Marvel’s X-Men movie reboot is still a few years away. But, after numerous rumors appeared online last week (May 16-21) linking various big-name actors with roles in said film, the latest round of silly season casting is absolutely upon us.
The comic giant’s iconic mutants are set to play some part in the Multiverse Saga’s next two Avengers movies. Indeed, with legacy characters including Patrick Stewart’s Professor X and Ian McKellen’s Magneto among Avengers: Doomsday’s initial 27-strong cast, actors who appeared in 20th Century Fox’s now-defunct X-Men franchise will return for one last hurrah before they pass the torch onto the next generation.
Despite the fact that Avengers: Doomsday and its sequel Avengers: Secret Wars won’t land in theaters until May 2026 and May 2027, Marvel is already scouring the globe (according to industry insiders, anyway) for A-listers to portray the X-Men in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU).
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The first – and certainly the most eyebrow-raising – piece of gossip that’s appeared online comes from prominent leaker MyTimeToShineHello (MTTSH). According to the industry insider, whose recent track record can be described as ‘mixed’ at best, none other than Daniel Day-Lewis was being eyed to succeed McKellen and fellow Magneto actor Michael Fassbender as the metal-manipulating mutant.
As big a coup as it would be for Marvel to persuade Day-Lewis to join the MCU, this particular piece of speculation feels like unlikely, to say the least.
The award-winning actor announced his retirement from acting over seven years ago and, apart from appearing in Anemone, an upcoming drama directed by his son Ronan, Day-Lewis hasn’t starred in another big- or small-screen project since 2017’s Phantom Thread. It seems improbable, then, that he’d be coaxed out of retirement in what would likely to be a multi-picture MCU deal.
Day-Lewis isn’t the only fan-favorite actor who’s been linked with a significant role as part of the MCU’s new X-Men line-up.
Bryan Cranston – yes, he of Breaking Bad and Malcolm in the Middle fame, to name just two of his most notable roles – is said to be in the running to potentially star opposite Day-Lewis as the MCU’s Charles Xavier.
Again, this seems like an unusual fit for an actor whose best roles have seen him embody morally complex characters. In that sense, playing an X-Men adjacent individual/antagonist, such as Mister Sinister – a role Cranston has previously spoken about wanting to tackle (per Digital Spy) a decade ago – would be a better fit.
Then there’s speculation about who’ll play Ororo Munroe, otherwise known as the iconic weather-manipulating mutant called Storm. Per MainMiddleMan, Marvel has approached Kirby Howell-Baptiste (The Sandman) and Jodie Turner-Smith (Star Wars: The Acolyte) to play her.
Now, it would be remiss of me not to say that all of the above should be taken with a massive pinch of salt. For one, another industry leaker – Apocalyptic Horseman – has said they haven’t even heard that a cast shortlist has been drawn up by Marvel.
Regardless of how accurate Apocalyptic Horseman’s sources may be, remember the unrelenting rumor mill about who’d play The Fantastic Four, aka Marvel’s First Family, in The Fantastic Four: First Steps and beyond in the MCU? Everyone from Adam Driver and Penn Badgley with linked with playing Reed Richards, while the likes of Margot Robbie and Jodie Comer were supposedly tapped to portray Sue Storm.
In the end, such hearsay proved to be nothing more than idle gossip. So, just because Day-Lewis and company have been tentatively linked with roles in the MCU, it doesn’t mean they’ll actually sign on to appear in films once the Multiverse Saga ends at some point during or after Marvel Phase 6.
If Marvel is aiming for a middle ground between the elder acting statespeople who appeared in the first X-Men trilogy and their younger counterparts who starred in Fox’s own X-Men reboot, Howell-Baptiste or Turner-Smith would be good fits for a mid-30s Munroe. Where Cranston and Day-Lewis are concerned, though, I’d be amazed if they ink deals to play Professor X and Magneto.
We’ll have to wait and see if any of these rumors have substance to them. The one thing that’s absolutely certain, though, is these won’t be the last X-Men casting rumors we read about. It’s going to be a long and at times frustrating period of speculation, so strap in for plenty more outlandish rumors in the weeks, months, and even years to come, everyone. In the meantime, find out how to watch the X-Men movies in order and how to watch the Marvel movies in order.
