast.” So here are nine X-Men characters I still think we might see announced.

9 Beast

Image: Marvel Studios

Beast is the only character missing from the roster that I believe is a must for this movie. Like Cyclops and Jean Grey, he’s one of the core X-Men who feel like they’re missing when they’re not there. His inclusion is especially important since the character has been shortchanged in the past, with the original Fox movies waiting until the third film to bring him in (though they made up for lost time with a perfectly cast Kelsey Grammer). Then, when they rebooted with X-Men: First Class, I always felt that Nicholas Hoult was miscast thanks to his skinny frame. That, combined with poor design choices (cat beast) and story choices (his blue appearance turning on and off) made for a botched Beast IMO.

The new X-Men movies need Beast, and they need to get him right from the start.

A lot of names have been rumored for Beast, but since it's clear this X-Men cast will be pretty young, the rumors that make the most sense are Peter Claffey, LaKeith Stansfield, Charles Melton, and Gaten Matarazzo. Part of me thinks all of these are wrong though as the first three actors are already in their 30s whereas the X-Men that have been announced are in their early to mid-20s. Matarazzo is an interesting choice, but he’d have to put on like, 100 pounds of muscle to feel like Beast. Plus, I think it would just feel strange if two of the core X-Men were also Stranger Things stars.

8 Angel

Image: Marvel

Honestly, I was really hoping that, for their first X-Men movie, Marvel Studios would give us one movie centered around the first five X-Men, which are Cyclops, Jean Grey, Beast, Iceman, and Angel. But with the inclusion of Storm and Rogue, it's already clear that isn’t happening, and that the new film will likely appeal to fans of X-Men: The Animated Series and X-Men ‘97. Still, I hold out hope that Angel and Iceman will be founding members — even if the founding of the X-Men has taken place before the events of the film.

Gen V star Asa Germann has been rumored for this role, and he certainly looks the part. It also would be really nice to see Angel established as a character before Apocalypse corrupts him in some future installment.

7 Iceman

Image: Marvel

My hopes for Iceman are the same as Angel, maybe he was one of Professor X’s first five students, but we’re picking up this series once a few more members have joined the team as well. So far, there haven’t been that many names rumored for Iceman, especially not in the correct age range as Iceman should be one of, if not the, youngest member of the team, in keeping with his youthful character.

6 Gambit

Image: NetEase Games

If we are getting Beast, Angel, and Iceman, I hope that’s it because I don’t want this film to be too crowded. Seeing Gambit, though, is a major possibility, as he’s a key character in X-Men: The Animated Series and X-Men ‘97. Rogue is also in this movie, and given Gambit and Rogue’s long romantic history, there’s at least some chance we’ll see him here.

Timothée Chalamet has been rumored for Gambit online. While he seems like a decent choice for the role, having that big of a star playing what should be a supporting X-Man seems out of balance.

5 Jubilee

Image: Marvel Animation

Jubilee was also a big part of X-Men: The Animated Series and X-Men ‘97, so I wouldn’t be too surprised if she shows up in the 2028 film. Her perspective as the team’s young newcomer was integral to introducing the X-Men back in the 1990s, though I’m kind of hoping someone already announced will fulfill this role: Jean Grey. Since we already know Jean thanks to Spider-Man: Brand New Day, it would make a lot of sense that she is our entry point into the film. The very first issue of X-Men from 1963 also featured Jean joining the team after Cyclops, Angel, Beast, and Iceman. Maybe she joins the roster at the beginning of the film and Storm and Rogue enter into the movie later? (Again, I really want those first five X-Men!)

While I don’t really want Jubilee in this movie, the internet has a strong casting choice in 16-year-old Avatar: The Way of Water star Trinity Jo-Li Bliss.

4 Kitty Pryde

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Before Jubilee was the young newcomer to the X-Men, Shadowcat/Kitty Pryde fulfilled this role in the 1980s comic books. While Elliot Page played her in the original X-Men trilogy, Kitty Pryde was never elevated beyond a third-tier inclusion in those films, so there’s still much to explore with this mutant who can walk through walls. That said, I hope Marvel waits on this one too.

Most of the names surrounding Kitty Pryde’s casting have been actors who are in their 20s and 30s, which is too old for the character. To do Kitty Pryde right, it should be a young teen like American Housewife star Julia Butters, who has also been heavily rumored. But, this is another character I’d prefer to see in an eventual sequel.

3 Morph

Image: Marvel

The shapeshifter Morph was just canon fodder back in X-Men: The Animated Series, but by reworking the character’s look and making them non-binary, X-Men ‘97 has made Morph into a far more interesting character who represents a different perspective from their teammates. There are no major casting rumors for Morph, which I think is a good thing since this is another character that likely would be better served in a sequel. Still, given their elevated role in X-Men ‘97, it wouldn’t be thatshocking for Morph to be included in the reboot.

2 Sebastian Shaw

Image: Marvel

We already know that Mr. Sinister and Emma Frost will be in this new movie, which leads me to believe we may also get Sebastian Shaw, who is significantly linked to both characters. In the comic books, Shaw, a mutant who can absorb kinetic energy and convert it into superhuman strength, leads the Hellfire Club, a secret society of elite socialites who look to steer global events. This is the character Kevin Bacon played back in X-Men: First Class, and he did a so-so job of it.

Up until a few days ago, it was heavily rumored that Adam Driver would be playing Shaw. He’s a better choice for Mr. Sinister, though perhaps Shaw will still play a part in this movie?

1 Magneto

Image: Marvel Animation

With the announcement of Mr. Sinister at D23, it seems to confirm the rumor that the new X-Men movie will be taking a break from Magneto-centric stories. This is a good thing, but it’s important that Professor Xavier has a history with Magneto that comes before the X-Men, so it’s possible he may play a small part in this film — or maybe he’ll be saved for the post-credits scene?

Regardless, most of the rumored names for Magneto have been actors close to 50, if not older, which is too old for Magneto to be a contemporary of Professor X, played by a 40-year-old Christopher Abbott. So I suspect he’ll be played by someone that no one is thinking about right now.